Allen Iverson: The genius who overcame his own demons
Very few players in this century have had the impact in the game that Allen Iverson had. This very same weekend, he was inducted to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, with former rivals like Shaquille O’Neal or Yao Ming. Iverson entered in the Hall of Fame five years after his last professional basketball game (with the Turkish team Besiktas) and only three years after he announced his retirement of the sport.
Iverson took part in that generation that started in the 1992 NBA Draft, with Shaq as number one pick. That generation had its highest peak in one of the best drafts ever: 1996. Iverson was the number one pick in a draft that had 10 All-Star players in its first 20 picks. Five of them ended representing United States in Sydney 2000.
With his induction into the Hall of Fame, Iverson went full circle and got his career honored at the highest level possible. His legacy has undoubtedly passed the exam and now we have the memories of seeing one of the greatest basketball players in recent times.
However, with Allen Iverson we had two sides of the same coin. That Iverson that was a special player, with fantasy handles, crossovers and excellent one-on-one skills clashed with his most personal, intimate and darkest side, not seen very often in the court.
It is known that “The Answer” has had a bright career in the NBA: More than 150 million dollars of salaries, a ton of individual accolades and great stints with Philadelphia -those historic 2001 Finals- and Denver -pairing with Carmelo. But at the end, when it’s time for recognition, most of the bad situations that involved Iverson are set aside. That includes controversial statements to the press, disputes with both the executives and the coaching staff (Larry Brown in Philly) or feuds with the referees. The Virginia-born player was an individual with a complicated personality, described in a variety of ways as ‘troubled’ because of some events that took place in his youth. However, when he laced his shoes and stepped in the court, both his artistic and competitive sides surfaced, making countless, great, individual plays.
After all, Iverson shaped himself as a leader, as a player capable of carrying a franchise at a time when winning a championship was a very tough thing to do and there weren’t many ‘big-threes’ like now. Superstars like Iverson guided their teams with the help of great supporting actors. But the NBA has changed since then.
“AI” was able to get to the 2001 Finals with an average team, to put it in another way. Their starting center was a 35-year old veteran named Dikembe Mutombo, who was named Defensive Player of the Year by only playing 26 regular season games. The rest of the starting five was Tyrone Hill, George Lynch, Eric Snow and Iverson. As sixth man, Aaron McKie, a key player during that season.
They won 56 games in the regular season and defeated the Milwaukee Bucks -with his franchise player, Ray Allen- in the Eastern Conference Finals. Their opponents in the NBA Finals were the Los Angeles Lakers, a team that hadn’t lost a game in all the post-season. In Game 1, the Sixers took the W thanks to the 48-point performance by Allen Iverson, who destroyed Tyronn Lue in one of the most famous plays in the history of the Finals.
“The Answer” and the Sixers lost that Finals, but Iverson scored 35.6 points per game in that series. In June of 2001, Iverson showed the world that he was the best shooting guard in the world. A season like that was similar to the 2009–2010 Orlando Magic, when they reached the Finals after making a great regular season (59–23) and eventually being defeated for the championship by the Lakers for 4–1. That team was also average, with good secondary players like Rafer Alston, Rashard Lewis or Haedo Turkoglu.
That 2001 season was the best for Iverson in a team standpoint. Once he left Philadelphia, he ended in Denver, where he reunited with Carmelo Anthony in order to make the Nuggets championship contenders. They went several times to post-season, ending unsuccesfully.
Iverson, like McGrady, Kidd or Vince Carter, left the idea that he had enough talent to win several championships, but the teams where he played simply were a level below championship caliber. What it is obvious is that basketball and NBA aren’t the same without Iverson. Thank you for all, Allen.
