He hasn’t played in the NBA for three seasons, but people are already telling their favorite Allen Iverson stories after SLAM made the announcement his retirement was eminent. Here’s how Twitter responded.
One of the more interesting subplots to AI’s retirement three years after-the-fact, is the hyper-vigilent pro- and anti-Iverson arguments many made throughout his career have continued, and the younger generation is updating them for contemporary tastes. The analytics movement means we can hear all about Iverson’s career 42 percent shooting and turnovers, but there are enough people still around the league who grew up on AI in the late 90’s and early 00’s to understand that he was the sum of a much larger influence than numbers on a spreadsheet can represent.
He was a symbol of young, brash, aggressive player in the post-MJ world. Iverson was an icon in the truest sense of that word. He changed fashion and culture in the NBA and made tattoos the de rigueur for young NBA players hoping to translate with the fans and the street the way AI did.
One of the more curious things we’ve noticed going through Twitter this morning was the lack of reactions from current NBA players. This despite how omnipresent Iverson still is in today’s game.
Thank you Allen Iverson!
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) August 22, 2013
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In my personal opinion there's NO QUESTION @alleniverson is a 1st Ballot HOF!!!! Best 6 foot and under guard ever to play. He change the NBA
— Jared Dudley (@JaredDudley619) August 22, 2013
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Sure the game itself has changed — no more hand-checking defenders while offense is geared towards the highest possible efficiency, a characteristic that would be considered the antithesis of Iverson’s gambling game — but the style and the culture surrounding the game is a byproduct of AI more than any other player of his generation.
Here are some of our favorite talking points, arguments, paeans, exclamations, insults and memories of The Answer after the news of his official retirement was revealed:
It's end the end of an era: I'm being told that Allen Iverson will officially announce his retirement this week. https://t.co/ms4ndt1zKP
— Tzvi Twersky (@TTwersky) August 21, 2013
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A timely reminder to myself that I wrote a 17-page paper on Allen Iverson in a music culture class and wrote nothing on his actual rapping.
— Danny Chau (@dannychau) August 22, 2013
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And even if you insist on doing this 'pound for pound' silliness, there's still a long line in front of Iverson. Starting with Zeke.
— Myles Brown (@mdotbrown) August 22, 2013
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Allen Iverson was basketball's Tupac: His cultural significance overstated his actual ability.
— Myles Brown (@mdotbrown) August 22, 2013
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The end–officially–of Allen Iverson's career is just sad. AI should have reinvented himself as a sixth man. He was his own worst enemy
— Chris Mannix (@ChrisMannixSI) August 22, 2013
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It should also be noted: Iverson played in games that weren't Game 1 of the 2001 NBA Finals. And many of those were ugly.
— Ethan Strauss (@SherwoodStrauss) August 22, 2013
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My lasting memory of Allen Iverson will be the Reebok Answer IVs I owned in high school. My favorite basketball shoes ever.
— Eddy Rivera (@erivera7) August 22, 2013
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We could talk all day about the player, but I'll also remember Allen Iverson for his shoes.
— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) August 22, 2013
Iverson's advanced stats are very similar to Westbrook's.
— KJ_NBA (@KJ_NBA) August 22, 2013
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that said, i feel like iverson announcing his retirement today isn’t much different than me retiring from the nba, but whatever.
— Bomani Jones (@bomani_jones) August 21, 2013
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My greatest Allen Iverson moment will always be my mom thinking his name was "Iver Anderson" after I got his Georgetown jersey.
— Taco Trey Kerby (@treykerby) August 21, 2013
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A friend of mine was in NOLA for jazzfest in 03'. Saw AI at 4AM surrounded by fans in front of a bar. Later, AI scored 55 on the Hornets.
— netw3rk (@netw3rk) August 22, 2013
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@HipMrBully It was the 03' playoffs. And I misremembered, it was the 45-pt game not the 55.
— netw3rk (@netw3rk) August 22, 2013
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Hopeful that Allen Iverson finds peace in retirement. Was one of the best interviews — and most compelling players to watch — in the L.
— Russ Bengtson (@russbengtson) August 21, 2013
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What are your some of your favorite, or least favorite, memories of Allen Iverson’s career?
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