The Sound of Philly

Although Allen Iverson was traded away from the Sixers in ‘06, he will always be a Sixer.  The man is a Philadelphia sports legend, and despite being a polarizing figure in the city, what he meant to the team can not be denied.  He may have been a ballhog, he may have hated practice,  and he may have had an attitude problem, but for a decade, he was the Philadelphia 76ers and one of the most popular players in the NBA.

I came of age watching the Charles Barkley-led Sixers of the ’80s and after he was traded away to the Suns, this team lacked a star.  Philadelphia endured some terrible teams and very long seasons, but the 1996 draft got us a marquee name again.

Iverson led this team out of the cellar and into the 2001 NBA Finals.  Those are some of my greatest memories as a Philadelphia sports fan.  I bounced all over the city watching Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, beginning outside of the First Union Center, moving to a pizza joint in University City, and ending the night at a bar in West Philly.

While the team headed into the finals as the underdog, the entire city was expecting more magic out of Iverson and the rest of the team.   Game 1 was the team’s only win against the Lakers, but it was an overtime thriller that I watched on TV at school in West Chester.  My roommates had picked the perfect night for a party as Philly pulled out the win 107-101.

The 76ers went on to lose the series, and although they made the playoffs a few more times in Iverson’s ensuing years with the team, they didn’t fare as well and many of his less than positive personality traits started to rise to the surface.  We all remember the infamous press conference in 2002 where he discussed why he doesn’t come to practice, his fights with coaches, and then finally there was ‘06 when he just basically quit on the team, forcing the Sixers to trade him to the Denver Nuggets. It was time to move on.

This was the beginning of the end for Iverson. He played second fiddle to Carmelo Anthony in Denver, and in Detroit he danced with the worst enemy of all: the bench. By the end of the year he was no longer a starter, and while he was no longer the A.I. of the early ’00s, he was still a guy that loved to play some ball.  He inked a deal to come off the bench in Memphis this year, but he left due to personal reasons after three games, was released, and after not latching on with another team, he saw the writing on the wall.

Iverson may have had more faults than many other stars, but one thing cannot be denied – he played his ass off for the Sixers and that is why I will always respect the man.  He loved the game, and for quite awhile, the game loved him back.  Part of me would have loved to see him come back and finish his career in Philly.

He had a career that anyone would be proud of: Rookie of the Year in ‘96-’97, league MVP and NBA Finals in 2001, led the league in points per game four times, and ten All Star Game appearances, including two MVP honors.  And there was his crossover on Michael Jordan, a perfect example of why he was such a thrilling player.