A Reflection On The Career Of Allen Iverson

The last few days have been rough for me as a basketball fan. Its always a hard day when the guy you grew up wanting to be just like on a basketball court retires but that day has finally came for me. Sources are reporting that the 11 time all-star and 4 time scoring champion Allen Iverson will finally retire from the game of basketball after all of these years. Some people love him and some people hate him but AI is one of the greatest point guards to ever step on the hardwood and the proof is in the pudding on and off the court.

A New Era

Allen Iverson was different but he brought in a whole new culture to basketball as the NBA was preparing for the Post-Jordan era. The Doo-rags, Tattoos and fitted caps where all authentic to who Allen was as a person he was himself and never changed that throughout the course of his entire career. This sometimes benefited him and hurt him but he was always entreating  in the process. The Hip-Hop era in the NBA was really brought to the forefront when Allen Iverson was a marquee player in the league. His influence was and is still huge to this day.

As the NBA was preparing for the post-MJ era it was looking for a new face of the league and although it had Kobe Bryant the real hero or the guy who many people that come from a background of low income and poverty could relate to was Allen Iverson. He brought the hood to the hardwood and was proud of who he was that's why in that era of  hip-hop culture Allen Iverson Sixers jerseys were popular because of who he was as a person and the kind of player he was on the court. Iverson's jersey along with his Reebok "The Questions" Sneaker were wildly successful and still are to this day. Recently Reebok has re released the popular shoe and it has seen a great response from the sneaker world and shoe lovers worldwide. Iverson is To Reebok what Jordan is to the Air Jordan brand.

Little Big Man

Allen Iverson is listed generously at 6 feet tall and 165 pounds and is the greatest undersized guard of all-time along with Isiah Thomas. I once heard someone say the following about AI "Take Michael Jordan's greatest moves and speed them up and you have Allen Iverson". Allen Iverson played the game fearlessly and it demands respect. Taking on guys who are a foot taller and 100 pounds heavier then him Iverson played the game his way and that was with no fear and if need be at the rim. This attitude allowed him to score 24,369 points with a 26.7 scoring average on his career. Iverson made big baskets and made a living putting the Sixers on his back.

We all know Iverson is one of the greatest performers ever but very few people know that he is 2nd all-time in playoff scoring average in the history of the NBA only behind Michael Jordan averaging 29.7 points per game. He put Philly on his back in the most important games.Iverson played with heart and would make bigger guys look like they shouldn't be on the same floor. Like take for example in a playoff series against the Toronto Raptors and the much bigger more athletic Vince Carter in 2001. Iverson had 2 games of 50+ points with his 54 points in game 2 and 52 points in game 5. Allen was little no doubt about that but he was also something else- The MVP of the league.

The Problems

A.I's career comes with a lot of glory but a lot of problems as well, many of them self-inflicted. Allen was never a "pure point guard" but many basketball purists knocked him for that over the years calling him selfish and not a team player. There was the infamous "Practice" press conference in which he looked like a complete buffoon and totally selfish. Allen had his fans but equally had his detractors.

Then there was his relationship with head coach Larry Brown. For many years they couldn't see eye to eye because Allen hated practice. When they finally found some common ground they helped turn the Sixers into a playoff team and eventually reached the finals in 2001 with an eventual loss to the Shaq & Kobe Lakers. Some say had Allen not been so hard headed that his career would have looked better but Allen was Allen and he wasn't changing for nobody.

The Decline

Allen Iverson's scoring average was 26.7 points per game in the regular season. The end of his career kept that number from being higher with his stops in Denver, Detroit and Memphis. Seeing Allen anywhere but Philly was weird and all the seasons he had averaging less then 20 points hurt his average but he just didn't fit in on any of those teams.

It was sad to see how no NBA franchise in the latter part of Iverson's career wanted to give him a shot. Some of that is due in part to AI's ego not wanting to come off the bench and declined numerous offers in China and D-League where he could have proven himself to NBA GM's. No matter how you spin it the end of his career is just sad, you never want to see a guy of his stature go out that way.

The Legacy

Allen Iverson's career left much to be desired in terms of his championship success. He never captured an NBA title and its a down right travesty but nobody will ever say that he didn't deserve it. Iverson is a 1st ballot hall of famer whether you like him or not its not even a question. The only Point guard that is better then him at his size is maybe Isiah Thomas but besides that A.I is the best undersized point guard to ever play the game of basketball.

Nerlens Noel & Michael Carter-Williams Represent Positives For 76ers In 2013

Expectations aren't to high for the Philadelphia 76ers this season but that’s a good thing for their 2 new young pieces in Nerlens Noel and Michael Carter-Williams. In a year that will be looked at as a throw away year in Philly will be a time for Carter-Williams and Noel to gain valuable experience and learn to play at the NBA level. Both are 1 and and done players and are coming into the league solid in some areas but still need to polish up on a lot of other things.

Nerlens Noel played just over 20 games at Kentucky before tearing his ACL. In that span of time he collected 106 blocks and was threatening to break Anthony Davis school record of 186 set the year before him. Noel due to injury slipped from going 1^st in the draft all the way down to 6^th and was drafted by the Pelicans. Not to long after being drafted he was later traded to the Sixers for all-star point guard Jrue Holiday. On a very thin Sixers roster Noel will get playing time and brings the uncanny ability to block shots and be a rim protector. At the NBA level guys are a lot bigger,stronger and faster so it will be interesting to see how Noel performs in his 1^st year. “I'm going to make them pay” said a confident Nerlens Noel about the 5 teams who passed on him because of his injury. We will have to wait till about December to see if he holds true to his word as he continues to recover from his ACL injury.

The Sixers traded Jrue Holiday because they because it was time to rebuild and they believe in the talent of Michael Carter-Williams. At 6'6 Carter-Williams already has an advantage over most guards in the size department and posses the ability to do a lot of things well such as rebounding where he averaged 4.9 rebounds per game last season at Syracuse. Carter-Williams in terms of skill set has a lot of things to like such as his ability to post up pretty much any point guard he wants. Another things is his ability to switch on pick and rolls onto bigger players. If he keeps the right attitude MCW could be a solid help defender he has all the tools. His biggest weakness is his ability to shoot the basketball efficiently last season in college he shot 39% form the the field and 29% behind the 3 point line. Once he get a reliable Jump shot the sky is the limit for this guy.

So the Sixers will be bottom feeders this year in the association but thats not a bad thing. Getting these guys minutes without the pressure or expectation of winning this year is a good thing. The 76ers will lose a lot of games but being horrible this year my land them Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker then before you know it you have a nice young solid foundation of good young players.

Throwback Thursday: NBA Rappers

Today July 4^th happens to be the release date for the much anticipated “Magna Carta holy grail” album from rapper/mogul Jay-Z. He has 13 career#1 albums and love him or hate him he is a legend in the world of hip-hop. They say all rappers want to be basketball players and all basketball players want to be rappers well thats actually happened with guys like Ron Artest, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and Chris Webber all trying their hand at rapping. NBA players who rap will be the subject of today’s Throwback Thursday.

Some NBA players have a skill for rhyming and others should be grateful they can play ball at a high level. The most notable NBA MC is former Lakers big man Shaquille O'neal who has one platinum and one gold album. He has done songs with hip hop legends Ice Cube, Wu-Tang Clan and also Kobe Bryant. He is no legend but Shaq certainly has had his moments like in the song off his platinum album “Shaq Diesel” in a song titled “I'm Outstanding”. O'neal has done literally everything you could do for a basketball player business wise but this seemed like he genuinely loved rapping. Check the video below to see young Shaq doing his thing.

Ron Artest Like Shaq represents some of the good for NBA Rappers but to a lesser extent. He never had any platinum albums or gold albums or any critically acclaimed albums but he did have some success with his song “Champion” that he released after the Lakers captured the title in 2010. The song made its way on to NBA 2K11 and became the most popular song in the game instantly earning millions of views on Youtube.

Guys like Kevin Durant just do it for fun. He doesn’t have any albums but you can tell that his flow mirrors his playing style on the court which is silky smooth. Although he won't impress you lyrically he isn't as bad as say Kobe Bryant in his song with Tyra Banks. In his song “Worried about Tomorrow” he shows you that he is a legit rapper, Ive even heard people say “KD has bars”.

One guy who I personally liked out of the NBA Rappers was Sacramento Kings great Chris Webber who was featured on west coach legend Kurupt's song “Gangsta Gangsta” its not that bad and he looks and sounds like he knows what he is doing. Had Webber put his time into rhyming like he did as a baller who know he would have turned out.

Allen Iverson might be the only guy on this list who looks like both a rapper and a basketball player at the same time but he had his moments on tracks like “40 bars”. Iverson's music can pretty much be summed on how he did things on and off the court which was his way.

Kobe Braynt has a pretty funny rap career he is most famous for his self titled song “K.O.B.E” featuring Tyra Banks which pretty much is the biggest joke when it comes to NBA rappers. What most people don't realize though is that he is actually a dope rapper on skill alone he might be the best rapper on the list. He a did song with Shaq titled “3x dope” he goes raps under the moniker “K-raw”. In the song he had the 1^st verse and to be quite honest it didn't even sound like Kobe Bryant he sounded like an underground rapper that knew what he was doing. So in terms of Kobe Bryant's rap career, he is trolling all of you fools. Check the videos below to see what I’m speaking about.

The Bad

The Good

So NBA players are rappers too but some of them need to stick to their day job because they aren't going to touch Jay-Z.......Unless Kobe comes out of retirement.

Throwback Thursday: 1996 NBA Draft Class

The 2013 NBA Draft is set to take place in a matter of a month or so and it is chalk full of guys not much older or mature then myself. Not only that but it may be one of the weakest classes in years due to the fact that there is no clear consensus number one pick. I don’t like to focus on the negative though that’s not we do here a Tru School Sports but we will do is our Throwback Thursday and today the post is on arguably one of the best if not the Best draft classes in league history which  features the Players from the 1996 NBA draft. That Draft changed the whole dynamic of the league for better or worse bringing you some of the biggest names in basketball the last 25 years with players such as Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant.

Flash,Flare,Practice, Championships and controversy are a few words to describe the two most noticeable faces from the 1996 class-Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant. The 2 players are arguably the best players in the history of  2 of the NBA’s most iconic franchises in the Philadelphia 76ers and L.A  Lakers. Iverson and Bryant brought their own unique playing style and swagger to the League on and off the court. Kobe had an afro and was cold blooded gained a reputation as one of the leagues top clutch Performers. Iverson like his counterpart did the same but at a greater magnitude for many Sixers teams that lacked the talent the Lakers had.

In what is known among many People as the “Ankle Breaker” era of basketball (Early 2000’s) Iverson and Bryant were the leagues two most popular players and had a clear rivalry with each other. In 2000 the two franchise players met in the NBA Finals. The series provided one of he most memorable moments from that era of basketball when Allen Iverson crossed over Tyron Lue made him fall down , hit a Jumper and stepped right over him like only A.I could do. The Sixers came out swinging in game 1 beating the Lakers but in the end we were in the midst of what was going to become a dynasty and A.I just didn't have the help.

These guys though as great as they were still had controversy surrounding them. Allen Iverson Had his infamous “Practice” Interview/rant. Kobe Bryant had his feud with Shaq which ultimately ended the Laker Dynasty. Great Players who we love to talk about, who  also are some of the Highest Jersey sellers ever came from that 1996 draft class with 1st and 13^th picks respectively.

Then there are the Guys who are the Best we have ever seen at a particular facet of a game

In the 5^th in 15^th picks of that Draft In Ray Allen and Steve Nash. Ray Allen is statistically and historically the greatest three point shooters and one of the greatest clutch shooters of all-time. Steve Nash for the better Part of His career made Pick and Rolls look illegal and is one of the very few people to win Back to Back MVP’s.

Ray Allen Has played on some great teams over the years. Whether is was with Sam Cassell, Glen Robinson, Rashard Lewis,Kevin Garnett or Lebron James he always found ways to become and stay the most feared shooter in the game. Very few people in even in today’s NBA can match the fitness level of Ray Allen even at 37 years old. It is this reason that He is the NBA’s All-time best three point shooter.

Steve Nash is the perfect example of how you make teammates better, If you look a numbers he averaged 11 assists four times in his career. If you Wan’t physical proof of how great Nash Is as a facilitator just look at what Amare Stoudemire’s Contract and what he hasn’t done without Nash, That speaks volumes to his greatness. The Phoenix Suns teams of the Mid 2000’s of Nash, Shawn Marion and Amare was some of the most exciting basketball I ever watched had they had some coaching on defense Nash might have a ring on his finger But for a guy who was once considered to slow in College and that he wouldn’t matchup well with athletes in NBA Not bad.

Then There are the guys who are All-Stars that never won anything but were very exciting to watch in their prime in 4^th and 17^th picks Jermaine O’Neal and Stephon Marbury.

Jermaine O’neal was once considered one of the best frontcourt players in his prime but for all the talent he possessed he is a great example of someone flaming out early in their career. Make no Mistake About it though when in his Prime Jermaine O’neal was a monster for the Indiana Pacers and and All-Star Year in and year out.

Stephon Marbury was a guy who was exciting to watch but at the end of the day wasn’t impacting winning. He had plenty seasons averaging 20 points but never took a team deep into the playoffs. Starbury was a tremendous talent anybody who gets traded for Jason Kidd has to be.

The Number two pick in 1996 draft happened to be one of the better defensive players of this era and that would be Marcus Camby. Although he was never turned into a star Camby has had a long productive career and won Defensive player of the year in 2006-2007. Wherever he has gone he has produced.

Sacramento just received word that Kings are not Moving and I’m sure if you ask Kings fans about the glory days of Webber/Bibby/Peja. They will all tell you about great it was to watch the  14^th pick in the 96 draft play. He played on the best teams in that franchises history and was one of the deadliest shooters of his era and appeared in 3 All-Star Games for the Kings.

Other Players That Appeared in this draft are guys such as Antoine Walker, Derek Fisher, Kerry Kittles, Zydrunas Ilgauskas which are all guys who were Role Players on teams that won or made it to the NBA finals.

So All in all the 1996 Draft Class will go down in the books as one of the most influential and impacting drafts in NBA History but is it the best? In my opinion the answer is yes but some people may disagree but it definitely helped the NBA in finding stars for the league post Jordan era.


What do you think?

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Allen Iverson Rookie Card

Not to long ago I was at my local card store chopping it up with the employees I’ve known since I was a little kid at the store while simultaneously digging through dime boxes. Card after card I was left unintrigued until I stumbled upon this.

While it is a regular base card it happens to be a card of one of the dudes responsible for getting into sports and that man is Allen Iverson. The card pictured above is an Upperdeck Collectors choice rookie card of A.I. He is holding up his #3 Sixers jersey and that was the 1^st moment in a career chalk full of moments good, bad and everything else in between.

Tru School of Kicks:A.I Reebok Questions (Georgetown

Another new segment this year is called “Tru School of Kicks” where I show you a pair of upcoming or throwback sneaker that I’m really feeling or maybe you should look into buying if your a sneaker head every month. So here we go, today’s Shoe is the A.I Reebok Question Georgetown with the Hoya Colorway.

Last year the Reebok brand had a lot of success with the release of the Retro Questions by Allen Iverson. The fact that he hasn't been in the league for a few seasons and is still carrying a brand virtually by himself speaks volumes to his popularity and what a star he was when he was a player. Iverson's shoes are Classic and when you wear them you are wearing apart of History. Back in November Reebok released photos of the new limited edition Questions in his Alma maters colorway which is Georgetown. When you look at these shoes they Are a must buy to me if you have the money and are a fan of the Iverson Brand Reebok’s. A.I was one of the guys who really got me into basketball when I was a child, I was a huge fan had his jersey and Reebok Head ban but I never had the shoes. So you best believe come March 8^th I will have the one hundred and twenty-five dollars ready for those classics coming out not to far after my Birthday.

Throwback Thrusday: Reebok Classics

Dee Brown

90’s Basketball oh what joy the 1990’s brought to basketball fans. From Michael Jordan to big daddy kane like high top fades to John Stockton’s  basketball short’s this decade had many different symbols and representation. When you think 90’s NBA Basketball you think of the Chicago Bulls, NBA Jam and the Reebok Pumps. This shoe ushered in a new era of Basketball when released in 1989.

Worn by the likes of Shawn Kemp, Dominique Wilkins and Shaq the Reebok Pumps are one of the best representation’s of the NBA at that time. The rim shattering dunks from the “Rain man” and Dee Brown really made the pumps a hit. The shoes featured a button that said “pump” on it and when you would hit push it at a rapid pace it would increase air pressure in your shoe and make it a lot tighter creating a much better feel while playing on the court. No other shoe before or after was like the Reebok Pump it gave the brand an identity and in many ways represented a whole generation and the basketball they watched in that time span.  Who could forget the 1991 NBA Slam Dunk contest where Dee Brown of the Boston Celtics covered his eyes while dunking a basketball while wearing the Reebok pump Omni‘s . That Dunk made Reeboks a household name. Even in 2003 when John Cena was just breaking into the WWE as a wrestler he regularly sported the Pumps and embraced them.

Shawn kemp

Shaq

After the the 90’s for the company and the shoe they continued to push the pump by signing Allen Iverson to a lifetime contract in 2001.The then Philadelphia Basketball star was the face of the company and he was to Reebok what Jordan was to Nike. He Along with Yao Ming were the 2 cover boy’s for Reebok in the early 2000’s. A.I Reeboks for me as a kid were always the one pair of shoes I always wanted being the fan that I was of Allen. Although the company has re-released some throwback A.I’s

and signed Wizards Guard John Wall the company hasn’t seen the kind of success they did in the 90’s and early 2000’s. So every time you see a Pair of Pumps and get that ever so nostalgic feeling just know that they are a fashion statement and not your everyday B-Ball shoes.

Allen Iverson

Yao Ming