Allen Iverson (born June 7, 1975 in Hampton, Virginia) is an American basketball player. He is an all-star guard for the Philadelphia 76ers. In high school, Iverson was a spectacular all-around athlete who was regarded not only as one of the top basketball players in the country, but also arguably the country's top high school football quarterback. He opted for basketball, enrolling at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C, which does not play top-level football.
Iverson was drafted with the first pick of the NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1996 and has led the team in scoring ever since. He had his best season in 2001, when he led the league in scoring, was awarded NBA MVP and reached the NBA Finals.
He has leveled lavish praise on Coach Larry Brown, often saying that he would not have reached the heights that he has in the sport without Brown's guidance. He had a love-hate relationship with Brown, however. After the 76ers were defeated in the first round of the 2002 playoffs and Iverson was criticized by Brown for missing practices, Iverson held a press conference in which he said "We're talking about practice. We're not even talking about the game, the actual game, when it matters. We're talking about practice".
Iverson has also occasionally been involved in incidents with the legal authorities, dating back to his teenage years. One such incident involved a family party where he allegedly threatened his wife with a handgun.
