The Official Allen Iverson Post

I love Allen Iverson.

And I'm not ashamed to admit it. No, he isn't perfect, but loving a perfect person is easy. It's finding a way to love the flaws that's the hard part. And oh, he is flawed. There is no doubt about that. But he deserved the standing ovation he got when his name was announced, and anyone who really thought the Philadelphia fans for whom he played his heart out every night for 11 years would boo him obviously knows nothing about Philly sports fans.

Are we loud? Yes. Obnoxious? Quite. Hard to please? Sure. But do we appreciate effort? Oh yes. If you play your heart out, we will love you, even if you aren't that good. (Although it really helps if you're good.) And Allen Iverson was good. (He still is, to be fair.) He was, with apologies to Donovan McNabb, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, the best Philadelphia athlete of my lifetime. And unless one of those guys wins a championship, that probably isn't going to change.

And yes, I'm fully aware Iverson did not win a championship here, but he put up better numbers than all of those guys. Even Utley. He's a first ballot hall of famer who played his heart out every minute of every game. (He is 4th all time in minutes per game average, at just over 40 per.) He is undersized, making him a natural underdog in a sport dominated by the freakishly tall. While he was by no means perfect, he was the perfect type of athlete for Philly: gritty, stubborn, hard working, and yes, occasionally gun toting.

When he was traded, we mourned as a city. Even those who did not like him here (and his detractors certainly exist) could not ignore what he meant to this city. He was Philadelphia, for better, and indeed for worse. And now he's gone. But Wednesday night we had him one more time, even if his uniform looked a little different. And even if he was playing for a different team, it just felt... right. He led all scorers, something he has done a few times before in that building. And even though the Sixers won, that was hardly in the forefront of anyone's mind.

One could argue that the Sixers (34-34) are a better team without Iverson, and one would probably be right, but they aren't better because he is gone. They would not be worse if you added him to their current roster. They may play more like a team now than they did when he was here, but that is because Andre Miller is one of the best point guards in the NBA, not because Iverson is a bad teammate or a selfish player. The best point guard Iverson ever played with was Eric Snow. Ask LeBron James how much he like playing with Eric.

The thing is, Iverson IS a team player. He has averaged close to 7 assists a game for his entire career. And that number would be higher if he ever played with guys who could shoot. You had to watch a lot of Sixers games to truly appreciate just how bad Iverson's supporting cast was for the majority of his tenure in Philly. He shot 30 times a game because that was the only way the Sixers were going to win. If you want proof that Iverson is capable of excelling when his teammates are talented, one needs to look no further than any of his all star game appearances. (Or, you could just look at the Nuggets.) He doesn't want to take every shot. He just wants to win.

And thats why I, and the majority f Philadephians, love Allen Iverson.

And we always will.