The most exciting team of the last few years, the Phoenix Suns, intentionally slowed down with Shaq in the lineup (I won’t mention their fast-break statistics for the start of the season). The other high-flying 3-fest known as Golden State looked like it was falling apart.
Then the trade happened, I got fired up, and haven’t looked back.
As a sub-five-foot 13-year-old, I hated basketball. Sure I casually watched NBA, I was witness to MJ, but I never even thought about playing the game. I couldn’t shoot, couldn’t dribble. The ball was this giant burden that would never be lifted off my hands and into the basket.
But Allen Iverson found his way into my TV and video game attention span. It all started with a Reebok commercial in which he did his showboat crossover, bouncing the ball to his opponent’s right, doing a 360 pirouette to the left, and somehow reconnecting with the ball on the other side.
It was only a commercial, but I was sold.
I watched him play for the Sixers, driving the ball at will, throwing up reverse lay-ins with reckless abandon. Slotted at PG in his early years for his size but putting up SG-type stats.
He could create a shot at will, even with guys a foot taller before him. Run around everyone and lay it up on the side of the rim opposite from the big man, or do a sprint-and-stop pull-up J.
To a kid shorter than everyone else, he was an inspiration. I patterned my game after his dribbling and driving skills (though I didn’t have much of a jumper). And for a certain period (it’s been awhile) I pretty much only attempted lay-ups. I usually did it without the backboard, and I loved the reverse.
The man is THE REASON I started playing basketball and became an NBA head who only watches college to see who’s got pro potential (so mainly UNC). Just type “iverson jordan” into youtube and see what comes up.
Game one of the 2001 NBA Finals is, to this point, the high point of my life as a basketball fan. The Sixers didn’t have a chance against the Lakers. Kobe and Shaq vs Iverson and Mutombo? The guy was a one-man team! 48 points!!!...48 in his first finals game…in L.A.???
(Practice??...not a game…practice)
It was late at night on the East Coast and I was supposed to be asleep, but I had a TV in my room, watching it on near silent. Every time AI had another bucket and glared defiantly at the celebrity crowd, screams of intensity raged in my head but remained inaudible.
Even though the Sixers were quickly dispatched in 5 after winning Game 1 in OT, AI’s legendary performance lingers on as my "one shining moment."
When Iverson was traded to the Nuggets, I thought, alright, he’s back in the playoffs. I had to love this team – Melo from Baltimore, AI from Newport News, VA. But two 30-point scorers and Marcus Camby didn’t add up to much more than an 8 seed.
AI and Melo playing together was kinda like Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro bingeing together in Fear and Loathing – they didn’t exactly balance each other out.
So when I heard the news about Billups for Iverson, my first reaction was disbelief. Why would Detroit trade Mr. Big Shot, former Finals MVP? Now I’ve admired the Pistons for the last 5 years, especially their defense, and I’ve been a Sheed fan since the Jail-blazers. But I wasn’t sure how wild shootin Allen would fit in with this team, and what their identity could be without the ball going through Chauncey.
But on second thought, it started to make sense. The 2004 Pistons are ancient history. Yes they’ve made the East Finals every year, but they haven’t seemed hungry enough (except for maybe McDyess when he's not injured). And there are those big playoff moments where the offense slows down, and you need a superstar like LeBron to just score by himself. Detroit didn’t have that.
On the Nuggets side, one of the best pure PGs in the game brings stability to a formerly ADD offense. Billups can be the healthy distributer that Melo, Linas Kleiza, Nene, K-Mart, and J.R. Smith have been aching for. Not to mention the 3s he'll get while everyone's looking at Melo. They’ve played well since the trade, going 7-1 in Billups’ first 8 games with the team, including a big win in Boston.
Sheed, Rip, and Tayshaun, along with the newer guys like Stuckey and first-year coach Michael Curry, are still re-shaping their team with Iverson.
They dropped the first 2 games with AI, but are 4-1 since, including handing the Lakers their first loss (in L.A., no less), and a win at home Wednesday against the Cavs.
Even though AI doesn’t get mentioned in discussions for best player in the league, mostly due to defense, he has the highest career PPG of all active NBA players (27.6), higher than even LeBron (27.4). Iverson won’t and shouldn’t maintain that average in Detroit, and LeBron will pass him at some point soon. But the Pistons officially have that superstar who can get a tough bucket at the end of a key playoff game, all on his own effort.
It hasn't been long, but this trade is looking good so far for both teams.
Last year’s big trades for Kidd and Shaq seemed desperate (we all agree that Pau was a gift to let the Lakers become a contender). But I argue that Iverson and Billups have plenty of great NBA minutes left, not to mention plenty to prove, and the timing of the trade gives both teams a whole season to gel before playoff time.
I’m almost scared to say it…but Allen Iverson is on a title-contending team. And I think that’s the first time I’ve ever really said that (remember, the post-Jordan East was REAL weak).
Maybe the Basketball Gods will ensure that it’s not Boston-L.A. 2. And maybe, if the Pistons can win their division again over the Cavs…and maybe, if they can out-duel the Celts, AI will get his second shot. And maybe the current high point of my life as a basketball fan will be eclipsed.
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