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> Sports > Sports News > Iverson arrives in Detroit with baggage
Iverson arrives in Detroit with baggage |
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Allen Iverson
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By Mark Vasto
Defining Allen Iverson
There are only two men who scored more points than he has Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain. He has been the rookie of the year. He has been the most valuable player in the NBA. For every opposing guard he's burned with his killer crossover, he has burned out a coach or general manager. He has never won a championship, never won a gold medal, and he hates to practice.
He is Allen Iverson, and he is Detroit's newest point guard.
This is Iverson's third change of address since joining the league out of Georgetown in 1996 relatively stable for NBA players during this era. Still, one can hardly say that Iverson arrives in Detroit Rock City without a lot of baggage.
"Mercurial" is how most sportswriters choose to describe Iverson. Shawn Windsor of the Detroit Free Press made that point in his "welcome to Detroit" column earlier this month.
"What this means -- other than sportswriters find a word and stick with it -- is that [Iverson] isn't easy to define," Windsor wrote.
From where I sit (usually my couch on a game day) it seems pretty easy to define Iverson. Just tossing out a few terms, how about "great" or "electrifying?"
His former coach, Larry Brown, called him "special."
"If they want excitement in that building, then they're going to get it," Brown, now the coach of the Charlotte Bobcats, said after hearing of the trade. "Every time he steps on the court he's going to try to win the game."
Brown would know a thing or two about that. When he coached the 76ers in the '90s, the pair had more ups and downs than a yo-yo on a seesaw. In fact, it was a game against the Pistons that led Brown to actually bench Iverson. Brown said Iverson was playing poorly and immature; Iverson said Brown wasn't the best coach for him. The feud with Brown, his near-constant off-the-court problems (gun and drug arrests, for instance) and his, well, mercurial press conferences started to paint A.I. in a thuggish light. In fact, for those who have complained about the "hip-hop" trend in the NBA (whatever that means ... baggy shorts?), they often point to Iverson as the poster boy. I mean, come on, the guy missed practice!
Well, Iverson's ended up on a more than a few posters, and he's never been the one "posterized." He's had his teams in the hunt, and he's averaged a near 30 points per game in the postseason, but he's never taken home the hardware. This year, he shares the hardcourt with All-Stars Richard Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace, Olympian Tayshaun Prince and the fresh-faced Amir Johnson.
He'll share the court but probably not the headlines. Expect a fun season, Detroit.
Mark Vasto is a veteran sportswriter and publisher of The Parkville (Mo.) Luminary.
(c)2008 King Features Synd., Inc.
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