The Philadelphia 76ers honored franchise legend and Basketball Hall-of-Famer Allen Iverson on April 12. The franchise held an event to unveil their statue of Iverson on the 76ers Legends Walk outside the team’s practice facility in Camden, N.J.
The Answer.
Among those who were not impressed with the statue was former Sixer Matt Barnes. Barnes took to his X account to question the small size of Iverson’s statue.
AI deserves better than this trophy @sixers🤦🏾♂️
“I know I might be late to the party, but what the [expletive] did the Philadelphia 76ers just try to do for Allen Iverson?” Barnes said, per All the Smoke Productions’ X account. “I know the whole city of Philadelphia has gotta be embarrassed of that [expletive]. Salute, bro. (He) just got the street named after him. He should have a statue bigger than the arena. But that [expletive] y’all just did? That a trophy or a statue? 76ers, man, that 76er organization, y’all gotta do better than that, especially for bro. That [expletive] is terrible.”
Barnes played with Iverson on the Sixers during the 2005-06 season. In his final NBA season in 2017, he won a title with the Golden State Warriors.
According to CBS Sports, the size of Iverson’s sculpture “appears to be in keeping with the nine other sculptures it has joined,” including those of Charles Barkley, Wilt Chamberlain, Maurice Cheeks, Billy Cunningham, Julius Erving, Hal Greer, Bobby Jones, Moses Malone and Dolph Schayes — all of which were created by sculptor Chad Fisher.
Former NBA Guards Question Allen Iverson Statue
Allen Iverson joins Sixers royalty with his own statue at the 76ers’ practice facility! 🙌
Barnes was not the only former NBA player who took issue with the Sixers’ statue of Iverson. Brandon Jennings, who played in the NBA from 2009 to 2018, paid tribute to Iverson on his X account but called the statue “disrespectful.”
Salute to AI
But that was disrespectful.
Former NBA point guard TJ Ford echoed the sentiment, praising Iverson and calling out the Sixers for how they honored him.
Allen Iverson was totally disrespected by the 76ers organization with this little statue when he is a GREAT GIANT
Iverson created a legacy that impacted the players who came after him, such as Ford and Jennings. Regardless of the size of the statue, the Sixers paid tribute to one of the greatest players who ever played for them. That’s more than, say, what the Minnesota Timberwolves have done for Kevin Garnett since his retirement.
Allen Iverson Sees Luka Doncic as Next Face of NBA
Though Iverson has been retired from the NBA since 2010, he still monitors some of its current superstars. Iverson singled out Luka Doncic as the one player who he sees as the next face of the NBA.
“Luka is crazy, man,” Iverson said on the April 12 episode of ESPN’s NBA Today. “His skillset is just ridiculous. This guy is scoring 70. It’s so wide open. … It’s hard to guard Luka one-on-one, and his skillset is so crazy.”
Iverson won the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award in 2001 when he was 26 years old. The Dallas Mavericks superstar has not yet received that honor in his NBA career, but that could certainly change since he’s only 25 years old. He has already received multiple First-Team All-NBA honors and multiple All-Star games, much like Iverson did during his time in the NBA.
Iverson also took the Sixers to heights that Doncic has not as of now. In 2001, he guided the Sixers to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1983. Doncic has taken the Mavericks to the Western Conference Finals once in 2022, but that’s as far as they’ve gone.
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Ex-Sixer & NBA Champion Sounds Off on Allen Iverson’s Statue