Nicknamed "The Answer," Allen Iverson was an eleven-time NBA All-Star, won the All-Star game MVP award in 2001 and 2005, and was the NBA's MVP in 2001. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.

However, Iverson's rise to prodigious success and influence was a long, winding, complicated road with peaks and valleys. From Hampton, VA to Bethel HS; Circle Lanes Bowling Alley to John Thompson and Georgetown; Prison to #1 Overall Pick; ROY to MVP; The Crossover, The Stepover, The Sleeve, The Finals, The Cornrows, The "Practice" Rant, The Dress Code, The Rap Album, The Marital and Financial Troubles—talking about Iverson's place in basketball history and impact on culture is an incredibly nuanced, complicated undertaking.

Ben Craw joins the pod for our most ambitious deep-dive yet, The Life and Times of Allen Iverson, an on-going series examining the life and impact one of modern sports most influential figures.

CHAPTER 4

Rookie year highlights (3:20), cornrows unveiled (6:00), Reebok (8:00), Iverson's different cornrow variation (9:10), Rookie Challenge (10:20), Gary Moore and AI's Reebook contract (12:00), early cornrow adopters (13:30), AI crosses up MJ (17:15), AI's young teammates with the early Sixers (19:00), AI's streak of 40+ point games (22:30), ROY (24:00), off-the-court, Summer of '97 (26:10), Jesus Shuttlesworth, HE GOT GAME (27:30), Larry Brown (30:45), AI visits Rucker Park (32:15), March, 1999 edition of SLAM (33:50), the lockout (35:30), March 19th, 1999- Iverson vs. Kobe: 41 Points, Great White Sharks (36:30), HOOP Magazine airbrushing AI's tattoos (46:00), AI trade rumors during 1999-2000 (49:15), Matt Geiger vetoes a trade that would've sent AI to Detroit (55:00), Iverson's infamous rap album (56:30) and David Stern and Iverson's hip-hop lyrics (59:10).

Enjoy the show? Wanna share an Allen Iverson memory? Got an angle or story you'd love to hear covered on the pod? Let us know!



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