Iverson puts signature on four-year extension
The 76ers owe their superstar guard $104.8 million over the next six seasons. They're elated about that.
By Joe Juliano
Posted on Thu, Sep. 25, 2003 - Philadelphia Inquirer
Allen Iverson arrived at the Wachovia Center yesterday to sign his new megabucks deal wearing the white No. 5 jersey of Donovan McNabb, another prominent Philadelphia athlete who recently signed a megabucks deal.
Of course, McNabb, the Eagles' quarterback, has been under much scrutiny since signing his $112.9 million contract last year, becoming the No. 1 target of the city's boobirds given the team's 0-2 start.
But Iverson, who wore the jersey in a show of support for McNabb, knows all about scrutiny. The 76ers' franchise guard said he has gone through it "all my life" and knows it's bound to get more intense after the four-year, $76.7 million extension that he signed yesterday on the arena floor in front of about 3,000 season-ticket holders who cheered every other sentence he uttered.
Even with the scrutiny and the criticism in his seven seasons, Iverson insisted he didn't want to be anywhere else but Philadelphia for the next six years, or through the 2008-09 season.
"That was the whole plan," he said last night. "Once I got drafted, I felt I did not want to do that to little kids. I didn't want them to see me in a Sixers uniform one year and see me in another uniform in another city the next year. It just means a lot to me that I can be in a Sixers uniform for the rest of my career."
Iverson, 28, has two years remaining on his current deal - worth $13.5 million this season and $14.625 million in 2004-05.
He is expected to make $16.4 million in the first year of the extension, followed by annual salaries of $18.3 million, $20.1 million and $21.9 million, according to league sources.
Adding up the salaries for six seasons, Iverson will be earning about $104.8 million. The contract will keep him in a Sixers uniform until two months before his 34th birthday.
Billy King, the team's president and general manager, said a Rittenhouse Square lunch in June with Leon Rose, Iverson's agent, set the groundwork for negotiations on a new deal. He said the process picked up after Iverson's stellar performance with Team USA in the Olympic qualifying tournament, and the deal got done.
"Leon told me that Billy was ready to do something," Iverson said. "I told him to get it done. No matter what, just get it done."
"Today you have players who want to go where the money is and test the free-agent market," King said. "As Allen said from day one, he always wanted to be a Philadelphia 76er, and we're telling him we want him to be here as well."
The 6-foot Iverson said he feels he's getting better. He said he is faster and stronger. He said he learned some things playing for Team USA that he will utilize with the Sixers. He will be playing for a rookie head coach, Randy Ayers, who expects him to exhibit leadership.
"I'm ready to do whatever it takes to win a championship, simple as that," Iverson said. "I don't know the real definition of a leader, because a leader can lead in so many different ways. A leader can lead by example. There's a lot of ways you can do it.
"I'm going to try to help Coach as much as I can. I know the situation he's been put in. Honestly, he might not say this, but I will: People are waiting for him to fail, and I want to be a part of his success. I want to be the dog in his yard that will bite if somebody intrudes."
