July 22, 2015
Among NBA players, the group of people that got an up-close look at Allen Iverson’s brand of all-out basketball on a nightly basis, The Answer has always been treated like an immortal. In Bill Simmons’ (his second appearance on the site today) “The Book of Basketball,” the author told an anecdote from 2006 when Iverson was on the trade block: An ESPN panel consisting of Greg Anthony, Jon Barry and Tim Legler “traded Iverson war stories like they were talking about a Mayan warrior.”
Iverson was revered by the next generation as well, the current group of NBA stars. So it should come to little surprise that at the inaugural “Players’ Awards,” he received the “Game Changer Award” for “constantly daring to be different and popularizing his unique style.” He received the award from Chris Paul and Lil Wayne during what looked like a terrific television program. Here is a link to video of his acceptance speech from BET.
Night after night, he played like tomorrow didn't exist. Thank you @alleniverson for everything you did for the game. pic.twitter.com/OqpG2PoHfc
— Chris Paul (@CP3) July 22, 2015
Iverson paid tribute to Michael Jordan before saying, "This award is one of the most special awards that I've ever received, because it comes from y'all, man,” Iverson said. "Y'all are the guys that brought everything out of me, night in and night out. It's been a great ride."
To finish, here is something that I brought up on Twitter earlier: If the players association put on an award show when Iverson was on the court, how many Most Valuable Player awards would he have taken home? Last night, the players disagreed with the media vote and gave the MVP to James Harden instead of Steph Curry. I would set the over-under for Iverson at 3.5.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
