The End of Iverson?
[A version of this appears in the new issue of Slam Magazine]
It starts with the cornrows. When I think back on the 2008-2009 NBA season, I don't think my first thoughts will stray to Lebron James' ascension to the MVP throne, Dwyane Wade returning and surpassing his old form, Kobe clawing for that championship, or Shaquille O'Neal finding the fountain of middle age. I won't remember the rise of Dwight Howard or the fall of Yao. I am going to remember the cornrows.
Allen Iverson's cornrows, to be exact. Over All-Star weekend, the player they call the Answer had them untangled braid by braid. Once pulled out and shaped up, AI, in that unfamiliar Detroit Pistons uniform, looked like just another baller. It was those cornrows, fully blown out, that gave Slam Magazine its most iconic cover. The cornrows were the anti-authoritarian crown on the old king.
For the last decade, AI -- his neck tattoos, his reckless arrogance, his audacious extremism -- has dominated the discourse on and off the court. But after the first season of his career in which Iverson averaged less than 20 points and was asked to come off the bench, many are saying that his era of irreverence is done. After a season in team-oriented Detroit where AI was deemed a problematic chemistry killer -- and the man he was traded for from Denver, Chauncey Billups, got more good ink than the Pope's papyrus -- the media told us that the wheel has turned. Now the king has been deposed by age and circumstance and our sports world is, quite frankly, blander for it.
It was AI who became the first "little man" drafted number 1 overall back in 1996. And he was just getting warm. It was AI the rookie who signaled a new period in 1996-7 when he crossed over Michael Jordan himself and then said afterward, "My heroes don't wear suits." It was AI the superstar who earned four scoring titles, an MVP, and dragged a mediocre 76er team to the 2001 NBA finals. It was also AI the superstar who said about the NBA dress code, "Just because you put a guy in a tuxedo, it doesn't mean he's a good guy. It sends a bad message to kids. If you don't have a suit on when you go to school, is the teacher going to think you're a bad kid? I never wore a suit going in any park I ever went to when I was coming up. I just came from Japan, where I saw thousands of kids; all of them dressed like me, from the biggest guy to the smallest. It's just not right. It's something I'll fight for. I promised I wouldn't get up here and try to destroy anybody trying to make that [rule], but it's not right."
The moment that the Answer, the ultimate one-on-one (or at times one-on-five) baller joined the directionless Pistons, it was that our Hero Misfit had become merely a misfit. With him goes an era of seeing an NBA player at the heart of debates that have far transcended the world of sports.
The AI debates don't merely challenge the artificial divide between sports and politics: they openly and proudly mock them: what effect does "hip hop culture" have on the game? Why is one man's entourage another man's posse? How do we explain the dress code, the age requirements, the media scrutiny, and all the latent -- or even open -- hostility between new jack players and the commissioner's office, the press, and the people NBA commissioner David Stern calls "The ticket buying fans"? AI was at the center of all of these storms. And he did it with style and substance: the most dominant six footer in NBA history with the tats to match.
Now the league is being led by Lebron James, repeatedly praised for his "poise and maturity", the contrast with AI rudely below the surface. It is led by Chris Paul, rebuilding New Orleans one assist -- and one glowing story -- at a time. It's being led by Kevin Durant who tells the press he loves the new dress code. The big NBA story of the summer was about whether or not Lebron James is too image conscious, after seizing a videotape of being dunked on at a Nike camp. The story that received no play was Iverson breaking down and crying while giving out awards through his scholarship program.
As one commentator noted, "Whether you're a fan of his or not, it's shocking to see one of the toughest players in the game just bawling."
Now, Iverson is looking for a team to get that second chance. The opportunities are narrow but maybe we shouldn't bet against AI just yet.
Stern prays that the era of antipathy is done. Ratings are up, stars are appropriately telegenic, and even in these tough economic times, the future for the league has legs. But for those of us who believe sports has a great deal to teach us about life, for those of us who like it a little more rough rugged and raw, we should hope for a full-scale comeback from the man who delivered the Answer, before we could even articulate the questions.
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I'm so glad the HP features Dave Zirin. Sports has always been at the forefront of social change in this country -- Ali, Jackie Robinsion, Biile Jean King, etc. Zirin is always out front on sports and social issues. Funny that some call AI a 'wasted talent.' A 6'0" guy in the NBA for a decade? Come on. He's been very successful, even if he has not won a championship.
I stopped paying attention to the NBA about the time Iverson came in. The Nuggets were back to the drawing board and I started to feel like the quality of play was pretty low until you got to the post-season. Nowhere else would I have learned all the other intersections of that era except from DZ. Iverson definitely moves up my heroes list with these insights b/c I can see he's like me: a rough, direct, passionate type who doesn't get along with everyone like wine and cheese.
AI is what lurks beneath the safety nets of USA and is what keeps reality of a diverse society in the fore. His threats to the security of those living in the comfort of mainstream is definitely threatening as such Black athletic icons have caused throughout the Euro occupation of Anahuac.
Jack Johnson, Ali, Brown, Robinson, and the other non-conforming great athletes!
Thanks for the wonderful article. "The cornrows were the anti-authoritarian crown on the old king." Yes.
I, too, have never been a fan of Iverson's ... but the point Dave makes about the corporatization of the NBA couldn't be more spot on. I came to basketball in between Chamberlain and Jordan, the beauty of the 1975-1985 game was the melding of individual virtuosity and teamwork..
While Iverson bucked the suppression of individual virtuosity, he never seemed to have the teammates, or have the sense of balancing his talent with team play, necessary to buck the one-one-one, superstar-centered two-man game, or so-boring-
Part of what's missing is that, since Jordan, we've lived in a polarized neoliberal world where you have good athletes and bad athletes and each individual athlete is defined and isolated. Working class athletes used to grow up in an era infused with social movements; athletes stood for, and on the shoulders of, the folks in those movements. Today, beyond family and foundations, even politicized athletes operate in a world defined by almost thirty years of anti-movement ideology; Iverson can't fall back on the folks Hank Aaron, Jim Brown and Joe Morgan could....
Baseball, to me, has twenty times the richness and affecting personality of the NBA or NFL and I utterly and completely can't stand the leadership of that game either.
Once again, Dave Zirin has the Answer. He's the only sports guy out there (besides Bill Simmons) who's actually saying something real and relevant.
You'll not see the likes of AI any time soon, if at all. I don't know what pro bb has become. I know that as long as they allow the pros to play zones, the game is just not that much fun to watch anymore. Lebron will never be that interesting until he learns to finish games.
Good article, as are all your essays. I am not huge Iverson fan, so this gave me some things to think about. It's good to see that he isn't a company man, like Jordan and James. When I lived in Portland, poor Rasheed Wallace, another iconoclast, got taken over the coals, by the press and talk shows, and especially by that pompous windbag Bill Walton.. I was at a game and met his mom. Nice person as is her son. I watched other players talk to Rasheed. You could tell they liked him in a way the never liked Jordan or like James. My guess is that Iverson is that type of person. I can't imagine him or Wallace refusing to congratulate an oponent like James did in Orlando, truly a bush league gesture.
One question: is it true that AI stood by and watched his bodyguard beat a man in a bar?
I lived in Portland for a number of years also.
Rasheed was totally disprected by the Portland press.
And then the fickle BLAZER fans just followed suit.
But my Girlfriend at the time who worked for the WB Studio Gallery at Washington Square always said that Dude was a gentleman and very friendly with her staff.
He would by $$$$ worth of stuff from there, joke with them and everything.
I've always loved Iverson.
Dude had heart and game.
But I feel he somewhat contributed to the demise of his stature.
Dude got too caught up in his own hype.
Hopefully Iverson has seen the writing,
And will get back to his glory.
Has Allen Iverson ever been in trouble? Or does he just look the part?
What's "the part"?
you somehow left out iverson's perpetual denigration of practice and actually learning or caring to play the game the right way. iverson is another example of great talent thrown away because he never grew up and figured it out. iverson had the most team success with larry brown, the person who deserves the most credit for the sixers run in 2001. that team was a team and played defense.
and ive seen better tattoos on bums at bus stations.
Wow this is full of inaccuries. Can we give a brother a new narrative please? Maybe wait until the season starts to walk over his NBA grave? I would hardly call this video of him "breaking down and crying" he got choked up. And let's face it, he's right. The married father of four never gets any other story but this same.old.o
No one does political hyperbole quite like Zirin, but beneath his deft expressions are vast amounts of truth about sports and culture. He hit his analysis of Iverson and the NBA and its cultural significance right on target.
End of an era. Loved AI for his heart. NO ONE played harder
Great article. Thanks for including the touching video
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