my hero
Today, I am beginning a new series on, ‘my heroes.’ I have a small group of heroes I look to and each for a different reason. First, today, there is Allen Iverson, a former Georgetown and NBA Philly ’76er basketball player. Why is he my hero?
He left nothing on the floor; he gave it all. I am sure he was in all on/with/to all he did. I am also sure that was one of his problems and why he gambled away a fortune and drank to excess. By his nature, he is all in. That is who he is.
When I travel by plane in my Iverson Georgetown jersey and when I go through airport security, at least one male officer yells at me when I go thru: ‘Practice? Practice?’ This is from a famous sound bite from a news conference after his coach Larry Brown talked about Allen missing practice. Allen’s point: I am all in when it counts; the game. Larry’s point: practice.
Security officers get it; they get him. Philly went crazy on Saturday when the Sixers retired his jersey.Why? Because he was all in. A hero; my hero.
Gary Smith writes on Allen and Larry Brown here, http://si.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1022362/index.htm It is a great article.
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