Billy Penn
Sixers honor Allen Iverson with a statue, but the internet had one small problem with it
“The Answer’s” likeness was added to the Legends Walk at the 76ers training complex on Friday, with AI there to unveil it.
8 months ago
The statue was designed by sculptor Chad Fisher, who created the other Sixers statues outside the training facility. (Cory Sharber/WHYY)
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Basketball hall-of-famer Allen Iverson was honored on Friday with a statue outside of the Philadelphia 76ers Training Complex in Camden.
The former MVP and 11-time NBA all-star will forever be featured performing his signature crossover outside of the practice facility.
“The Answer” was overcome with emotion when discussing the honor in front of his family, teammates and mentors from over the years.
Iverson thanked “everybody that had a hand” in the success he’s achieved throughout his career, including hall-of-fame head coach Larry Brown, who helped lead the team to an appearance in the NBA Finals in 2001.
“Me and coach didn’t see eye to eye on things, but he wanted the same thing that I wanted out of my career and our team goals,” Iverson said. “And once I bought into that, that’s what turned me into an MVP basketball player. That’s what turned us to a team that were winners that could go to the finals and compete with the best teams.”
In 1996, the Sixers selected the guard out of Georgetown with the first pick. Iverson went on to win the Rookie of the Year and spend the first 12 years of his career with the team. To be honored with a statue after all these years, Iverson said it “don’t even seem real.”
“I don’t get nervous too much, but just seeing so many people in here that I love and just … just want to say all the right things,” Iverson said with tears in his eyes. “I just want you to know how much I appreciate y’al l… I thank everybody for coming out. I thank everybody, like I said, for playing a part in this and making this dream come true.”
Iverson’s backcourt teammate Eric Snow said A.I. was the first person to welcome him to Philadelphia after he was traded to the team from Seattle in 1998. He said the quality he most appreciates in Iverson is “how genuine his heart is.”
“Every night we stepped out on the court, I was going to have somebody beside me that was going to give everything that he could,” Snow said. “I do know that for everything that you’ve done for me, everything that you’ve done for this team, the game of basketball, you’re very much appreciated, and this is well-deserved.”
Iverson’s sculpture joins nine other Sixers legends along the Legends Walk at the Training Complex. Those players are: Charles Barkley, Wilt Chamberlain, Maurice Cheeks, Billy Cunningham, Julius Erving, Hal Greer, Bobby Jones, Moses Malone and Dolph Schayes.
Iverson will be honored Sunday ahead of the clash between the Sixers and the Brooklyn Nets at the Wells Fargo Center at 1 p.m. This will mark the 10th anniversary of his jersey number being retired by the team.
The Sixers are currently seventh in the Eastern Conference standings. If the season ended today, Philadelphia would play the Miami Heat in the Play-In Tournament. The tournament starts April 16, and the NBA Playoffs will begin on April 20.