Allen Iverson hangs up his sneakers

Submitted by ngugi on Thu, 26/11/2009 - 23:29

After weeks of speculation over the future of Allen Iverson, its now official he has now decided to retire. Iverson might not have won a NBA champions title but his amazing skills made him one of the most skilled NBA guard to ever emerge after the Jordan era.

Just like any other human being, he had his own controversial issues but when he was holding the ball on the court, Allen Iverson was wonderful to watch. His popularity grew not just in the US but also worldwide. Along all this, he even managed to put the Philadelphia 76ers on the map.

He was drafted in the NBA in 1996, aged 21, by the Philadelphia 76ers and he made his mark with an outstanding performance that earned him the NBA rookie of the year award. Despite this incredible start he had to wait for five years to finally lead his team to the NBA finals where they lost to the La Lakers.

However, his contribution to the team didn’t go unnoticed, he was awarded the NBA most valuable player and named the NBA All-star most valuable player as well. With all this accolades, 2000-2001 was truly his best ever season.

After 10 years with the 76ers he left in 2006 to join the Denver Nuggets. When he returned to Philadelphia in March 2008 to play against his former team, the atmosphere in front of that sell out crowd was thrilled to see the man who had dazzled them for a decade, he even got a standing ovation at the end of that game.

In 2008 he joined the Detroit pistons in a trade that saw Chauncey Billups joining the Denver Nuggets. The downside of this trade made Iverson to switch to No 1 Jersey after wearing No. 3 Jersey his entire NBA career.

Memphis Grizzlies signed a contract with Iverson in 2009 but after playing for 3 games Iverson left the team for personal reasons. In his retiring statement he said he felt strongly that he could compete at the highest level, which many will view it as an indicator that perhaps one-day he might return.

Something interesting to note is how Iverson fans stood close to him, in good and in bad times. We will surely miss you.