October 1996. It was the perfect storm. I was young, a little lost, and was just coming back to the U.S. from Europe where nba fans were not the norm. And not just the U.S. but to Newport News, Va.

They’re hometown hero was just drafted #1 to the Philadelphia 76ers. The area was buzzing. Then this happened

Iverson crosses Jordan

Back then I had heard the stories of legendary Michael Jordan. This kid was playing with him. Surely he had to be the greatest basketball player in the world?

It didn’t stop there though. He was everything I wanted to be. A famous basketball player who stayed true to himself and where he came from in spite of the negative things that happened to him.

As I got older my perspective changed (really I just lost my rose colored glasses). I started to see the good and the bad and understand how the choices people make affect the lives of themselves and those around them. How to rise from adversity and that no matter how low you get in life there is always a light. You just have to have the right friends.

If Iverson didn’t get connected with the great John Thompson would he have ever made it from that fenced-in farm in VA to the big lights of an NBA arena?

Nobody is perfect and we have all made some wrong decisions in our lives. But what will end up defining who we are is how we respond. Do you wither and fade? Or do you stand and fight to rise back?

The world is a tough place. Allen Iverson’s story taught me that. I learned from my own and his mistakes. But something I will never forget is this message:

Only The Strong Survive

“Only the Strong Survive”. Platt, Larry. 2002. HarpersCollins Publishers Inc.