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Administrator 12/02--7/07
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: That other place and now here sometimes
Age: 42
Posts: 35,835
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A.I. has grown out of thug status
http://cbs.sportsline.com/nba/story/8687816/rss
Quote:
In continuing our summer misconceptions series, there is another myth that must be put to bed: Allen Iverson is a ball-hogging thug whose style is bad for the game.
Because of his questionable past, Iverson is an easy target for those who point at him for what has gone wrong with basketball, and despite any changes he makes in his own life, people will continue to label him a misfit.
Iverson came into the league when Michael Jordan was winding down his career. With his entourage, tattoos and cornrows, A.I. was very easy to stereotype. He was a thug, and instead of trying to build a cleaner image, Iverson embraced the persona.
It was a classic case of "I'll show me," and he played the Scarface role well. "Make way for the bad guy. There's a bad guy coming through." He put himself in positions no high-profile millionaire should ever be in, from nearly putting out a controversial rap album to being in the middle of a nightclub shooting to drawing assault charges.
Last, he handed the basketball purists further ammunition to criticize him about his approach to the game by airing his side of the story on his disagreement with Larry Brown, making himself look foolish in the process.
"If I can't practice, I can't practice," he said in 2002. "If I'm hurt, I'm hurt. It's not about that. It's easy to sum it up when you talk about practice. I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we're in here talking about practice. Not a game, we're talking about practice. How silly is that?
"I know I'm supposed to be there. I know I'm supposed to lead by example. I know that. I know it's important, but we're talking about practice. How the hell can I make my teammates better by practicing? They are supposed to be used to playing with me anyway. So my game is going to deteriorate if I don't practice with those guys?"
Iverson and the term "practice" were forever linked, which is completely understandable. But to forever link A.I. to that thug image is wrong, because in the past few years, Iverson has matured. People can change, can grow up, and he's an example of it.
Candid about the changes he has undergone, Iverson hopes to set a good example for his young children, and realized that some of the things he was doing wouldn't accomplish that.
"We're under a microscope. People are going to pay extra attention to everything we do," Iverson said. "When I was younger, I was bitter about that. It took me a while to understand that I'm somebody in this world. Kids watch everything I do. Parents get upset at mistakes that I make because they know how much their kids follow me."
He has toned down his act considerably, and on the basketball court, the same guy who once said he knew he was "supposed to lead by example" is now doing so, taking a young team under his wing, playing injured, toiling for 48 minutes, and taking full responsibility for his team's fortunes. When Andre Iguodala and Kyle Korver struggled against Detroit in bowing out of last season's playoffs, Iverson coddled them, saying it was up to him and veteran teammate Chris Webber to deliver.
Iverson turned 30 last month and is entering the next stage of adulthood. He no longer has young legs, and although he's still among the quickest players in the game, he's now more cerebral. He has taken to the role of mentor, telling the likes of LeBron James and Iguodala what to look out for as young professionals, warning of the pitfalls that once hampered him.
Last season, he averaged 7.9 assists per game, a career high, to go with a league-best 30.7 scoring average. With one of his favorite coaches, Maurice Cheeks, coming on board in 2005-06, we could see an even more productive Iverson, putting him one step closer to the Hall of Fame. If that makes you cringe, realize that people can better themselves, and judgment cast can't be permanent. There's always room for growth.
Iverson is no saint. He'll always be true to himself, and he'll always be brash. At last year's All-Star Game, where he won his second career MVP with a 15-point, 10-assist effort, he confidently insisted that although he's getting up in age, his game won't decline anytime soon.
"I always feel, even in a room with all these giants, I'm the best," Iverson said. "If I don't feel like that, I might as well not even lace my sneakers up. I might as well not even look my coaching staff, my teammates and the city if Philadelphia in the eye because that's what they think. They think I'm the best. Why shouldn't I think that?"
Critics will say he led the NBA in turnovers and shots per game, but what other leading scorer has thrown his body around the way Iverson does, diving for loose balls, leading the league in spills and slamming into guys over a foot taller with reckless abandon?
There are two sides to every story. To dismiss Iverson and try and paint him into a box is a tired act.
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