Remembering Iverson: The Early Years

With Allen Iverson returning to Philadelphia this Wednesday as the Sixers host the Nuggets, I thought it would be appropriate to go through a few Iverson memories due to his impact on this franchise and city. I remember watching him play 12 years ago at this point as Georgetown was battling for Big East supremacy and NCAA tournament positioning. There was something even back then about watching Iverson play the role of undersized, underdog fighter. Fast forward to the 1996 draft when the Sixers landed the #1 overall pick. I remember being in my friend's basement and having a party for the draft. If you need to recount the general feeling at that time just refer to this article. There were four of us there and it was evenly split whether we should take Iverson or Camby with the pick. As Stern got up to the podium to announce the pick, I was hoping for Iverson. Sure enough, that's who the Sixers took.

One question, if you could go back and choose again, would you still take Iverson, knowing that draft had Kobe, Steve Nash, Camby, Ray Allen, etc? Now you have to ask yourself if picking someone else necessarily guarantees you a championship and that's a hard question to have answered due to the Sixers supporting cast over the years. Going back, I honestly think we chose correctly because we needed a PG at that time and one who could score as well. Even though he never gave us a championship, Iverson left a lasting impression on the city of Philadelphia that I don't think anyone else could replicate. He just needed different players with him and maybe that would have put the Sixers over the edge.

I remember going to a game in his rookie year where the Sixers played the Sacramento Kings and Iverson crossed over Mitch Richmond so badly that everyone jumped out of their seats. I remember how exciting it was back then to have a player that could electrify the arena like that. Sure Iverson had his off-the-court troubles but everyone was just happy the Sixers had hope for the first time since trading Barkley.