My Tribute to Allen Iverson

This article has nothing to do with fantasy basketball. Let’s just get that out of the way. After last week’s game versus the Nuggets, I felt compelled to write this little piece to show my appreciation for Allen Iverson. I know there have been many articles already all over the place about AI’s return. I guess this is just my own personal response that I would like to share with the Cafe here.

Born and raised a Philly guy, I’ve loved AI ever since his tenure with the Sixers. It’s been over a year since he was traded to the Nuggets. Although the Sixers have been playing great basketball of late with Miller leading the helm, they will never have the electrifying presence that Iverson brought to the team.

I admit that I saw Iverson as a traitor in the beginning, forcing his way out of the Sixers poor season last year. I couldn’t forgive him for wanting to back out of the franchise that tried so hard to place players around him that could bring him to a championship. In 2004, the Sixers did make it to the playoffs, with Iverson leading the way and winning MVP as well. They would get swept in four games against the Shaq-Kobe combo of the Lakers.

I will never forget that time in the Finals when #3 crossed over Tyronne Lue, broke his ankles, and sank the jumper, and then stepped over Lue with a scowl on his face. AI is barely six foot tall and yet his swagger, his emotion, and his heart did not match his size. There may never be a smaller player with a bigger heart than he had.

He may have complained about practice and how management never put the right players around him, but there are not many players in the league that give as much heart each and every night as Allen Iverson. He gave his all for the Sixers and is giving his all for the Nuggets. Should the Nuggets win a championship in the near future, it will cap a remarkable career for him. It will garner a cheer from me, just like the deafening cheers when AI was introduced to the Philly crowd wearing a Nuggets uniform last week.

No matter where he goes or what he does, he holds a place in my heart, never to be forgotten as a man who lives on as a Sixer.

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