Answer for 76ers woes? It’s AI
PHILADELPHIA — Saturday, for the first time all season, the 76ers will play before a national-television audience. And for the first time since their season opener, they will take the court in front of a packed home arena.
What do both nights have in common? Allen Iverson will have been in the building for both.
“A.I. is a legend, especially here in Philadelphia,” said forward Thaddeus Young. “I don’t think it gets any bigger than A.I. for the Philadelphia 76ers.”
It’s been four seasons since he last played an NBA game, and less than four months since he officially retired, yet Iverson’s legacy in Philadelphia is fresh enough to attract the masses. Fans will head to South Philadelphia Saturday, not for the Sixers’ home game against Washington, but for the halftime ceremony during which Iverson’s No. 3 jersey will be lifted into the rafters at Wells Fargo Center.
The four-time scoring champ and 2000-01 league MVP will join eight others who have had their numbers retired by the franchise, two of whom — Moses Malone and Julius Erving — will be on hand for Iverson’s big night.
Talk revolved around Iverson Friday, following the Sixers’ two-hour session at PCOM. Iverson’s imprint upon the Sixers is inescapable.
“The more time I spend in this city, I get
FLYERS
FORMER PHILADELPHIA it,” said first-year coach Brett Brown.
“You go down and you have a burger at (T.G.I.) Friday’s and everybody’s got an A.I. story.”
Iverson, who spent parts of 12 seasons with the Sixers during a 14-year NBA career, is the franchise’s all-time leader in points per game — tied with another guy (Wilt Chamberlain) whose number is hanging in the rafters.
He ranks second all-time in NBA history, behind only Michael Jordan, in playoff scoring average.
Perhaps the singlemost telling stat about Iverson, according to Brown, are his 6,576 free throw attempts.
“I remember walking into All-Star Games when (the San Antonio Spurs’ coaches) were coaching in them. You’d go into the locker room and see 24 of the best players in the world,” Brown said. “And you’d look over and see Allen Iverson and … I remember A.I. putting on his practice stuff and he’s a bag of bones. He’s just so really sort of diminutive and he’s cut up, but he’s a bag of bones.
“And he’d take a pounding night after night, and still back it up. He was on the floor as much as I see Tony Parker.
“He gets hit and he’d get back up and do it again and again. I just think, from a skill perspective and a toughness perspective, what a package. Such a unique athlete getting it done on a big stage with the body type he had. His mind and competitive spirit must have been something special.”
Albeit for only 25 games, Young was a teammate of Iverson’s when the 6-0 guard out of Georgetown University returned to the Sixers during the 2009-10 sea- son, his last in the NBA. Young, the seven-year vet, was in his third pro season at that time.
Young said he benefited greatly from having a locker beside Iverson’s.
“He was nothing like everyone said he was before — arrogant or stuff like that,” Young said.
“He was great. For me, being able to sit next to him, that was a great experience. … I could sit down, pick his brain, have chats and have fun.”
Sixers rookie point guard Michael CarterWilliams was in high school when Iverson hung up his sneakers. Carter-Williams said he’d routinely tune into a game for the sole purpose of seeing Iverson play.
“He was an icon,” Carter-Williams said. “Every kid wanted to be like him with the braids and the headband and the sleeve and everything. He definitely brought his own swag to the game. And I’m proud to be part of history tomorrow.”
It’ll be the first time the Sixers (15-43), who are on a 12-game losing streak, will play on national television.
All these years later, and Iverson still has a way of pulling in numbers.
Follow Christopher A. Vito on Twitter @ ChrisVito.
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