Allen Ezail Iverson (born June 7, 1975, in Hampton, Virginia[1]), nicknamed A.I. and The Answer, is an American professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association. He is an All-Star point/shooting guard. He is considered to be among the greatest guards of his generation and one of the most prolific and consistent scorers in the history of the game (his career average of 28.0 points per contest is third all-time behind only Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain).

Bethel High School in Hampton, Iverson was a star football and basketball player. He had scholarship offers from all over the country. As the quarterback of the football team, Iverson led Bethel to a state championship his junior year. After winning the game he was interviewed and answered a question by saying "Now we goin' to get one in basketball", which he did. He was in the midst of leading the school's basketball team to a state title the next year when he went to a Hampton bowling alley with friends on Valentine's Day 1993. A brawl broke out between Iverson's friends, all of whom were African-American, and several white teenagers.

Iverson claims that the brawl was triggered by racial slurs, and although the level of his involvement remains unclear -- he has maintained his innocence -- Iverson was alleged to have hit a woman in the head with a chair. He and three other African-American youths were arrested.

At 17, Iverson was convicted on a felony charge of "maiming-by-mob" and drew a 15-year prison sentence, with 10 years suspended. All scholarship offers were quickly rescinded. He spent four months at the Newport News City Farm before Virginia Governor Douglas Wilder granted him a pardon. In 1995, the Virginia Court of Appeals overturned the conviction, citing insufficient evidence of his guilt.

While Iverson was in prison, his mother visited Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson in December 1993, begging him to help her son. "She was the reason why I helped her child," Thompson said.

In spring 1994, he visited Iverson at Hampton's Richard Milburn High, a school that catered to at-risk students or students who already had dropped out of high school. Thompson told the prolific guard that he would offer him a scholarship, but he would not hesitate to send Iverson "back to Hampton with his tail between his legs" if he failed to comply with the legendary coach, or strict honor code of Georgetown. At Georgetown, Iverson was an Arts major, his first love as a child. He is still known for caricatures that depict teammates and celebrities.

As a Hoya, Iverson won two Big East Defensive Player of the Year awards, a Rookie of the Year award, 1995-1996 All-Tournament 1st Team, and a Gold Medal for his win at the World University Games in Japan in 1995. He was also the Hoyas All-Time leading scorer.

As his family situation worsened and financial responsibility mounted, Iverson needed to turn pro early, which meant leaving school before graduating. Iverson was the first of just two basketball players (Victor Page being the other) to leave Georgetown early for the NBA under Thompson.

After two phenomenal years at Georgetown, Allen left his coach John Thompson and announced himself eligible for the NBA draft.

After two outstanding seasons at Georgetown, Allen Iverson was the first player picked in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. Iverson quickly established himself as one of the premier pointguards in the NBA. In his debut against the Milwaukee Bucks, he scored 30 points. He was named Rookie of the Year and was a member of the NBA All-Rookie First Team. Iverson also made headlines during his rookie year when he shook the legendary Michael Jordan with his patented crossover dribble.

Iverson led the Sixers with 23.5 points (sixth in the NBA), 7.5 assists (10th) and 2.07 steals (seventh), leading NBA rookies in each category, and breaking the NBA's rookie records for assists, steals, points, and minutes played.

Despite his outstanding play on the court, Iverson often experienced difficulty handling the media and pressure of his new celebrity status. He was criticized by players, coaches, and the press alike, who often accused Iverson of a lack of respect for great NBA players, selfishness with the ball, and failure, despite his individiual achievements, to lead Sixers to a better record. He also endured scrutiny from the league office, who didn't like his hip-hop based persona (which included cornrows, and a growing number of tattoos on his body).

In the 1998-1999 season, Iverson had his first trip to the playoffs. He started all ten playoff games and averaged 44.4 minutes per game despite being hampered by a number of nagging injuries. In the next seasons playoffs, Iverson averaged 26.2 points, 4.8 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.30 steals per game, with a high of 40 points in the first round opener at Charlotte on April 22. That season, he was the only player other than Shaquille O'Neal to get a NBA Most Valuable Player vote.

Iverson is a prolific scorer who has averaged 28.1 points per game in his career, trailing all-time leader Michael Jordan in this category by only 2.0 points per game. Iverson is one of only 30 players in NBA history to score over 20,000 points in his career, and he was the 6th fastest in the history of the game to achieve this amazing feat.

Iverson's trademark crossover dribble is regarded as one of the most effective moves in the game, making him difficult for a defender to contain in one-on-one play. Iverson is also known for his ability to draw fouls, at times seeming to get the free-throw line almost at will. He is regularly one of the NBA's leaders in free throws attempted, and in free throw percentage.[7]

Iverson has averaged 6.8 assists per game over his career. He has also averaged 4.0 rebounds per game.

On defense, Iverson is also an adept ball-thief and is known for playing the passing lanes. He regularly ranks among the league leaders in steals and averages over 2 steals per game for his entire career.

Critics point out that Iverson's career shooting percentage (.422) is unremarkable. They also frequently accuse Iverson of being a ball hog: as of March 2007, he has taken ~16,800 shots in just over 700 games, averaging over 23 per game. Detractors also note that the 76ers' all-time record with Iverson in the lineup was barely above .500 (355-342), and that in the 2006-2007 season, both the 76ers and the Nuggets have posted better win-loss records without Iverson in the lineup than with him.

Despite these criticisms, Iverson is still generally regarded as one of the best guards to ever play the game, as evidenced by Iverson's being named the starting point guard for the Eastern Conference in the NBA All-Star Game for the past seven consecutive seasons. He was voted to the All-NBA third team in the 2005-2006 season. He also took the league and All-Star MVP and led the Sixers to the Finals in 2001.

Iverson's ability to effectively employ such a versatile combination of scoring methods — driving to the basket, drawing fouls, shooting from outside, and creating his own shot off of the dribble — all at only six feet tall, has made him one of the most unique and dominant players in NBA history.


Source : Wikipedia