In three weeks, we will all see exactly why Allen Iverson is the best player in the National Basketball Association.
Iverson, who has been out of commission for all the Philadelphia 76ers training camp, pre-season games and the first five games of the regular season thanks to off-season elbow surgery on his shooting arm, returned to the Philly line-up Saturday night. His presence helped the 76ers accomplish their first win of the year.
For the Sixers to have any success this year, their franchise player must be healthy – plain and simple.
Last year’s Eastern Conference champions had (and still have) big expectations for this year, but they had to cut them short when word came that Iverson would miss a substantial amount of time. Their expectation was even higher than last year’s thanks to the deal that brought the scoring power-forward, Derrick Coleman.
However things changed and changed quickly.
Just about a week ago, fans and the media of Philadelphia were starting to give up on the 0-5 Sixers.
A team that spent all of last year on top of the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference standings was suddenly in dead last.
Iverson could only sit back and watch his team fall five times in a row. His team looked lost and confused. The Sixers’ main man was missing and Head Coach Larry Brown could not find the right way to make up for his absence.
Without Iverson on the floor, Philadelphia looked like a very poor team. They didn’t look like a squad that contended with the superior L.A. Lakers in the Finals.
The combination of Coleman’s 18.7 points a game and Dikembe Mutumbo’s 13.5 rebounds a game is not the answer to Philly’s success.
The answer lies in the man who takes on the nickname of “The Answer.”
Iverson is the best player in the league because he has the biggest presence on the court, more so than any other player does for his respective clubs. It is pretty interesting that Iverson is almost always the smallest man on the court, but he is also the most noticed by his teammates and the opponents.
In his first game back against the Dallas Mavericks on the road, he scored 18 points and racked up nine assists en route to the 76ers’ 98-91 victory.
He only shot a lousy 7-of-28, but his appearance on the court was enough to rile up his teammates and inspire their first win of the year.
Obviously, it is going to take time until his shooting touch returns as he had surgery on the major joint involved in the shooting motion.
His attitude to winning and magical moves will change the results of for the Sixers. In three weeks, when Philly is on top of the standings once again, we will all know why Allen Iverson is the best player in the league today.
Dynasty potential in the Lake Show
Three years ago, after the second retirement of Michael Jordan, Jerry Reinsdorf and Jerry Krause, President and General Manager of the Chicago Bulls, respectively, tore apart the esteemed Bulls dynasty of the nineties. Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Head Coach Phil Jackson led the team from the Windy City to six championships in eight years.
The team was broken up and suddenly went from the best to the worst.
The fans and media around the NBA claimed that there would never be a run quite like the one that the Bulls pulled off – specifically the 72-win season in the 1996-97 campaign.
Well, the NBA has found its new super powerhouse and it resides in a familiar place to basketball dynasties, Los Angeles.
The L.A. Lakers have been unstoppable over the past two years. This year, they are even better as they are in a whole different league than the rest of their opponents.
There are two main reasons for the immense success leading to a 6-0 record. The first one is that the off-season moves are paying off tremendously.
Veteran guard Mitch Richmond and youthful forward Samaki Walker have contributed to the Laker success, but the biggest surprise has been the play of point-guard Lindsey Hunter.
Hunter, who came over from Milwaukee over the summer, is the third leading scorer on the team with 12.2 points per game. This is surprising considered Hunter is known to be a defensive-minded player.
The second reason for the Lakers’ dominance has been the shared play of their two best players, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. Shaq is leading the league in scoring with 30.7 ppg and Bryant is right behind him with 28.5 ppg.
These two have finally learned what it takes to be a winning club at all times. If this continues, that 72-win record will most definitely be in jeopardy.