Allen Iverson
|
Iverson is the third leading points per game scorer in NBA history. He has averaged 27.9 points per game in his career, trailing all-time leader Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain in this category by only 2.0 points per game. Iverson is one of only 30 players in NBA history to score over 20,000 points in his career, and he was the 6th fastest in the history of the game to achieve this feat. Iverson has averaged 6.2 assists per game over his career. He has also averaged 3.9 rebounds per game. On defense, Iverson is also an adept ball-thief and is known for playing the passing lanes. He regularly ranks among the league leaders in steals and averages over 2 steals per game for his entire career.
[edit] Biography
Allen Ezail Iverson (born June 7, 1975, in Hampton, Virginia [1]), nicknamed A.I. and The Answer, is an American professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association. He is an All-Star point/shooting guard. A ten-year veteran at the age of 31, he is considered by many to be among the greatest guards of his generation and one of the most prolific scorers in the history of the game. In 2003, Iverson was ranked 53rd on SLAM Magazine's Top 75 NBA players of all time. [edit] Before the NBA[edit] Early yearsOn June 7 1975, Allen Iverson was born on the Virginia Peninsula (where both Hampton and Newport News are located). The son of Allen Broughton and Ann Iverson, his dad skipped out on the family and their then 15-year-old mother was left caring for him and his sister Brandy. Shortly after being born, his maternal grandmother - often the pillar in an inner-city family - passed away. In 1991, Iverson, Brandy and their mother welcomed a new addition to the family, Leisha, who was ill, adding to the family bills. Growing up, Iverson was often responsible for taking care of his younger sisters Brandy (born 1979) and Liesha (born 1991), which was especially difficult with the toddler, who suffered frequent seizures. Mounting medical bills pushed the family further in debt. Ann's boyfriend, Allen's de facto father, Michael Freeman has been in and out of jail all of his life. After a car accident left him unemployed once again in 1991, desperate for money Freeman was caught and convicted for drug possession with intent to distribute. "I didn't buy Cadillacs and diamond rings," Freeman explains, "I was payin' bills." Iverson used to blame the man who taught him how to play basketball and pushed him to excel at it. Today he's proud of Freeman. "He never robbed nobody," said Allen. "He was just tryin' to feed his family. It would kill him to come from jail and find out how his family was living. Every time his mother saw him lose heart, she told him "go till the end every time you see the chance". Iverson once recalled about his childhood - "Coming home, no lights, no food, sometimes no water. Then when there was water, no hot water. Living in a house where the sewer was busted under the house and having to watch my sister walk around in her socks all day because the floor was wet from the sewage. The smell was making my sister sick." He had two role models in his youth, his mom and Tony Clark, with whom Iverson had a close relationship. Iverson's mom would tell Allen he could be somebody and could do anything with his God given talent. She told him “never let anyone tell you differently.” Tony Clark also inspired Iverson. When Iverson skipped school, he hung out with Tony who was six or seven years older. Tony would tell Iverson’s mom what was going on and Allen’s mom would come and get him. Allen would kick and scream and tell Tony that he hated him, but Tony did what he did because he loved Allen and cared. Allen was like his little man, and he stayed with them for two years. Tony, who had a lot going on between his family and his girlfriend, was killed when Iverson was 15. Allen had no more male role models to replace Tony, but there is one guy that he hangs with now, Andre Steele, and now he looks out for him. [edit] Bethel High School/The BrawlIn his days at Bethel High School in Hampton, Iverson was a star football and basketball player. He had scholarship offers from all over the country, as he quarterbacked the football team to a state championship his junior year. He was in the midst of leading the school's basketball team to a state title when he went to a Hampton bowling alley with friends on Valentine's Day 1993. A brawl broke out between Iverson's friends, all of whom were African-American, and several white teenagers. Iverson claims that the brawl was triggered by racial slurs, and although the level of his involvement remains unclear -- he has maintained his innocence -- Iverson was alleged to have hit a woman in the head with a chair. He and three other African-American youths were arrested. At 17, Iverson was convicted on a felony charge of "maiming-by-mob" and drew a 15-year prison sentence, with 10 years suspended. All scholarship offers were quickly rescinded. He spent four months at the Newport News City Farm before Virginia Governor Douglas Wilder granted him a pardon. In 1995, the Virginia Court of Appeals overturned the conviction, citing insufficient evidence of his guilt. [edit] College at Georgetown UniversityWhile Iverson was in prison, his mother visited Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson in December 1993, begging him to help her son. "She was the reason why I helped her child," Thompson said. In spring 1994, he visited Iverson at Hampton's Richard Milburn High, a school that catered to at-risk students or students who already had dropped out of high school. Thompson told the prolific guard that he would offer him a scholarship, but he would not hesistate to send Iverson "back to Hampton with his tail between his legs" if he failed to comply with the legendary coach, or strict honor code of Georgetown. At Georgetown, Iverson was an Arts major, his first love as a child. He is still known for impressive caricatures that depict teammates and celebrities. As a Hoya, Iverson won two Big East Defensive Player of the Year awards, a Rookie of the Year award, 1995-1996 All-Tournament 1st Team, and a Gold Medal for his win at the World University Games in Japan in 1995. He was also the Hoyas All-Time leading scorer. As his family situation worsened and financial responsibility mounted, Iverson needed to turn pro early, which meant leaving school before graduating. Iverson was the first of just two basketball players (Victor Page being the other) to leave Georgetown without a degree under Thompson. After two phenomenal years at Georgetown, Allen left his coach John Thompson and announced himself eligible for the NBA draft. [edit] NBA career[edit] Sixer years from 1996 to 1999After two outstanding seasons at Georgetown, Allen Iverson was the first player picked in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. Iverson quickly established himself as one of the premier pointguards in the NBA. In his debut against the Milwaukee Bucks, he scored 30 points. He was named Schick Rookie of the Year and was a member of the NBA All-Rookie First Team. Iverson led the Sixers with 23.5 points (sixth in the NBA), 7.5 assists (11th) and 2.07 steals (seventh), leading NBA rookies in each category. Despite his outstanding play on the court, Iverson often experienced difficulty handling the media and pressure of his new celebrity status. He was criticized by players, coaches, and the press alike, who often pointed to his lack of respect for great NBA players and his selfishness with the ball, and often backed this up by emphasizing the Sixers' poor record despite his achievements. Even though his scoring dropped from 23.5 in 96/97 to 22 that year, Allen became more of a team player. In the 1999-2000 season, Iverson had his first trip to the playoffs, having played well in a year in which he set records, was the NBA scoring champion, and a starter for the All Star game - Iverson felt he deserved to go to the play-offs, He started all ten playoff games and averaged 44.4 minutes per game despite being hampered by a number of nagging injuries. He averaged 26.2 points, 4.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.20 steals per game, with a high of 40 points in the First Round opener at Charlotte on April 22. [edit] 2000-2001 MVP seasonIverson arguably had his best season in 2001 - he led his team to win their first ten games, he started and won All-Star MVP honors at the All-Star game, was the NBA scoring champion for the second time, was the NBA steals champion, and ultimately led his team to an NBA finals appearance against the Los Angeles Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. [edit] "Practice"[edit] Video GalleryFor most of the early portion of Iverson's career, his head coach with the Sixers was Larry Brown. Iverson often praised Brown, saying that he would not have achieved so much in the sport without Brown's guidance. Iverson had a love-hate relationship with Brown, however, and the two frequently clashed, most famously after the 76ers were defeated in the first round of the 2002 NBA Playoffs. Brown criticized Iverson for missing team practices and Iverson defended himself with what would become a famous and oft-quoted monologue which some observers felt indicated a lack of appreciation by Iverson for the importance of practice. If Coach tells you that I missed practice, then that's that. I may have missed one practice this year but if somebody says he missed one practice of all the practices this year, then that's enough to get a whole lot started. I told Coach Brown that you don't have to give the people of Philadelphia a reason to think about trading me or anything like that. If you trade somebody, you trade them to make the team better...simple as that. I'm cool with that. I'm all about that. The people in Philadelphia deserve to have a winner. It's simple as that. It goes further than that ... If I can't practice, I can't practice. It is as simple as that. It ain't about that at all. It's easy to sum it up if you're just talking about practice. We're sitting here, and I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we're talking about practice. I mean listen, we're sitting here talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, but we're talking about practice. Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game last it's my last but we're talking about practice man. How silly is that? ... Now I know that I'm supposed to lead by example and all that but I'm not shoving that aside like it don't mean anything. I know it's important, I honestly do but we're talking about practice. We're talking about practice man. We're talking about practice. We're talking about practice. We're not talking about the game. We're talking about practice. When you come to the arena, and you see me play, you've seen me play right, you've seen me give everything I've got, but we're talking about practice right now. ... Hey I hear you, it's funny to me too, hey it's strange to me too but we're talking about practice man, we're not even talking about the game, when it actually matters, we're talking about practice ... How in the hell can I make my teammates better by practicing? [2] |
|
