Iverson's Song

I remember as a child, I dreamed of being a basketball player. I fell head over heels with basketball at 8 years old. I was an average player, but I still dreamed. I always thought I would grow to be 6 feet tall or taller. I thought I would be a shooting guard or small forward (which is my natural position). I thought I was going to be a great shooter, passer, defender and rebounder. I dreamed of being that guy who would walk into his huddle, show his teammates his back and tell them, "Let me carry you guys." I thought these things and did not say them out loud for good reason. The reality is that by the time I got to high school, I was 5'8" and I would only grow one more inch. All the guys I used to be taller than shot past me. Add that to my low confidence and you could imagine why I did not think I could ever be great, let alone good. At this point, however, I discovered a player who was barely 6 feet tall and weighed less than I. He was a blur on the court, crossing over people left and right (I smiled looking at this). He was a phenomenon. The NBA has never seen anyone like him: his cornrows, his tattoos, his way of playing the game. One can imagine this made quite the impression on a 14 year-old introvert like myself. He represented a confidence that I have only begun to embrace now. The guy I am talking about is Allen Iverson.

After realizing that I will not be the next Michael Jordan, I started patterning my game after Allen Iverson. I worked on my ball-handling and tried to copy his mannerisms (on the court). I tried to make myself into an Allen Iverson clone. Obviously, I am not a great basketball player. (If I were maybe I could be helping Georgia right now because Lord knows they need it). I wanted to be Allen Iverson. I did not care about Kobe; he was too perfect. Tracy McGrady was too passive. Vince Carter was half-man/half-injured. Iverson played hard every night; he left everything out on the floor. He represented all of the undersized basketball players who have ever played the game.

While Iverson may not have been a perfect person, he was a perfect basketball player. A guy with his build was not supposed to dominant a game like he did. He would drive to the rim and finish shots with lots of contact and still come back for more, like he was addicted to the pain. There have been several occasions where he would miss a wide-open jumper only to come down and make a more difficult shot. It was like he needed chaos to be successful. This is reflected in his relationship with Larry Brown. They were the most famous dysfunctional couple this side of Eminem and Kim. However, it is no coincidence that Iverson had the best years of his career under Brown. After Brown left, Iverson would not be the same. The Phildephia 76's grew tried of Iverson and traded him to Denver (guess who became my new favorite team?). Denver did not become the powerhouse everyone thought they would, so he got traded to Detroit for Chauncey Billups, who led Denver to the Western Conference Finals in his first year. ...And did AI do the same for Detroit? Well, not so much.

It was a sad sight to see when no team wanted to pick up my favorite player. He ended up signing with the Memphis Grizzles, for goodness sake (for the people who are sports illiterate, Memphis Grizzles is another word of sucky). He put on a good face during the press conference, but no one thought that it would last. He was soon released. How could this be happening? Then, he retired, but no one thought that would last either. Then, like any long-term couple that breaks up, the 76's called up Iverson and asked, "How is it going?" Before long, they have rekindled their love affair (and like any love affair Iverson sealed his re-commitment with a kiss). Iverson was not the same, but darn it, he was back where he belonged! This moment, however, was only temporary. Reality came back home and kicked the dream out of his house. The reality is that our heroes do not necessarily go out the way we want them to. The reality is that Allen Iverson's daughter is sick. The reality is that his time is up (Father Time is undefeated against aging athletes). The reality is that Iverson may truly be done as an NBA player. Even after everything that has happened, I still hold out hope that the guy I grew up watching will come back. I still imagine he has one or two crossovers left in him. I want to see him play again for selfish reasons, but reality has set in and dreams are fleeting. So Allen, if you are reading this (that would make my day), I want to say thank you. I cannot and will not be objective about you. To me, you are the greatest player ever. In my mind I will always see the young man who turned the NBA on its ear, the man who had more highlights tapes than Lil Wayne has mixtapes, and the man who showed a 14 year-old child that only the size of someone's heart matters, not their height.