Sights and sounds from Allen Iverson’s sculpture unveiling

Sights and sounds from Allen Iverson’s sculpture unveiling

It was chaotic. It was beautiful. There was a little controversy, but it was full of love.

That’s the best way to describe the Sixers unveiling an Allen Iverson sculpture at their practice facility Friday. It’s also a decent way to describe his career.

The legend known as A.I. was surrounded by family, friends, teammates, coaches, executives, media and adoring fans. Of all the players the Sixers have bestowed this honor upon, none created an environment like this.

A room that’s reserved for big press conferences at the complex was full of more people and life than likely there’d ever been in that building. Marc Zumoff, the legendary play-by-announcer who narrated the entire career of Iverson, was back to emcee the event. Larry Brown, Pat Croce, Aaron McKie, Eric Snow … the list goes on.

Iverson was of course emotional as he spoke to all those assembled. As we’ve all learned over the years, he’s a cryer. He said that he told himself he wasn’t going to, but it was inevitable.

From there the discussion became which pose they’d use. Would it be Iverson putting his hand to his ear, imploring the crowd to get louder? Would it be the legendary step-over of Tyronn Lue from Game 1 of the 2001 NBA Finals? While those seemed like logical choices, they went with Iverson’s iconic move: the crossover.

From there, it was time to pose for pictures. His mom, Ann, was on hand of course, rocking a Georgetown jersey and Hoyas-themed Reebok Questions. He took pictures with his children, the team’s current brass and, of course, a slew of his former teammates.

For Sixers fans of a certain age, what an iconic photo.

Of course there was a bit of controversy over the size of the sculpture. For context, all the sculptures that are on a path the Sixers call “76ers Legends Walk” are the same size. And yes, Iverson’s might look a little smaller compared to the likes of Dolph Schayes and Charles Barkley, but Iverson is also barely 6-feet tall (if he’s even 6-feet tall).

In any case, Iverson spoke with media afterward and talked about what he hopes the sculpture represents to those who walk by it.

“Just playing every game like it’s your last,” he said. “That was always my motto. I felt like I was going regardless of the circumstances, if I’m hurt or whatever, if I’m on the court, there was no reason for me to not play that game like it’s my last. It’s not fair to myself. It’s not fair to God for giving me the talent and I always felt like I’m gonna play harder than anybody out here.

“Now, if I have a bad game and I shoot 0-for-Winfrey or something like that, then so be it. I can look in the mirror and feel good about myself because I played as hard as I could. I was gonna play harder than anybody night in and night out.”