Iverson's back, originally uploaded by Strawberry drop
Sports Illustrated has an article up suggesting that the current success the Sixers are having is due in part to Allen Iverson -- not the fact that he is no longer there, but rather the fact that his tireless work ethic rubbed off on them. I'm not buying it.
A lot of people focus -- rightly so -- on Iverson's outrageous
refusal to practice hard and the bad example it set for his younger
teammates. But that argument has lost much of its value now that those
younger players are working hard and winning more than anyone imagined
they could. If Iverson was the evil example he was made out to be,
wouldn't they be playing selfishly and ignoring coach Maurice Cheeks?What
is happening instead is they're doing all of the little winning things
that a lot of teams don't do anymore. Guess who forced them to learn
those things?Iverson.
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I just don't follow his logic in the entire article. If his main argument is that Iverson's scrappy play on the court rubbed off on the current Sixers, I'd buy that. But to say Iverson laid the groundwork for their work ethic? Maybe if he's talking about laying brick like the construction workers on the Sopranos.
It's an interesting theory, but you need to practice to say you have any kind of work ethic. Curious to hear other thoughts.
>>Iverson laid groundwork for Sixers' current work ethic [Sports Illustrated]