As enigmatic as he might have been during his 12-year run with the Philadelphia 76ers, Allen Iverson is one of the greatest players in franchise history.
He led this team back to relevance, starting back in 1996 when Philadelphia made the Georgetown product the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft.
Iverson’s tenure in the “City of Brotherly Love” included six trips to the playoffs and an NBA Finals appearance. “The Answer” also led the NBA in scoring two times and proved to be one of the best pure scorers in modern Association history.
Ahead of the regular-season home finale against the Orlando Magic on Friday, the 76ers are “honoring” Iverson with a statue outside of the Wells Fargo Center. He was on hand for the ceremony.
Great stuff, right? Even current 76ers players were paying homage to one of the greatest players in franchise history.
“[Iverson] changed the culture. From the beginning, it’s always been about just being the best, playing hard, and believing in yourself – from those early conversations when I got to Philly. He showed a lot of love, like he’s always done to everybody.”
Joel Embiid on Allen Iverson and his impact on the Philadelphia 76ers
Culture change. That was the common theme as 76ers players showed their respects to one of the greatest.
Back to that video for a second. Notice a tiny problem with the statue? Yeah, it’s smaller than Allen Iverson bobbleheads that were given away free to fans during his time in a 76ers jersey. That’s especially true when we look at other all-time greats who have suited up in Philadelphia.
This really does seem to be a bit disrespectful. Honoring a franchise legend in that regard? It gave us some vibes of when Washington’s NFL franchise honored the late-great Sean Taylor years back.
Philadelphia 76ers Blasted Over Allen Iverson Statue
Obviously, those watching the ceremony from home noticed what we did. We’re not sure whether this was purposely disrespectful. We doubt it. But man, did they do Iverson dirty.