Allen Ezail Iverson is an American former professional basketball player.
81 Facts About Allen Iverson
2.
Allen Iverson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.
3.
Allen Iverson is often regarded as one of the greatest scorers and one of the most influential players in NBA history.
4.
Allen Iverson attended Bethel High School in Hampton, Virginia, and was a dual-sport athlete.
5.
Allen Iverson represented the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics, winning the bronze medal.
6.
Allen Iverson was rated the fifth-greatest NBA shooting guard of all time by ESPN in 2008.
7.
Allen Iverson finished his career in Turkey with Besiktas in 2011.
8.
Allen Iverson returned as a player-coach for 3's Company in the inaugural season of the BIG3.
9.
Allen Iverson was born in Hampton, Virginia, to a single 15-year-old mother, Ann Allen Iverson.
10.
Allen Iverson then failed the eighth grade because of absences and moved to get out of the projects.
11.
Allen Iverson attended Bethel High School, where he started as quarterback for the school football team while playing running back, kick returner, and defensive back.
12.
Allen Iverson started at point guard for the school basketball team.
13.
Allen Iverson played for the Boo Williams AAU basketball team and won the 1992 17-and-under AAU national championship.
14.
Allegedly, Allen Iverson's crowd was raucous and had to be asked to quiet down several times, and eventually, a shouting duel began with another group of youths.
15.
Allen Iverson, who was 17 at the time, was convicted as an adult of the felony charge of maiming by mob, a rarely used Virginia statute that was designed to combat lynching.
16.
However, the three years Allen Iverson spent at Bethel were enough to convince Georgetown University head coach John Thompson to come out and meet Allen Iverson, and offer him a full scholarship to join the Georgetown Hoyas basketball team.
17.
That season, Allen Iverson led the Hoyas to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament, where they lost to the North Carolina Tar Heels.
18.
Allen Iverson ended his college career as the Hoyas' all-time leader in career scoring average, at 22.9 points per game.
19.
Allen Iverson was named the Big East Defensive Player of the Year in each of his two seasons at Georgetown.
20.
Allen Iverson was the first player under Coach Thompson to leave Georgetown early for the NBA.
21.
Allen Iverson tied Willie Anderson for the third highest scoring output by a rookie guard in his debut.
22.
Allen Iverson broke Wilt Chamberlain's rookie record of three straight games with at least 40 points, doing so in five straight games, including a 50-point effort in Cleveland against the Cavaliers.
23.
On January 26,1999, Allen Iverson signed a six-year, $70.9 million max contract extension.
24.
Allen Iverson averaged 26.8 points and was named to his first All-NBA First Team.
25.
Allen Iverson started all ten playoff games and averaged 28.5 points per game despite being hampered by a number of nagging injuries.
26.
Allen Iverson led the Sixers to an upset over the number three seeded Orlando Magic in four games, before losing to the Indiana Pacers in the second round in six games.
27.
That season, Allen Iverson was selected to the Eastern Conference All-Star team for the first time of what would be 11 straight selections.
28.
Allen Iverson was the only player other than Shaquille O'Neal to receive an MVP vote that year.
29.
Allen Iverson averaged a then-career-high 31.1 points, winning his second NBA scoring title in the process.
30.
Allen Iverson was named NBA Most Valuable Player; at 6 feet and 165 pounds, he became the shortest and lightest player to win the MVP award.
31.
Allen Iverson had 93 first-place votes out of a possible 124.
32.
Allen Iverson was named to the All NBA First team for his accomplishments.
33.
Allen Iverson led the Sixers to their first finals since their 1983 championship.
34.
Allen Iverson began using a basketball sleeve during this season during his recovery from bursitis in his right elbow.
35.
Allen Iverson continued wearing his sleeve long after his elbow had healed.
36.
Allen Iverson responded by saying, "We sittin' here, I supposed to be a franchise player, and we in here talkin' about practice," and went on a rant that included the word "practice" 24 times.
37.
Allen Iverson later described Davis as the most difficult opposing point guard to defend in his career.
38.
Allen Iverson later reunited with Brown when Allen Iverson became the co-captain of the 2004 United States Olympic men's basketball team.
39.
In 2005, Allen Iverson said that Brown was without a doubt "the best coach in the world".
40.
Allen Iverson missed a then-career-high 34 games in a disastrous season that saw the Sixers miss the postseason for the first time since 1998.
41.
Allen Iverson was replaced by Sixers' legend Maurice Cheeks, in a personnel move Iverson praised, as Cheeks had been an assistant coach with the team when they reached the NBA Finals in 2001.
42.
Allen Iverson had made it clear that he would like to stay a Sixer.
43.
Allen Iverson wants out and we're ready to accommodate him.
44.
Allen Iverson ended his 10-year Philadelphia tenure with the highest scoring average in team history, and is second all-time on the points list, and the Sixers did not win another playoff series after his departure until 2012.
45.
At the time of the trade, Allen Iverson was the NBA's number two leading scorer, with new teammate Carmelo Anthony being number one.
46.
On December 23,2006, Allen Iverson played his first game for the Nuggets.
47.
Allen Iverson had 22 points and 10 assists in a losing effort to the Sacramento Kings.
48.
Allen Iverson was fined $25,000 by the NBA for criticizing referee Steve Javie following a game between the Nuggets and Allen Iverson's former team, the Philadelphia 76ers, played January 2,2007.
49.
On November 3,2008, Allen Iverson was dealt from the Denver Nuggets to the Detroit Pistons for guard Chauncey Billups, forward Antonio McDyess and center Cheikh Samb.
50.
Allen Iverson scored at least 24 in four of his first five games with Detroit, and would score 20 or more with 6 or more assists on a consistent basis, but as the season wore on, he would lose playing time to Rodney Stuckey.
51.
On September 10,2009, Allen Iverson signed a one-year contract with the Memphis Grizzlies.
52.
General manager Ed Stefanski declined to go into the terms of the agreement, but an unnamed source told the Associated Press that Allen Iverson agreed to a one-year non-guaranteed contract at the league minimum salary.
53.
Stefanski said the team made the decision to pursue Allen Iverson after starting guard Lou Williams suffered a broken jaw and was expected to miss at least 30 games.
54.
On December 7,2009, Allen Iverson made his return to Philadelphia, garnering a thunderous ovation from the sold-out crowd, in a loss against his former team, the Denver Nuggets.
55.
Allen Iverson finished the game with 11 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, a steal, and no turnovers.
56.
Allen Iverson shot 70 percent from the field in the game.
57.
Allen Iverson was voted as a starter for the All-Star Game for the 11th straight season.
58.
On February 22,2010, Allen Iverson left the 76ers indefinitely, citing the need to attend to his 4-year-old daughter Messiah's health issues, which he revealed years later as Kawasaki Disease.
59.
Allen Iverson's final NBA game was a loss against Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls on February 20,2010.
60.
Allen Iverson returned to the United States in January 2011 for calf surgery.
61.
Allen Iverson only played ten games for Besiktas that season, and did not play professional basketball after that.
62.
In January 2013, Allen Iverson received an offer to play for the Texas Legends of the NBA D-League, but he declined.
63.
On October 30,2013, Allen Iverson announced his retirement from basketball, citing he lost his desire to play.
64.
Allen Iverson headlined the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2016 along with Shaquille O'Neal and Yao Ming.
65.
Allen Iverson highlighted John Thompson and Larry Brown when speaking to the media on who he credited for a Hall of Fame career.
66.
In 2017, the creation of the 3-on-3 professional basketball league BIG3 was announced, with Allen Iverson set to be a player and coach on 3's Company.
67.
Allen Iverson led all USA players in scoring, assists, and steals, averaging 16.7 points, 6.1 assists, and 2.9 steals per game.
68.
Allen Iverson was selected to be part of Team USA for the 2003 FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Puerto Rico in August of that year.
69.
Allen Iverson started all eight games that he played in, and was second on the team with 14.3 points per game, while posting 3.8 assists per game, 2.5 rebounds per game, 1.6 steals per game, and shooting 56.2 percent from the field, 53.6 percent from 3-point and 81.0 percent from the foul line.
70.
Allen Iverson was named to the 2003 USA Senior National Team on April 29,2003.
71.
Allen Iverson had an on-again, off-again relationship with rapper Da Brat.
72.
On May 14,2015, Allen Iverson appeared on CBS This Morning in support of a Showtime Network documentary on his life, Allen Iverson, during which he addressed long-discussed rumors of financial struggles, denying any notion that he was struggling.
73.
Allen Iverson was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon and for possession of marijuana.
74.
Allen Iverson pleaded no contest and was sentenced to community service.
75.
In 2002, Allen Iverson was alleged to have thrown his wife Tawanna out of their home after a domestic dispute and later threatening two men with a gun while looking for her.
76.
On February 24,2004, Allen Iverson urinated in a trash can at Bally's Atlantic City casino and was told by casino management not to return.
77.
On December 9,2005, after the Sixers defeated the Charlotte Bobcats, Allen Iverson paid a late-night visit to the Trump Taj Mahal.
78.
In 2013, Allen Iverson was accused of kidnapping his children and refusing to return them to their mother.
79.
Allen Iverson denied the claim and his ex-wife later recanted.
80.
Allen Iverson started dating his high school sweetheart Tawanna Turner when they were 16, and married her at The Mansion on Main Street in Voorhees, New Jersey.
81.
On March 2,2010, Tawanna Allen Iverson filed for divorce, seeking custody of their children, as well as child support and alimony payments.