In before, 'Hasn't he been retired for three years now?' SLAM: Allen Iverson is prepared to officially announce his retirement from the NBA in the coming days, a source close to the native of Virginia told SLAM. “He might be the greatest athlete I’ve ever seen,” Larry Brown, Iverson’s coach from 1997-2003 and the current coach at SMU, told SLAM today. “I don’t think there’ll be another one like him. “I’m sure we faced a lot of obstacles, maybe even on a daily basis, but when it came time to play, to try to win a game, he tried to play as hard as he could for his coach.” “He had a magnificent career, and he enjoyed every minute of it,” says the source. “He enjoyed the places basketball took him, he enjoyed the camaraderie with his teammates and he especially enjoyed that his job was playing the game that he loved.” With basketball behind him, Iverson, the source says, hopes to place all of his energy on his business holdings and children. “He loves his fans more than anyone,” says the source. “He loves how they ask for his return constantly, on the streets and on the internet. But now that they know it’s not happening, he can just focus on his future endeavors.” Iverson will be eligible for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015. Since appearing in his final game, at Chicago in February of 2010, Iverson occasionally mentioned the desire to return to the NBA. But for various reasons, both in and out of his control, he was never signed as a free agent. And now he never will be. “He deserves better,” said Brown. “I wish he could’ve went out on his own terms, at his own time.”
He's been retired but must not have known it like everyone else. I guess he's announcing this to get one last giant bath of fan adulation and sympathy.
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Despite any of the bad press he's gotten over the years, he was one of the best scoring guards of all time.
This man genuinely didn't understand practice was about making the team better not the individual. Worst thing to ever happen to the NBA, lead a generation of me first dribblers with no concept of how to actually play basketball. So glad his career finished out the way it did, no player less deserving of going into the HOF, although he will
In his defense, he was reigning MVP, carried possibly the worst supporting cast to ever make the finals, and got them to the playoffs again despite missing almost a 1/4th of the season with a broken hand. You had to be in Philadelphia at the time. That's years of frustration coming to a head. The Philly media is like Skip Bayless x10. It'd be like if you replaced everyone else on the team with clones of Kendrick Perkins for 3 years and then killed Harden for his aerobic/strength conditioning when they don't advance.
That finals game 1 is still in my memory. He was on fire. The step over Tyron lie after he hit a shot.
I wasn't a fan of Iverson, but the dude knew how to put the rock in the hole. And even though I wasn't a fan of his he certainly belongs in the HOF.
I am announcing my official retirement this week from the NBA too. Someone line up my press conference.
also we shouldn't forget that he was the style in the nba during his years. Jr. J made everyone want an afro. Jordan made everyone go bald and wear regular length shorts rather than short shorts. iverson made everyone want cornrows and even baggier shorts. he's a ajor reason the nba has a dress code policy. when you remember that he's part of a lineage with those other two names, and that lineage seems to have ended with the uniform guidelines and dress code policy, its pretty amazing how much influence he had in his time.
