The answer is, with a whimper. That is the Jeopardy question to “How did Allen Iverson retire, which a decade ago seemed impossible. It was reported that Iverson was going to announce an official retirement, which considering he has not played professionally in two years (three in North America) is a little anti-climactic.
That is not how we will remember A.I., as we will think of him as the Shooting Guard who redefined the culture of the National Basketball Association, and brought an urban grit that really did not exist before. We remember him as the man who carried the 76ers on his back, and took them to an NBA Finals, which without him, that team had no business even sniffing. We remember his controversy about “practice” and his four scoring titles, though we also remember that Iverson never saw a shot he never took.
Regardless of how he is viewed, and whether you are a fan of his or not, any man who is a three Time NBA First Team Selection (not to mention three Second Team Selections and an MVP award in 2001) is an automatic first ballot Hall of Fame selection in our book, and we will vault him straight to the top of our list once he is eligible. That year is 2017, as his extra year playing in Turkey will delay his inevitable induction by a year.
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