Once upon a time, Allen Iverson held the hearts of basketball enthusiasts from his home turf in Virginia to the blacktops of Philly. You could cop a pair his signature shoe, The Question, from Reebok, anywhere. As AI made his retirement official on Nov. 25, we look back on his career.
We reminisce…
Allen was often misunderstood for his personal style and attire during his tenure in the NBA. He made the transition from a Georgetown Hoya to a Philadelphia 76er and trashed the competition with his deadly crossover. During his pre-afro/corn-row years, where his look was often duplicated, AI took to center stage; his most notable – putting Michael Jordan on skates:
The man they call The Answer provided a solution for every kid who wanted to make things happen beyond the basketball court. As seen in the A5 commercial above, Iverson shot the video with rapper Jadakiss and even spit some bars on the A6 commercial. AI always tried to make the best of his situations and ended up on various magazine covers, including Bounce family’s DIME Magazine.
Eventually, he took his game from the hardwood to the asphalt, where his game stood out once again. The clip below shows Iverson’s venture to the Hallowed Ground at 155th St & 8th Ave in Harlem, also known as Rucker Park. His street game brought the crowd to their feet amidst other NBA players and celebrities at the Entertainers Basketball Classic (EBC) as The Answer solidified his street rep.
The NBA’s little man with the big heart proved to be humble on all ends from his family and Reebok to the community and hoop head fans everywhere. In his retirement statement, he recognized the City of Brotherly love – a place he called home for eleven years.
And finally, to the city of Philadelphia: I have wonderful memories of my days in a Sixers’ uniform. To Philly fans, thank you. Your voice will always be music to my ears.
Allen Iverson, you are streetball. The epitome of everything street. You never changed for anyone and we love you for it. Like all post careers (a la Michael Jackson or Marilyn Monroe), the legend will live on…
November 26th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
40 Cal says:
A.I you will be missed, it’s to bad Knicks management hates there fans! SICK PIECE CASE! VERY SICK PIECE!
November 26th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
LowerEastscribe says:
We talkin about retirement, LOL. He’s not even retiring anymore. I got a real love/hate with him…more like 70 love/30 hate but man this situation is crazy. U beat me to it but good post Casey. Now he not even calling it quits.
November 26th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Casey Lee says:
Regardless, we all have seen the past and know the present. Thanks for the support. I’m only doing my part to bring out the good times!
November 26th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Dave von BOOM says:
Hope to see A.I. back on the court. I don´t think he really quits…
PS. the Rbk commercial is definitely a style icon/classic!
November 27th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
funkalot says:
Simply the baddest and best little man in ball, eva!
Funk beyond compare.
November 27th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
ali says:
he ain’t done yet. trust!
November 27th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
40 CAL says:
I don’t think He’s done either but the league needs to show him a little more respect, this is the same guy who has given us everything we can ask for on a court, hustle, heart and the will to never give up, He played trough numerous injury’s while still playing a full 48 minutes strong, somethings wrong with the NBA nowadays, we got corrupt ref’s controlling the game, guys don’t play defense till the second half of the season, general managers dragging teams down into the ground, I know it’s a business but it was a business in the past and it wasn’t this horrible, David Stern needs to hang it up, he has been doing a horrible job as of late! All this cleaning up the image of the league is a bunch of bull, they cleaned it up into corruption, dam I miss the 90’s, even if Mike killed the 90’s I still miss it cause at least then they were playing basketball, I rather watch the WNBA at least there playing ball!
November 27th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
jaysmoove says:
some of you all have probably have known this but according to ESPN Larry Brown and John thompson are looking to talk AI out of him retiring i think that’s what AI needs right now.
November 27th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
DaKinakaTruBallerakathnextone says:
Allen Iverson should not retired because he te answand the probleM.He an ALL STAR PLAYER AND SCORING CHAMPION.He also great leader no matter what team he is on.He the same one who can do the killer crossovr to anyone who step in his way.He should not retired.It notlike he 40 and yu got players like Shaquille ONEAL still playing and that has not retired yet.He is MVP every tim he step on the court and he can pla Point Guard and Shooting Guard making him an Combo Guard.Iverson was selected with the number one pick in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. He was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1996–97 season. Iverson is a ten-time NBA All-Star which includes winning the All-Star MVP award in 2001 and 2005.
Winning the NBA scoring title during the 1998–99, 2000–01, 2001–02 and 2004–05 seasons, Iverson has become one of the most prolific scorers in NBA history, despite his small (6 ft 0 in) stature, with a career scoring average of 27.1 points per game, being fifth all-time. Iverson was also the NBA Most Valuable Player of the 2000–01 season and led his team to the 2001 NBA Finals the same season.
November 28th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
The Shermanator says:
AI will probably go back to Philly and do a half year retirement run Ala Kareem’s last year with the Lakers. He’s done enough for the league and deserves this kind of send off. Philly’s not making the playoffs anyway, what better way to say thanks to somebody that meant so much to that franchise.
November 28th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Seldom Seen says:
It’s not over or at least I hope so…like him or not, dude was fierce competitor and one of the best!…many can and will debate for years whether or not he was a true leader, a selfish player who didn’t make those around him better, etc, etc, yada, yada, yada…fact is AI took a marginal at best Philly squad to the NBA Finals…as I said hate him or love him, I don’t believe he deserved to go out like that, but it’s ultimately his call…if the terms or conditions don’t suit him so be it…from VA to G’Town to the NBA, he will always be one of my all-time favorites…sometimes misguided, misunderstood and yes missing practice lol…thanks AI
November 30th, 2009 at 9:52 am
funkalot says:
It appears that through serendipity, Lou Williams’ broken jaw, that “The Answer” will fittingly end his career where he started it, in Illadelphia. Let’s hope that the Sixers make it happen, so that we can enjoy one last crossover on a young’n.
November 30th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
The Shermanator says:
Two things happened over the last two days that should give people a reason to step back and think. 1) The Nets fired their coach, not only for losing, franchises deal with that but for not bringing people to the Arena. Losing fans is worse than losing games to a franchise. Having Skip & AI playing together would have at least brought people to the Arena to watch exciting albeit losing basketball 2) The Sixers had a face to face with AI today in Dallas so there is hope for a return to Philly.
December 1st, 2009 at 3:43 am
REED says:
How many of yall wished yall had the op to play in the NBA? I don’t want to get deep so i’ll keep it simple. Ivo fuked himself the same way Steph Marbury did. This sends a message to other NBA players who won’t adapt to the NBA attitude policy, that comes with every NBA contract. You should see these guys again, but if not, guys like Chris Paul, Montey Ellis, Brandon Jennings and a host of others will fill that void quick.
The last player that really played for the so-called “love of the game” was Mike Jordan himself.