Burgos: Allen Iverson and me
By: Evan Burgos / Senior Staff Writer
Posted on 12. Nov, 2009 in Sports
The year was 1996, and I had a lot on my mind. Fall weather began to creep in, and, with it, the fleeting feeling of summer dissipated into the cold Philadelphia air. That year, I entered third grade and, for the first time in my life, would have homework. That worried me, but I had something more important to consider: I needed a new pair of basketball shoes.
My mother obliged and drove me to Sneaker Stadium. I must have been standing in front of the shoe rack for two minutes before I knew. It was a no-brainer. Something drew me to them — the red toe cap and Reebok symbol against white leather, the translucent baby-blue sole, the honeycomb air bubbles on the side and the number “3” stitched on the back. They were his first signature shoe and now they were mine. The Reebok Question.
Before I had ever seen him play in an NBA game, we were sharing sneakers. And I was gripped. My 76ers had selected Allen Iverson with the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft. He’s been my favorite athlete ever since.
For the decade-plus Iverson was in Philadelphia, he was by far the city’s most beloved athlete. Before he came along, going to a Sixers game meant Dana Barros and Shawn Bradley. You can imagine the excruciation.
So when AI became the best scorer in the NBA, won the MVP and led Philly to the NBA finals, the city went nuts. The team won game one of the 2001 finals in dramatic overtime fashion against the Lakers. Iverson poured in 48 points. Although it promptly lost the series in five games, that run of success is the most exciting thing I have ever witnessed as a die-hard Philadelphia sports fan. To me, it’s equal with the Phillies’ 2008 World Series win. Even in defeat, Iverson has always been my guy.
During his time as a Sixer, Iverson amassed countless accolades: the MVP, four league scoring titles, two All-Star game MVPs and 10 appearances in the game, Rookie of the Year, three-time first team All-NBA and still owns the third-highest scoring average in league history at 27 a game. He was unconventional, he was street, and he was brash. But above all, he was honest, fierce and cared about his fans.
One day, I was on my way home from school. I had just emerged from the subway steps and was going to catch a bus. As I went to cross the street, a glitzy white Bentley pulled up next to me. Iverson was in the passenger seat, his window down. I was starstruck. I blurted out the first thing that popped into my head. “Allen, I love you!” He tipped his head, chucked me a deuce and drove off. What a guy.
Dec. 19, 2006. Iverson is dealt to the Denver Nuggets and a glorious era of Philly sports dies. I had been bracing myself for that day for a while, so it wasn’t as painful when it happened. But in retrospect, it might be one of the more disappointing sports memories I have. After a couple middling seasons in Denver and a brief stint with the Detroit Pistons, Iverson is now on the Memphis Grizzlies.
This summer, Iverson was anything but in demand. At the last minute, he signed for the veteran minimum with Memphis. Days of making $20 million or more in a season are long gone. Most recently, Iverson was in the news for refusing to come off the Memphis bench, insisting he could be best utilized as a starter. His coach clearly thought otherwise. It was reported that last week he left the team for “personal reasons.” The writing is on the wall: Allen endures the painful passage of time and the deterioration of his skill — and I endure with him.
I imagine countless others like me feel the same way. Those who were raised on the AI crossover futilely search for the days of his fearless drives to the hoop, countless 50-point games, stepping over Tyronn Lue giving us hope that we could vanquish the Lakers in 2001 and even rants about practice. Those days are gone.
Perhaps Iverson has one more run in him. Perhaps, if given the chance to start, he’ll win with the Grizzlies. But if he doesn’t, and this really is it for the man they called “The Answer,” then I think I will rest easy knowing this: Allen Iverson is, and forever will be, my sports hero.
16 Responses to “Burgos: Allen Iverson and me”
Leave a Reply
Man, Evan. Everything you said is like straight out of my heart. We both must be the same age since the 3rd grade is when AI was first brought into the city of philly. I agree with everything you said and I hope AI comes back to play ball…I even hope Cleveland signs him this year. 2001 was the best year of basketball ever. Ah, to reminisce.
Evan in a time when Allen Iverson has become so easy to critisize and step on, it is quite refreshing to hear that he still has genuine fans out there and that there are sports writers who will write positive articles about him. This article was touching and brought back so many special memories of AI that they will live with me as long as I do.
I agree with you in everything you say
Evan,
You took the words right out of my mouth. He was the NBA. He still is the NBA, When I thought he was going to Greece, I was going to get satellite TV to watch him shake and bake. He was true to the game, yet the game was not true to him. Now he’s a mantle-piece for gm’s to sell jerseys. I WANT TO WATCH HIM PLAY 48 Minutes a game like old times, win or lose.
ai’s dat dude.
Hands down if this grizzlies team started iverson and played his style of basketball with the talent level on this team they would be dominant…too bad this wont happen and the players though talented are way too young to follow his lead plus ai doesnt even lead by word of mouth so it would be way over there heads to listen too him. lionel hollins should have no say over allen iverson the guys a straght up clown im so pissed allen isn’t thriving with my sixers right now thats who he shouldve went to with the team they had now and his low contract they would be championship contenders because of there depth and time spent playing with eachother plus veteran leadership from ai and my grandmas(RIP YOUNG JUDY) old student elton brand from peekskill high school in upstate ny(SHOUTOUT GRANDPA SMITTTYYY!!!) but for real a midseason trade back to philly would be epic imagine this lineup in the playoffs:
PG: Allen Iverson
SG: Andre Iguodala
SF: Thaddeus Young
PF: Elton Brand
C: Samuel Dalembert
BENCH
1.Lou Will
2.Speights
3.Kapono
4.Green
5.Carney
6.Holiday
7.Ivey
ALL THEY WOULD NEED IS A SCORING BIG OFF THE BENCH TO BE NBA CHAMPS : mcdyess, rasheed wallace, kevin love type of player or even trade for joe smith and to get iverson they should actually trade Lou Will and Speights for AI and Gasol just to make the Grizz younger and dumber than they already are with there 1-8 record
ESPN is running a documentary on Allen Iverson’s victimized high school years as part of their 30 for 30 project. It’s supposed to be pretty good.
I couldn’t agree with you more… and I hope Allen understands that there are a lot of people out there who were truly inspired and moved by his career. I never lived in Philly, I never even saw Allen play live (I live in Germany), but watching him step over Lue, watching some of those games against the pistons he LOST in the playoffs… man.. that stuff just broke my heart. I don’t think I’ll ever root for another athlete the way I rooted for AI, I don’t think thats possible. Just imagine if he had gotten a ring… I probably would have gone nuts, set my hair on fire and booked a flight to the States. And I certainly would have never complained about anything ever again because I would have known that life is good.
You know how they its not about the number of breaths you take, but the moments that take your breaths away? Well, AI may have never have won a ring… but he sure did succeed in that area.
Enjoy retirement, AI, we’re gonna miss u.
Well the story of the Allen Iverson’s were so inspirational, i had been listing to the criticism of the Allen in the print and electronic both form of media and that is so critical from the point fo view of the game,now its the time to move on the just put a full stop to these issues.
The words that he said in one interview is that on his tombstone, he wanted the words MISUNDERSTOOD. Prophetic (on a lesser level) in some sorts. People didn’t really understand the “talkin’ about practice” rant & what was really being said. I debate this until Armageddon commences; that was an act of heroics. What he was basically saying then was if you would’ve looked at the matchup of the particular series, you would’ve seen that the team was out manned. At that particular point (in the playoffs), you don’t improve; whoever has the best execution wins, that’s why practice at that point wouldn’t have mattered. He said it in such a way not to blame his teammates & took the criticism, even though what he said was absolutely correct. When they lost against the Lakers (when in Denver), he readily admitted that the better team won, but in all cases, he left whatever he had on the court. Nothing but respect for I3.
nice articles,I will come here everyday
I agree with you in everything you say too
I agree, Iverson is dealt to the Denver Nuggets and a glorious era of Philly sports dies. thank you for sharing.
I never even saw Allen play live, but watching him step over Lue, watching some of those games against the pistons he LOST in the playoffs…
I agree with everything you said and I hope AI comes back to play ball…I even hope Cleveland signs him this year. 2001 was the best year of basketball ever. Ah, to reminisce.
Everything you said is like straight out of my heart.
Thoroughly informative post!