October 8, 2009 2:05 pm | 93 Comments
The Legendary
‘The cover that wasn’t.’
Photo by Pier Nicola D’amico
Originally published in SLAM 96
Although our cover for SLAM 96 ended up being this photo of Allen Iverson without the blacktop in the background, it’s no doubt that the streets of Philly always had The Answer’s back. Dude gave it his all for the Sixers night after night for a decade. This past year may have made some forget, but when you see AI drop 30 more than a few times in a new city next season, don’t say we didn’t warn you.—Adam Fleischer
I can’t believe you through out Chris Webber.
Damn, that was just sad. Sad, sad, sad.
I would expect a better argument.
He got twenty at ten in Phili.
Was it Iverson’s inability to bond with Webber that made them miss the playoffs? No. Actually, it was neither Iverson nor Webber but management’s inexplicable decision to try and turn Phili into a slow, grind it out team (even though Iverson said again and again the team was built to run and they had to run… and it gets even more ironic and aggravating that the moment Iverson leaves, management turns the team into an athletic running team).
I’m just tired of people saying “OH MAN IF ONLY IVERSON HAD TALENT!”
The dude has had LOTS of talent in the past. It has nothing to do with talent. It’s not being in the right situation, not always making the right decision, and sadly, like most superstars who never got a ring, playing in the wrong era or just general bad luck. Just like all the other NBA big names who never got the hardware (Baylor, Gilmore, Gervin, Maravich, King, Wilkins, Stockton and Malone, Barkley, Ewing, etc.), it doesn’t make them less of a player. Iverson is a superstar through and through. But stop using the f*cking “he never played with the right stars” excuse. That makes YOU sound like an average basketball fan.
People love to talk about 2000, like it was some Jordan sh*t… When the Raptors and Bucks were just as bad, teams being carried by two (lesser) superstars who almost beat Phili in seven game series.
Yes, at the core, you are right: all those players have played with more superstars throughout their respected career (for the possible exception of Garnett, Allen, and Pierce–just because they’re all playing together now, doesn’t mean that they played with much talent). You’re still brushing over the fact (there’s that living in a different reality thing again) that Iverson HAS recently played with talent, and nothing happened… YES, once again, the reason was a) management and Iverson getting into fights on how to run the team (Iverson was right), then b) a lack of commitment to defense and c) being forced into a situation that was unbecoming of his skillsets and impossible for most any NBA player to fill. It was not really Iverson’s fault, ‘per say’. But damn, why am I lambasted for trying to say that Nash was cheated out of his glory by David Stern and referees working for the mob… but Iverson gets a free pass because he never teamed up with Kevin mother f*cking Garnett?
You sir are a racist, muf*cka. Those six ‘.’ marks in your first comment? That’s a dog act and you know it. Shame on you.
And I don’t care if I get some email telling me to “calm down” or some sh*t. If I do, that’s some two-face cr@p.
You really thought you could make an innuendo like that and NOT have someone pick up on it?
Actually, maybe they did - and just had the sense not to bring it into the light. Well f*ck that.
Shame on you.
Learn something new everyday.
If he wants to explain what he meant, then he can.
You really took the cake though, adding players to those teams who weren’t even there. That’s impressive. That’s commitment. Iverson would be proud.
Well, let’s take the Raptors: by the time 2000 rolled by, McGrady was balling in Orlando and Doug Christie was taking shots in Sacremento. If Vince’s squad had those two cats, they would have trampled the 76ers.
They did have a 36-year-old increpid Dell Curry, who was put in mainly during the second quarter for ten minutes and never saw any other playing time. He averaged six points that season. They also had an even OLDER Charles Oakley (37 years old) whose sole job was to prop his body up in the paint and grab rebounds– something he was too exhausted to do in the playoffs (Trust me, it wasn’t Iverson who was cutting his rebounding averages down by four). Antonio Davis was the only real help Vince Carter had, and even HE was 32-years-old, pretty immobile, and simply there to rebound. 13 points on .43% shooting for a power forward– great help!
The Kevin Willis inclusion was the best– he was closing in on 40 and was sucking so bad, the Raptors actually got RID of him before the playoffs!
So congratulations, 3/6 people you named were traded and the rest were well over 30 and unable to score! The 2000 raptors as a team, sucked!
You’re even farther off of reality with the Bucks– Danny Manning never even f’in PLAYED with the Bucks, and Dale Ellis WAS RETIRED FROM THE GOD DAMN LEAGUE.
Cassell was great for the Bucks and partially the reason for their success, but Robinson was not. Bias aside, Allen and Robinson were a terrible pair, as they constantly fought for shots and leadership fo the team– but unlike Allen, who could play D, lead the team, and hit clutch shots, the only thing Robinson could do other than score was to rack up turnovers and holdout on his team for money. But yeah, having two shoot-first “leaders” on your team was great for chemistry.
I love how you listed Tim Thomas as a ‘good’ player. Give me Aaron McKie anyday.
On another note, Spanny better find a way to give his ‘answer’ on this comment section or I’ll e-mail Ryne right now petitioning for his banning.
All-star team? Not hardly. At least equal to the awfulness of the Bucks and Raptors? Clearly.
Iverson was just better than Ray Allen and Vince Carter, so they moved to the Finals.
Just admit you looked at the wrong team charts on basketball-reference and move on, buddy.
I still don’t know where you got Danny Manning and Dale Ellis.
There are about as many players I could count on my hand in the L that could do what Iverson did in 2000-2001 (specifying for you!)
I’m just so tired of the outrageous c-sucking the dude gets. The same way Eboy bashes Kobe, Allen bashes Nash, and Myles bashes Lebron. I mean, Pardeep and Teddy were telling me the dude was better than Stockton. yeah, that’s about the time I really started getting disgruntled.
Of course I envy Iverson. I envy every single NBA player who can make millions by playing a game! Lots of freaking envy! I would hope the same would go for you too. Unless you won the lotto or something
If you think psychoanalyzing me is going to distract the fact that you looked up the wrong dates to try and up Iverson even further, I think you’re getting deeper into this fantasy.
I think we’re done here.
It’s ‘Genius’ Genius.
I’ve finally figured out why I can’t understand any of your analogies or sentences. Stop using an online translator and actually learn some structural English.
You gonna tell me what the dots really meant? ‘Cause I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume they weren’t a stand in for the n-word as Tavoris opined.
I’m kinda curious.
You fail at even the simplest memes.
One thing you are is consistent with your idiocy.
But, given some of your other comments, I can understand why Hursty and Tavoris thought what they did.
- I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt here. You didn’t explain what it represented though.
And calling me/us “sick” etc doesn’t mean we were incorrect in our judgement of your sentence.
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