The Iverson Identity

He entered the NBA with all the pro basketball opportunities of a twenty-one year old Allen Iverson, and today he left the NBA with the pro basketball opportunities of a thirty-four year old Allen Iverson.

When Iverson announced his retirement from basketball early this November, I thought about Allen Iverson: The Answer, No.3, The Man. I felt disappointed to say the least, because when this young sophomore left Coach Thompson's Georgetown Hoyas I believed he would assume the role of 'heir apparent', not unlike Grant Hill, Kobe, and now Lebron James.

Here are his career numbers brought to you by Wikipedia.

If I could ask Iverson one question it would be "What is the Iverson legacy?" Of course there are the individual accolades: MVP 2001, Rookie of the Year 1997, 10x All-Star, 4x NBA Scoring Champion. Amidst these accomplishments, Iverson guided the Sixers to the NBA Finals only once in 2001. Perhaps it was bad timing, or a mix of Shaq, Kobe, Coach Phil Jackson, and the Lakers, but the dream of championship glory remained unfulfilled. I held to the conviction that this would not be the end for Iverson: He had the talent, the teammates, the coach in Larry Brown. Iverson had...the answers!

The 2001 NBA Finals were not the end, but they were the climax. A public fallout with Coach Larry Brown, less than spectacular playoff performances afterwards, and a press conference meltdown over "Practice", a bronze medal at the Athens Olympics in 2004, and short tenures with three different NBA teams later, Iverson is unemployed, unwanted, and out of basketball. Even in Memphis, I expected Iverson to comeback and fulfill the promise, but the Grizzlies are to basketball players what St. Helena was to Napoleon.

No, it can't end like this, I thought, not this way.

Alas, it did this November. Allen Iverson retired from basketball: The promise unfulfilled, the question unanswered.