Sixers Hall of Famer Allen Iverson showed how to lead a team to the NBA Finals. Nick Nurse is taking notes.
“I think it will leave forever a foundation of what the city stands for and how guys need to play the game,” Nurse said.
There may never be another player adored for his grit like Allen Iverson in Philadelphia.
Though he was barely 6 feet tall and a soaking-wet 165 pounds, and barely touched the weights, his heart made him one of the NBA’s all-time feared competitors.
A lethal scorer and walking crossover machine, Iverson was a league MVP, a four-time scoring champion, and a three-time steals champion who led the 76ers to their most recent NBA Finals appearance in 2001.
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“I’m learning how to coach 20 years ago in my 30s,” Sixers first-year coach Nick Nurse, 56, told Iverson Friday during the Hall of Famer’s sculpture reveal ceremony at the team’s practice facility.
“But I’m learning and I’m watching everything I can get my hands on,” Nurse continued. “Just the recurring visions of you playing with so much heart and driving to the basket. It’s going in, and you taking a shot or going down and picking your [butt] up and doing it night after night.
“And just, like, your heart was so much of everything. You saw it every night out there. … I think it will leave forever a foundation of what the city stands for and how guys need to play the game.”
Iverson may never live down his infamous “we talking about practice” rant in a press conference on May 7, 2002. He went on to say the word “practice” 22 times that day after his dedication to practice was questioned.
But no one ever questioned his desire to play in games.
“I could sit out a practice,” Iverson said following Friday’s ceremony. “Play me in the games.”
Truth be told, he rarely missed games. Even when injured, Iverson wanted to play so badly the Sixers had to hide his jersey to prevent him from playing.
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It’s hard to envision him adapting to NBA teams’ current practice of resting players to prevent future injury and to extend careers.
“Yeah, right,” Iverson said sarcastically of playing under those terms. “You know me, I still would’ve been pouting every time I came out of the game.”
He led the league in points (31.1 points) and steals (2.5) while logging 42 minutes per game during the 2000-01 season. In addition to sweeping the regular-season MVP and All-Star Game MVP titles, he carried the franchise to the finals.
Iverson finished with 48 points in 52 minutes, 57 seconds as the Sixers defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, 107-101, in Game 1. Philly didn’t have enough to win the title, though, losing the next four games.
“I think Coach tells me all the time that I had to put the ball in the air a lot for us to win,” said Iverson, realizing how his availability impacted the team’s success. “And it wouldn’t have been no different because if you’re saying I would’ve been playing with the same teammates, then why would my game change? You know what I mean?
“But as far as load management, just sitting out of a game? I can sit out of practice. Play me in the game. You know what I mean? Like, that’s crazy. They’re talking about guys not playing in games and sitting out of games, but they’re getting on me for not practicing, but they know I’m playing in every game. Hurt, sick, whatever so I just thought I was getting picked on back then [about the practice criticism].”
On the court, Iverson played every game like it was his last. He dove for loose balls while throwing caution out the window on a nightly basis.
There were times when he woke up in the morning and walked in the bathroom like Fred Sanford because he was in excruciating pain. In those moments, his family didn’t expect him to play in that night’s game. But upon arriving to the arena parking lot and seeing the fans, Iverson told himself he would play even when he didn’t feel well.
“The game is still the game, and I always loved to just play,” he said. “Play in front of my crowd, play in front of the away crowd to shut them up, just the competition. I’ve always been in competition. Whether I’m playing Spades or whether I’m playing Monopoly or anything. I just love winning. I just love being competitive, and I just could never.”
That’s why he used to get upset when players sat out for load management, because, as a fan of the game, he wanted them to play. And he realizes there’s a kid out there who might never see a player compete again. Someone might have given them some tickets to attend a specific game.
“They probably can’t afford those tickets to go to games to see you play, and then they get there and [you’re] nowhere around,” Iverson said. “But I understand. ... Everybody doesn’t feel like that, and then you can’t question when somebody doesn’t feel good.
“If they say, ‘I don’t want to play tonight’, that’s totally different, but if somebody says they hurt, you don’t question somebody’s injury.”
And no one ever questioned Iverson’s heart, will to win, and desire to compete no matter what ailment he dealt with at the time.
The Sixers will honor Iverson during Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Brooklyn Nets. Fans will talk about his many accomplishments and illustrious career.
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The 11-time All-Star played with the Sixers from 1996 to 2006 and during the 2009-10 season. He also had stints with the Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, and Memphis Grizzlies. Iverson briefly played for Besiktas Milangaz of Turkey’s Basketball Super League in 2010-11.
The 48-year-old averaged 26.7 points during his career and is a member of the NBA 75th Anniversary team. He also won his second All-Star Game MVP in 2005. And his 19,931 points are second in franchise history to Hall of Famer Hal Greer’s 21,586.
“Your heart was so much of everything,” Nurse said to Iverson. “You just saw it every night. I think that it leaves or has left or will leave forever a foundation of what the city stands for and how guys need to play the game. … Putting that jersey on [stuff] goes fast. You got to respect that, enjoy that, and give everything you got.
“But, man, if anybody maxed out that thought playing this game, it’s you. I want to thank you for that. And I’m going to tell you what. ‘I’m going to fight my [butt] off back to where you took them a long time ago.’”