Allen Iverson came back to Philadelphia this evening for the first time since he was traded on 19 December 2006. And what a return it was. The game went down to the last seconds. Iverson had a chance to tie it with 7.4 on the clock, then two other Nuggets had the chance to do it, but Iguodala came up with the ball and the Sixers won a thriller 115-113. Exciting but sad. In truth, the Nuggets maybe needed this game more than the Sixers. The Nuggets, with a far better record, are still out of the play-off picture in the West. The young Sixers, meanwhile, have been playing themselves into the play-offs in the hapless East. This though they reached .500 only tonight.
Who would have known months ago that this match-up would actually mean something? In a sense, things were stacked against the Nuggets. All that love for AI and the home team made for an intense evening.
Fittingly, the two stars of the game were Iverson and Andre Miller, the two main players in the trade, one of those rare trades involving a superstar where both teams actually benefit. Oh, yes, happy birthday, Andre Miller. Miller led the Sixers with 28 points, Iverson the Nuggets, with 32.
I might have been content with the Iverson press conference, held just after 6, which I caught on Comcast. Oh, how I have missed AI's nightly postgame conferences, which were invariably, in some way, illuminating. Today's conference was that and more. Iverson looks and sounds more mature. As always, the guy is candid, insightful, honest, and will strip himself bare. Don't forget a disarming sense of humor and a boatload of good looks. On the court he's as compelling and fearless as ever. Pound for pound there's no one like him. And he absolutely gets it, gets what the fans are about.
When Iverson came out for the pregame shootaround, he bent down and kissed the Sixer logo on the middle of the floor. He had "Thank you, Philadelphia" written on his sneakers. And he got a long and emotional standing O when announced. Thanks, AI. It was awesome watching you all those years in Philadelphia. At his press conference, AI said in disbelief, "I'm still in the league and my Sixers uniform is a throwback." Yes, we all thought it would go on forever. But someday your jersey will be hanging in the rafters.
