I now know how people felt when Mickey Mantle retired from baseball. How comic book fans felt when Doomsday killed Superman. How wrestling fans felt when Hogan turned to nWo. It’s the same as how I feel when I think about the Allen Iverson situation in the NBA. It’s as though Hogan (the NBA) came into the ring where Randy Savage (Iverson) stood and legdropped him dead in the center of the ring. Nowadays, heroes are few and far between. What made Iverson my hero, was his human-ness. His realness. The ability to stand in front of anyone and everyone and say “this is who I am” and actually be the person he claimed. Not a lot of people, let alone athletes, have enough balls to do that. We live in a sports world where image is everything. Kobe was always considered “fake.” And it wasn’t until after the rape trial in Colorado that he embraced who he was – an imperfect and undoubtedly flawed human being. A-Rod had the same problem. He comes off being too “fake,” separating himself to only superstar-to-fan connections, not human-to-human ones and although he’s made progress after admitting steroid use, he’s still not considered “real.”
Allen Iverson never had that problem. Perhaps it was the rough upbringing. The struggles. The tests of character that made him proud to be who he was. I can go on with his life for pages and pages. I’ve read his biographies, wiki-pages, know that his favorite book is The Color Purple, and that his favorite food is his mom’s chicken. But the bottom line is, NEVER has anyone said that Allen Iverson is NOT that person he says he is.
He’s been a warrior since day one. Tatted on his arm “Only the Strong Survive,” and it breaks my heart to see one of the “strongest” ever to play the game, holding on for dear life, trying to make sense of the sharp, precipitous downfall his career has come to.
Now some might say that Iverson just can’t do it anymore. He’s too old. Others say he’s not a team player. Some say he isn’t a winner. Most say he’s too volatile to be coachable. He doesn’t practice. He doesn’t know how to come off the bench. All of that may be true but if you look at the trades that have been made and the free agents that have already signed this summer (or will agree in the coming days), with the exception of Shaq, the same questions above for A.I can be applicable to those below:
Turkoglu going to Portland Toronto, Artest going to the Lakers, Shaq going to the Cavs, Sheed going to Beantown, Jason Kidd staying in Dallas, and Carter going to the Magic Kingdom.
And after reading, seeing and hearing these signings, I cannot help but to think, where have you gone Allen Iverson?
Allen Iverson has been good to basketball. And basketball has been good to Allen Iverson…just not right now. Caught in a state where financial reasoning for acquisitions and trades have more value than the player themselves, it’s a shame to see how quiet the league is on the subject of Allen Iverson.
There have been reports that the Miami Heat has contacted A.I and I hope that more teams contact him and he gets to go to a team that’ll embrace him for who he is, a real-ass guy who plays every game like it was his last. After all, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Even a Hoya.
July 7th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
iverson needs to find the right system to be successful. He's more of a freelance player and needs the freedom say in a D'antoni system to operate and put up shots. Part of his success in Philly was larry brown compromising and allowing him to be that kinda player.
July 7th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
AI is just a better, more successful version of stephon marbury or steve francis. he'll never win a championship unless he plays a role similar to GP in 2006 with the Heat.
he was a great player, a unique player, but isn't a winner. cool, authentic, and real personality, but far from being a role model or an inspiring character when it comes to winning championships.
July 7th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
idk i disagree with him being far from being a role model or an inspiring character. there's something respectable with him being who he is despite the fame and success he's had.
He's a real dude, and when it comes to being a role model and inspiring, what he's overcome in his past, how despite being one of the smallest guys out there up against Goliath type players and continually giving 110% on the court really says a lot about him.
There's a reason why his jersey is always top10 year after year, it's because people can relate to him and look to him as a role model and inspiring character.
Is he a tragic hero? yes. but a hero nonetheless.
If you have 40 minutes of your time to watch a GREAT interview, then watch this a.i interview on the now defunct stephen a smith show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQAxaGLxsIw
July 8th, 2009 at 5:02 am
Being a "real" dude is highly overrated and played out in this day and age. I admit, there is some positive coming out of his being "real" in that he does give his best when he's competing out there and taking a beating physically every night. This side of Iverson can definitely influence people positively. But I believe that his "realness" brings out more negative than positive. His attitude over the years has clearly shown that hes' all about getting "his" first and foremost, and my biggest beef with him is that not only does he not like to practice, he thinks it's no big deal to miss practice. And that is no way a role model should ever think or act.
Moreover, there's a reason why his jersey is always top10 year after year the same reason why wack rappers such as Nelly or Lil Wayne or Lil "whatever is hot at the minute" sell millions of albums year after year. It's because people are sheep. People, especially the younger generation who go out and purchase these products, are dumb and blind. They just go out and cop whatever is popular at the moment without thinking about these topics intelligently.
July 8th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
iverson as a basketball player is nowhere near done. he'll be traded somewhere and get back on his scoring frenzy. look at his numbers throughout the years. he's been in the league well over a decade and has a career avg of 27 ppg. you don't go from being the best little man the league's ever seen for 13 consecutive seasons to dropping 10 pts a game and suddenly he's washed up. iverson's a puzzle piece that dumars was just trying to jam into the system because there was no risk. 1 year and he's out.
but this "real" shit is what kills him.. iverson's his own worst enemy, and succumbs too often to his selfish agenda. he's a headcase and needs to be catered to way too much. a successful version of iverson is carmelo. he keeps it real, is more of an everyday man than any other superstar he was drafted with, has problems with staying committed, his coach and with the law.. he's young and easily influenced. but from his rookie season melo grew up and continues to show growth, but iverson never evolved.
melo wants to win, wants his team to win, wants to play basketball. iverson is basically just playing for the hook in that new drake/weezy song.
July 14th, 2009 at 4:35 am
AI is not done! He was really screwed around by two teams this year that didn't give a damn about him. I watched him play in Denver and he did everything that was asked of him and more. As for being a "head case" I don't recall any incidents involving him. I do recall Melo drinking and driving and being suspended for a few games for it. And then of course there was the fight – that was really taking one for the team – HA! How many games was he suspended? I also remember reading about George Karl commenting on how he likes to use AI as an example for Melo to show him how hard a teammate can play. I believe AI helped Melo to mature and increased his drive to win. There were absolutely no complaints about AI in Denver. It was the media looking for crap to talk about. He has been missed in Denver. Certainly by me. And if he signs with the Clippers – I am their newest fan. To Hell with the Nuggets and Pistons!
July 14th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Read Tom Friend's article on Chauncey Billups.. he talks about how the young players on the Nuggets, namely melo and j.r. smith were negatively impacted by iverson. the young players on the team were enamored and starstruck by iverson's personality.. and they immediately started copying everythign he did, from wearing sleeves on their arm to partying til the A.M. in the clubs.
July 20th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
j.r smith and carmelo anthony should act like the adults they are. don't blame A.I for their childish ways.
July 23rd, 2009 at 5:28 pm
they are blamed for their actions. but AI ain't no role model.
July 23rd, 2009 at 6:44 pm
well, this all depends on your definition of a role model. A.I is an athlete, he should judged on the "role model" scale for his actions on the court. What he does in his downtime should not affect his "role model" status"?