26: Allen Iverson

Has anyone revolutionized the combo-guard more than Allen Iverson? No but then again Iverson also single handedly pushed the NBA into the hip-hop era, bringing cornrows, tattoos and thug entourages with him (OK not completely true, Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose and Gary Payton did it before him but still, I was on a roll). AI was a player that you made sure you saw every time he either hit the screen or your town, He intimidated more than a few players and drove to the hoop like Derrick Rose on steroids, and that's an understatement.

"The Answer" showed people how important appearance is, drawing attention to his typical crook look, his hatred of practice, the fact that he "wasn't" making his team better but somehow forgot about the facts that: Allen Iverson was the 76ers, he lead the league in scoring four times ( five seasons over 30PPG), was an All-NBA 1st teamer three times, and not to mention took them to the NBA Finals on his shoulders back in '01 with his 31-4-5 on 42% shooting.


When I think of "The Answer" the first thing that comes to me is that in my lifetime, Allen Iverson was the most influential athlete in the NBA, if not overall, he was what the kids wanted to be and the grandparents hated, he was a legendary family man, a non stop partier, and one cocky f*****. Allen Iverson may be the most interesting athlete ever, don't believe me?

Maybe "The Answer" took too many shots, was a horrible three point shooter, turned the ball over too much and didn't defend with all his effort, BUT he was the fastest baller I have ever seen, made the craziest layups, runners and floaters, he took a mediocre team to a new level as nothing but a scorer (something 'Nique, Ice, McAdoo, T-Mac and Vinsanity never did), Iverson had an extra gear that none of those guys had, in a close game, Iverson was on NOS, while the others were at the same level as before.

 When you watched Allen Iverson you saw an intensity that  around 99.9999999998% of the NBA didn't, he was like a hungry rottweiler with raw meat at his paws, he was relentless on the court, a hurricane in a bottle and one of the greatest basketball players of all-time, after all he was "The Answer" to our questions...