Allen Iverson
|
|
Alleniverson.jpg
Later known as "The Answer," Iverson was drafted as the first pick in the 1996 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers and has led the team in scoring ever since. As a rookie he quickly gained national popularity for a famous crossover dribble he made while being guarded by Michael Jordan. He had his best season in 2001, leading the league in scoring, winning the MVP award, and reaching the NBA Finals. In these finals, the Sixers faced Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, who had reached the final series undefeated throughout the playoffs. Most of the basketball world expected the Lakers to sweep through the finals, but Allen Iverson carried his team to a shocking overtime victory in the opener at Los Angeles, and nearly upset the Lakers again in game two.
The NBA changed several rules the next offseason, most notably allowing zone defenses. These rules limited his effectiveness over the next few years, but he was still able lead the NBA in steals and minutes played while maintaining his high scoring averages.
He has leveled lavish praise on coach Larry Brown, often saying that he would not have reached the heights that he has in the sport without Brown's guidance. He had a love-hate relationship with Brown, however. After the 76ers were defeated in the first round of the 2002 playoffs and Iverson was criticized by Brown for missing practices, Iverson held a press conference in which he said "We're talking about practice. We're not even talking about the game, the actual game, when it matters. We're talking about practice".
Iverson later reunited with Larry Brown as a member and co-captain of the 2004 USA Olympics basketball team. Things did not go as planned for the American team, however, as they returned home with only a bronze medal. Gold had been expected from a team stacked with NBA players.
Iverson has at times been a controversial personality in the NBA. Dating back to his teenage years, Iverson has had some run-ins with the law. One such incident involved a family party where he allegedly threatened his wife with a handgun, but was later acquitted of the charges. Iverson also attempted to release a rap album named "40 Bars" under the alias "Jewelz". The explicit lyrics of the album caused an uproar in Philadelphia, prompting him to stop the release before it hit the shelves.
On February 12, 2005 Iverson scored a career-high 60 points against the Orlando Magic.
External links
- Player Profile at NBA.com (http://www.nba.com/playerfile/allen_iverson/) (including statistics)
- Allen Iverson News (http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&edition=us&q=allen+iverson/)
- Fan Site Devoted to Allen Iverson (http://www.alleniversonworld.com/)
- Another Iverson Fan Site (http://www.alleniversonlive.com/)
- Another LArge Fan Site (http://iverosn.cjb.net/)
- Philadelphia 76ers Official Site (http://www.nba.com/sixers/)
- Iverson's personal site (http://spaces.msn.com/members/tuningtown/)
- A hungarian fan site (http://mujweb.cz/sport/allen%2Diverson/Allen%20Iverson2.htm)da:Allen Iverson
de:Allen Iverson fr:Allen Iverson ko:앨런 아이버슨 ja:アレン・アイバーソン no:Allen Iverson zh:艾倫艾佛森