Filed under: Basketball
Of course Iverson was more dazzling in person than he'd ever appeared on TV. You could easily argue that by being equally good at football and basketball as a high school athlete, Iverson was one of the greatest athletes of all time. As a high school player, Iverson led his team to state championships in both sports, and he was also Mr. Football in the state of Virigina. As a professional, he continued to be an athletic machine rarely seen at any level of professional sports.
Allen was supposed to be a statistic. He was abandoned by his dad after being born to a 15-year old single mother. His arrest during a bowling alley brawl in 1994 threatened to derail his chances of playing at the college level. He's also had some peculiar off-the-court incidents during his time as a professional athlete, all of which made his life an interesting thing to observe.
Iverson persevered, peaked and then declined as so many athletes do. All throughout the history of sports, many of us are fooled into thinking that our favorite superstar will never get old. We don't believe he will ever lose his magical ability to win, the pep in his step or his ability to jump out of the gym. Instead, the knees get rusty, the feet start to hurt, the gray hairs begin showing up one by one, and then you realize that your time has come to an end.
Iverson's career decline came abruptly, far sooner than anyone expected. At the age of 35, most of us thought A.I. had four more good years left. After all, Michael Jordan played his best basketball between the ages of 36 and 38. But something happened to Iverson over the past three years, like Superman taking off his cape and putting on a pair of kryptonite shackles. Rather than watching the man who could accomplish anything, it was like observing an old guy who didn't realize that he belonged in the farm league. It became sad to watch Iverson, like Muhammad Ali in his last days as a heavyweight.
Unfortunately, when you start losing, people begin to remember that they once thought you were a jerk. Iverson is known for not exactly being the ideal teammate and causing his coaches more than a few headaches. Similar to the case of former Indiana University coach Bobby Knight, teams had no interest in Iverson when they realized that he could no longer win. Iverson wasn't eligible for the same veteran respect that might be dealt to guys like Tim Duncan, who are nice to you even when they don't have to be.
As Iverson hangs up his Turkish sneakers and comes back to the United States, I worry about him. My greatest concern is that the man who spent his entire life trying not to become a statistic may be on his way to becoming one. Rumors of alcohol and gambling problems plague Iverson, and I'm sure that his recent divorce won't be cheap. Now that the NBA riches are gone, Iverson may, sadly enough, be reduced to yet another black man with no money, numerous financial obligations and a bunch of self-destructive habits. Iverson's story makes me think about Lorenzen Wright, the former NBA player who was murdered while allegedly selling drugs. It reminds me of Antoine Walker, who earned over $100 million during his career and is now bankrupt. I even think about the case of Melvin Turpin, another former player with very little education who left the league and shot himself after working for years as a security guard. I fear that Iverson's story won't have a pretty ending and I sincerely hope that I am wrong.
Let's hope that A.I. finds himself and continues to be the great man in life that he was in sports. The same determination, focus and commitment it took for Iverson to become one of the greatest athletes in history can also be applied to helping him succeed after basketball. You can do it A.I., I have faith in you.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and the Athlete Liberation and Academic Reform Movement (ALARM). To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.