Printable Biography of Allen Iverson

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The son of Allen Broughton and Ann Iverson, his dad skipped out on the family & his mom had a hard time making ends meet. Iverson had a very poor childhood, one without the basic necessities like electricity, heat or water. Although Iverson's mother enrolled him for little league basketball practice, he was more of a football fan, which is what he played in high school along with basketball. In his days at Bethel High School in Hampton, Iverson was a star football and basketball player, and won many awards for both sports, most notably being named Virginia AAA Football Player of the Year, in his junior year as Point Guard and Tailback. Unfortunately on Valentine's Day 1993, Allen Iverson and his friends were at a Bowling Alley, later on a huge fight broke out between Ive's crowd and some white students. 17-year old Iverson was tried as an adult, convicted of maiming by mob, and sentenced to five years in jail for throwing a chair at a girl. After serving four month behind bars, Allen was granted conditional release by Virginia's first black governor, Doug Wilder.

On being convinced by Ann & seeing Iverson's talent coach John Thompson accepted to coach him and Iverson was offered a full scholarship to Georgetown University. At Georgetown, Iverson was an Arts major, while fascinating fans on the basketball courts. His days at Georgetown were marked by 2 Big East Defensive Player of the Year awards, Rookie of the Year award, 1995-1996 All-Tournament 1st Team, and a Gold Medal for his win at the World University Games in Japan in 1995. He was also Georgetown's All-Time scorer. As his family situation worsening Iverson wanted to play professional basketball as soon as possible, which meant leaving school before graduating and in the June 1996 NBA Drafts, Iverson was the Philadelphia 76ers' #1 pick. In his first season he was named Schick Rookie of the Year, and with his multi-million dollar contract with Reebok, he had a sneaker based on him. In his next few years of the NBA, Iverson led the 76ers in the 97-98 season in scoring; was named NBA Player of the Week for the week ending January 18, 1998; named NBA Player of the Month for February in the 98-99 season, led the 76ers in scoring; selected to the 99-00 All-NBA Second Team; finished 7th in the AT&T Shootout during 2000 All-Star weekend; and became the second player in the 99-00 season to score 50 points.

He also released a rap album entitled Slow Motion, which features appearances by his friends Mase, Jermaine Dupri, Da Brat and Kool-G-Rap. During the 2000-2001 NBA Season, Iverson made outstanding plays, which were honored with his being named League MVP. He took the 76ers to the playoffs and despite the team's loss to the Lakers, Iverson was a standout on the courts with his fast moves and incredible shots.