Upon leaving Georgetown after his sophomore year, Allen Iverson was selected with the first overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers and has led the team in scoring ever since. Iverson quickly established himself in the NBA by winning the Rookie of the Month award in November of his first season, and ending that season averaging 23.5 points per game (good for sixth in the NBA).
Iverson's talent almost immediately led to an increase in fan interest in Philadelphia and improved ticket sales at the Sixers' box office. Dubbed The Answer, Iverson had arguably his best season in 2001, leading the NBA in scoring, winning the NBA Most Valuable Player Award, and reaching the NBA Finals. Once there, and up against the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers, Iverson carried his team to a shocking overtime victory in the series opener in Los Angeles. The Sixers nearly upset the Lakers again in Game 2 before the Lakers managed to regroup and take the series in five games.
Iverson has led the NBA in scoring four times (1998-99, 2000-01, 2001-02, and 2004-05) and, in the process, has tied George Gervin for the third-most NBA scoring titles by one player. He only trails Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan. On February 12, 2005, Iverson scored a career-high 60 points against the Orlando Magic.
[edit]
Relationship with Larry Brown
For most of the early portion of Iverson's career, his head coach with the Sixers was Larry Brown. Iverson often praised Brown, saying that he would not have achieved so much in the sport without Brown's guidance. Iverson had a love-hate relationship with Brown, however, and the two frequently clashed, most famously after the 76ers were defeated in the first round of the 2002 NBA Playoffs. Brown criticized Iverson for missing team practices and Iverson defended himself with what would become a famous and oft-quoted monologue which some observers felt indicated a lack of appreciation by Iverson for the importance of practice.
I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we're in here talking about practice. I mean listen, we're talking about practice. Not a game . . . We're talking about practice. Not a game . . . that I go out there and die for, and play every game like it's my last. Not the game. We're talking about practice, man. I mean, how silly is that? We're talking about practice. I know I'm supposed to be there. I know I'm supposed to lead by example . . . I know it's important . . . I honestly do. But we're talking about practice, man. What are we talking about? Practice? We're talking about practice, man . . . We're talking about practice. We're talking about practice. We ain't talking about the game, we're talking about practice, man. When you come into the arena, and you see me play . . . you see me give everything I got, right? But we're talking about practice right now. We're talking about practice . . . We're not even talking about the game, the actual game, when it matters. We're talking about practice.
— Allen Iverson at a press conference on May 8, 2002
He said "practice" more times than he's actually practiced.
— Larry Brown speaking to reporters the next day
Nonetheless, when Brown left the 76ers in 2003, both he and Iverson indicated that the two were on good terms and genuinely fond of one another. Iverson later reunited with Brown when Iverson became a member and co-captain of the 2004 United States Olympic men's basketball team.
[edit]
2004 Olympics
Olympic medal record
Men's Basketball
Bronze 2004 Athens United States
However, the team's performance in at the Olympic Games would ultimately prove to be a disappointment. Iverson, along with teammate LeBron James, were benched during a game, when they were late to a practice session. The United States team had a dismal start against Germany who had failed to qualify for the Olympic competition. However Iverson kept the game from going into overtime with a miraculous half-court shot in the closing seconds.
Despite the dramatic win, however, the team would continue to struggle. They would ultimately claim a bronze medal, a very disappointing showing by the standards of United States basketball.
2006-06-11 15:00:27
·
answer #7
·
answered by Anonymous
·
0⤊
0⤋
31
from Wikipedia:
(born June 7, 1975, in Hampton, Virginia)
2006-06-11 15:15:55
·
answer #8
·
answered by Malcolm uses Xbox 360 Avatar 7
·
0⤊
0⤋
ALLEN IVERSON IS 31, HIS B DAY WAS WEDNESDAY JUNE 7TH HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY AI WIT YOUR SEXY SELF, BORN 6/7/75
2006-06-11 19:45:31
·
answer #9
·
answered by looneylynn1 4
·
0⤊
0⤋