Let’s Not Let A.I. Go Out Like This.

I’m not all that concerned about Donovan McNabb. I’m sure he’ll land on his feet – somewhere.

On the other hand, I really do hate to see Allen Iverson “going out like this."

After what has been, without a doubt, one of the most productive careers in NBA history, the stories that are following this guaranteed Hall of Fame player to the “exit door,” have largely been about his “drinking problem,” his “gambling habit” and his wife’s recent divorce filing. In the context of his entire career, that is grossly unfair. It’s, also, deeply disappointing.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m certainly not in favor of “problem drinking” and if A.I. really does have an issue in that regard, like so many others in our country, I hope he’ll take steps to address it.

But in a country wherein we have a $65 billion, legal, national casino industry, with more than 1500 commercial casinos, including nine here in Pennsylvania, I believe it’s pure hypocrisy to paint A.I .as a disreputable figure, somehow, because he visits and plays at casinos.

As to his wife’s divorce filing, while it’s certainly a private matter, I am concerned that his family, including his five children, may be negatively impacted by it. At the same time, in a country wherein it's estimated that more than 50 percent of first marriages and nearly 65 percent of second marriages now end in divorce, such filings should, by definition, be far less newsworthy, and certainly shouldn’t be used to paint either party as a social misfit.

As a public figure, A.I. brought this kind of attention upon himself, at some level, when he signed his first NBA contract. I realize that. Let's not, however, let these latest characterizations obscure a career-long demonstration of basketball prowess that we will probably never see again in our city--or anywhere else.

Unfortunately, Philadelphia has a history of inexcusably disrespectful treatment of great athletes. In 1968, Wilt Chamberlain was infamously traded by the same 76ers, to the Los Angeles Lakers. This was after a career, up to that point, during which Wilt had scored 100 points in a single game for the team, averaged more than 50 points a game for an entire season and pulled down an all-time record 27.2 rebounds per game, over an entire season. Somehow, by the time local sportswriters had finished “trashing” Wilt’s personality, commitment to win and other "limitations," the stage had been set for what was arguably the dumbest, single trade in NBA history.

Jumping over to football, Randall Cunningham, one of the first players to prove conclusively that an African American could successfully lead an NFL franchise as quarterback, was also treated disrespectfully by local sportswriters and football fans, despite a multi-year All-Pro career. After leaving the Eagles, Cunningham went on to join the Minnesota Vikings, where he led that team, in 1998, to a 15-1 record.

In baseball, of course, there was Dick Allen, National League Rookie of the Year with the Phillies in 1964, who was one of the greatest sluggers in baseball history. Allen, the Phillies first, true, black, star player, was run out of town after a fight with a teammate named Frank Thomas, a racially insensitive bully, who had swung a baseball bat at him.

After Thomas was released, local media and the fans, taking Thomas’s side, began to harass Allen incessantly, leading to his eventual trade to the Saint Louis Cardinals. Without missing a stroke, Allen went on to make the All Star team in St. Louis. He eventually joined the Chicago White Sox, where he led the American League in home runs – twice.

With all of that as background, we shouldn’t be surprised to see how A.I. has been treated throughout his career, here.

Maybe the local media never really understood the incident at the Hampton, Virginia Bowling alley that led to the 17-year old A.I. being given a 15-year sentence and a felony conviction for “maiming by mob” (an obscure legal statute that was originally created to discourage lynchings in the state). In this case it was used in a fight between black high-schoolers and white high-schoolers. Curiously, only the black students were arrested, including Iverson.

Iverson, who adamantly claimed his innocence, wound up serving four months at a Virginia correctional facility, before being granted clemency by the state's first black governor, Doug Wilder. The Virginia Court of Appeals subsequently overturned Iverson’s conviction in 1995, citing insufficient evidence.

There is a sneaking suspicion that Iverson’s exoneration was never quite enough for Philadelphia sportswriters. They criticized him for his hair style, for his tattoos, for his childhood friends, for his cars, and for virtually anything else he said or did. Even as he sank that memorable jump shot against the Lakers, then calmly stepped over the pitifully crumpled body of Tyron Lue, who had vainly tried to stop his progress to the basket, they seemed not to like him.

Even as he notoriously “broke Michael Jordan’s ankles” twice with his signature “crossover” move and sank that two-pointer from the foul line in his rookie year, he still couldn’t please the sportswriters.

Didn’t local sportswriters notice that a whole generation of young NBA players, recognizing Iverson’s greatness, was coming into the League emulating his aggressive style, his crossover dribble, his cornrows, and his "tats?"

Wasn’t it enough that A.I. was an 11-time NBA all star, ranking him only behind Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Shaquille O’Neal, as active players, and tying him with retired "greats" such as Dr. J, Charles Barkley, and Patrick Ewing?

Wasn’t it enough that he was NBA season scoring leader four times – behind Michael Jordan’s 10 times, certainly, but ahead of Kareem, Shaq, Tracy McGrady, and Kobe, each of whom have done it twice?

Didn’t his sixth all-time highest NBA highest scoring average--at 26.7 points per game--count for anything?

How about winning the all-star MVP trophy twice? How about winning the NBA regular season MVP award in the 2000-2001 season and being the shortest player to ever win that award, smaller than the 6'3'' Steve Nash, smaller even than the 6'1" Bob Cousy?

It probably has confused Philly sportswriters that A.I. has always been a clear fan favorite outside of Philadelphia, no matter what they have written about him. The people at the NBA Store recently disclosed that, over their first 10 years in operation, only Michael Jordan's and Kobe Bryant's jerseys outsold Iverson's, and, in China, A.I.'s jerseys have consistently ranked among the top five most popular, out-selling even those of China’s national hero, Yao Ming.

It's sad to watch as this African-American hero, who, by the way, also led his high school team, as a quarterback, to the Virginia State championship, has his career reduced to a series of carelessly negative "sound bites," by people who should know better.

Prior to the emergence of the current storylines about his marriage and gambling, there was the painfully predictable, re-playing of the “We’re talking about practice” interview, which, taken out of context, was always presented as "proof" that Iverson never really had a work ethic.

Despite all of that, here’s our chance to finally do the right thing, to finally demonstrate that our city has a little appreciation for athletic greatness, a little class, and a little dignity.

Wouldn’t it be great if the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, The African American Chamber of Commerce, the Mayor’s Office, Philadelphia City Council, Philadelphia sportswriters and/or other local leadership organizations would come together and thank Mr. Iverson, formally, for all he has contributed to our City’s sports history?

He really does deserve at least that.

Who will step up?

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