Allen Iverson, the New Bad Boy
June 9 -- Allen Iverson, the six-foot point guard is almost aways the smallest guy on the court — the NBA's Rocky Balboa.
"Appollo Creed, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant keep knocking him down but somehow he keeps getting up," said New York Times basketball writer Mike Wise.
But his speed, quickness and scoring skills have made him the league's most valuable player.
Iverson Goes Through Growing Pains
"For the first time in my life I'm conducting myself on and off the court like a professional and it just kind of took some growing up," Iverson said when he won the MVP award.
It took a lot of growing up.
Iverson grew up in a Hampton, Virginia housing project. He was a high school football and basketball star who wound up behind bars after a brawl in a bowling alley.
After two years at Georgetown he was picked up by a struggling Philadelphia team, the 76ers, as the top pick in the 1996 draft.
But things did not go well. He was arrested for gun posession,. There were poor practice habits, a rap record laced with profanity and bad relations with his coach, Larry Brown. He was on the verge of being traded.
Brown Pumps Up Iverson
He knew he had to change and he has.
"A lot of times we forget with players coming into the league as young as they are that they are kids," said Washington Post columnist Michael Wilbon. "It takes a while for them to grow up and maybe Allen is a late bloomer."
Even his coach is one of his biggest fans.
"He doesn't always do it the way I would expect or always like, but I know where his heart is," said 76ers Head Coach Larry Brown.
In the NBA Finals he is Philadelphia's answer to Kobe and Shaq. And for the first time in the playoffs tomorrow there will be an Allen Iverson commercial, wedged in among all the Kobe and Shaq ads.
"Marketers aren't necessarily looking for choir boys and I think that kids today aren't necessarily looking at choir boys as role models," said Peter Land of Edelman Public Relations.
Popular Reads
ABC News Live