Allen
Iverson was in the building for Game 6 in Philadelphia on Wednesday night, and
by the end of the night, the Celtics may have been wondering if A.I. would have
been willing to put on the green. Who is Iverson and why is he such a remembered icon in Philly?
History books can lie. There are always less than
desirable facts about the history of our country that historians and politicians
alike remember, but would rather much not have them live on more than in the
memories of those who lived through them. This applies in sports also, enter
Allen Iverson. Eleven years ago, Allen Iverson was on top of the sports
world.
The tatted up, baggy clothed wearing,
quick as a hiccup problem child was the National Basketball Association’s Most
Valuable Player. After leading the league in scoring and his team to the NBA
Finals which boasted the NBA’s 6th man (Aaron McKie), Defensive Player of the
Year (Dikembe Mutombo), and Coach of the year, (Larry Brown), Iverson was the
people’s champion.
With a
team this strong, he was going up against a dominant Lakers squad led by the
legendary duo of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal; who had just reeled off 11
straight wins in the playoffs and 19 straight wins overall. The odds weren’t
exactly stacked against him, but the most diminutive and dominating NBA player
in history went on to put on the most incredible Game 1 performance in history
by scoring 48.
For as
dominating as Iverson was, he was given an unceremonious exit from the NBA. At
the still effective age of 35, he should be ring chasing with a top contender
right now. After Iverson’s unwillingness to come off the bench until it
was too late, the aging superstar had run out of believers. Due to his
unwillingness to conform in the way he played, dressed, or acted; Iverson might
be erased from the annals of history and he might not ever be given his proper
place in history. However, we can remember this day in time where Jewelz from
Bad News scored a huge right hook over this decade’s greatest dynasty.
The 76ers were able to force a Game 7 with a
stifling defensive effort that made the Celtics offense look abominable at
best. Boston was so bad, in fact, it's only kind of a tongue-in-cheek statement
to say that they could have used Iverson out there. "I'm not using
the word [retirement]," Iverson told ESPN during the game. "I wanna
play basketball so bad."
We all hope we can watch him one more time, on a NBA court.