Allen Ezail Iverson

Allen Iverson crossing up Michael Jordan (http://img455.imageshack.us/img455/1609/aicrossmj8kh.jpg)

Allen Iverson. Loved. Hated. Respected. Despised. No matter what, Allen is one of the most revered athletes of the century. But along with being an amazing athlete he has been a controversial figure in everything he does. In his high school days he was involved in a nationwide scandal. His attitude can be perceived as snotty and a little arrrogant in front of reporters. The only thing that overcomes his insolence is his amazing athletic ability.

Born in Hampton, Virginia on June 7, 1975 to Allen Broughton and Ann Iverson, Allen struggled through his childhood in the inner city. He had no electricity to power anything. He had no heat for a possibly cold Virginia winter. Along with no heat, he had no water to live with. In one summer he watched his 10 closest friends die in the tough inner city.

In Bethel High School in Hampton, Allen Iverson was the hero of the city. He quarterbacked, defensive backed and returned his varsity football team to a state championship as only a junior. As the quarterback he threw for 1,423 yards and 14 touchdowns, ran for 781 more yards and 15 touchdowns, returned 5 touchdowns as a kick returner and 4 as a punt returner, and intercepted 8 passes. After his amazing football performance, he guaranteed victory for his high school basketball team. He followed up this showy promise by averaging 31.6 and helping the team to get to the 5A championship, where they prevailed to win. But after all of his glory, Iverson was involved in a nationwide scandal. On Februrary 14 (ironically) Iverson and his African-American friends went down to the local bowling alley and got in a racial dispute with some Caucasian boys. At the end of this dispute, 4 people were arrested (4 black men)and charged with jail time. Iverson happened to be one of these unfortunate men and was charged with assault by hitting a girl on the head with an iron chair. He was sent to jail, but was only in jail for about 3 months. The governor of Virginia helped Iverson out. Iverson had to attend an alternate school with no sports. Even though he came out OK, his image by the public was scarred.

Even though his image may have been scarred, his basketball resume still shone bright. He was recruited by a few schools, but most turned away after his incident. Georgetown did not. John Thompson, the coach of Georgetown, was a very tough man and acted as a father figure to Allen. It payed off as Iverson went on to shatter various records such as: most points in a season (926), highest scoring average (25.0), most field goals made (312) and attempted (650), most 3-point field goals made (87) and attempted (238), most steals in a season (124), and most minutes (1,214). He led the team to the Sweet 16 in the National Tournament in '94-'95, and the Elite Eight '95-'96 before taking his game to the NBA.

Iverson was drafted 1st overall in the 1996 draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. He started strong with 30 points in his NBA debut and eventually won the Schick Rookie of the Year after avereaging 23.5 points (sixth in the NBA), 7.5 assists (11th) and 2.07 steals (seventh). The numbers kept coming as Iverson averaged 22, 26.8, and 28.4 points per game for the next 3 years. But Iverson was criticized for not playing team ball. But then in 2001 Iverson broke out with 31.1 points, 4.6 assists and 2.5 steals en route to an MVP season. Also, he overcame his criticism and took his team to the NBA finals where they lost to the jam-packed LA Lakers. Iverson has kept scoring and stealing and making heart stopping plays, but he has yet to win a championship.