Allen shows his staying power
By PHIL JASNER
Posted on Thu, Sep. 25, 2003 - Philadelphia Daily News
DID SOMEBODY say Allen Iverson could have waited until after this season and created a 7-year contract instead of 6?
"We went over all the different scenarios," said Iverson's agent, Leon Rose. "He said he wanted to do it now.
"It's a risk-reward thing. He definitely could have made substantially more with a longer contract, if that was what he wanted. If he had waited until after the season, he could have signed for 7 [the maximum permissible], or 6 with another team [again, the maximum permissible].
"But you don't know what's going to happen tomorrow."
What happened last night, in front of 2,000 season ticketholders in the Wachovia Center, was exactly what Iverson wanted. Instead of opting out after the season, as his existing contract stipulated he could, he chose to accept an extension.
Right there, on a podium, flanked by president/general manager Billy King and new coach Randy Ayers, Iverson signed on the dotted line, adding $76.78 million to this season's $13.5 million and the $14.625 million in what would have been his option year in 2004-05.
Add it up: That's more than $104 million. If he fulfills the length of the deal, he will have been a Sixer for 13 seasons, more than any Sixer in history. Longer than Julius Erving and Maurice Cheeks, who each were here for 11 years. He also will have been with the franchise longer than any player other than Hal Greer, who spent five seasons with Syracuse, then 10 more with the Sixers.
Did somebody say Iverson could simply have taken a walk, demanded to go elsewhere after the swirls of controversy that have splotched his otherwise terrific career? Did somebody say he could have reminded people about the bitterness he felt when reporters and gawkers camped outside his house after he was hit with criminal charges that were later totally dismissed in the summer of 2002?
"Allen's one of the most loyal people you could ever meet," Rose said. "It's that type of loyalty he feels toward the city. Through thick and thin, he's had that feeling, the feeling that people are behind him."
Did somebody say that, at 28, Iverson has signed his last contract?
"I think he thinks he can play forever," Rose said, smiling.
"Indiana just signed Reggie [Miller] to a 3-year deal at 38," King said.
"I don't think any other fans would embrace me like I've been embraced here," Iverson said.
Did somebody say Iverson is doggedly (no pun intended) thinking in terms of winning a championship?
"I want to be the dog in his yard who's going to bite if somebody intrudes," he said.
Rose said, if he added together the time spent in discussions with King since an initial meeting somewhere in Rittenhouse Square in June, it might add up to 2 full days.
"But I always felt both sides were going for the same goal," Rose said.
Things heated up in San Juan, Puerto Rico, as Iverson was starring for the U.S. team in the Olympic qualifying tournament.
"I was there, kind of under the radar," Rose said, laughing. "But Allen was committed to being a Sixer for the rest of his career."
All parties concerned officially exhaled last night, as Iverson and King each signed the document. There's a "love of the game" clause, saying Iverson can play basketball just about any time, any place he wishes. There's no trade kicker, probably because Iverson had no interest in one. There is not a no-trade clause, but only because a player has to be with the same team for 10 seasons to qualify for one; Iverson is preparing for his eighth.
"Leon told me Billy was ready to do something," Iverson said. "All I could tell him was, 'Just get it done.' No matter what, just get it done."
He said over and over, as he has from the day he became the No. 1 overall pick in the 1996 draft, that he wanted to spend his entire career here.
"Once I got drafted, I told myself I didn't want to do that to little kids," he said. "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."
So far, he has won three scoring titles, led the league in steals three times, won the Most Valuable Player award in 2000-01, the season in which he led the Sixers to the Finals for the first time since 1982-83. Every official league and team guide lists him as a 6-foot shooting guard, a seemingly impossible role in a land populated primarily by giants.
"When [then-coach] Larry Brown moved him to two-guard, people thought he was crazy," King recalled. "Allen said, 'If you move me to two, I'll lead the league in scoring.'"
You can argue about the number of shots Iverson takes, or the selection. You can wonder why the Sixers have not had the same player as their No. 2 scorer for two seasons in a row. King sees it as all part of the wonderment of Iverson.
"If he hit the weight room and bulked up, he wouldn't be Allen Iverson," King said. "If he hit the weight room to get stronger, that would help. Being 5-10, people can relate to him...don't tell him I said he was 5-10.
"He's small, he's skinny. They see what he can do on the court. They can't relate to a 7-3, 310-pound player as powerful as Shaq; no one could do that. But people can go to the gym and pretend they're Allen Iverson, because they're 6-1 or 5-10. They can go to the club and say, 'Hey, I'm Allen Iverson.'
"But it's not how electrifying he is, how magical. It's when you go to Utah or Denver and see people wearing his jersey; you expect it in New York or L.A., but [you see it] in Sacramento or Indiana, and that tells you he relates to everybody. If you were to correlate it to music, you'd say he has great crossover appeal."
