Having attended that game, I witnessed a hallmark moment of professional sports. Indeed, although the exuberant and welcoming crowd flattered Iverson with a roaring standing ovation upon his entrance and cheers virtually every time he touched the basketball, I couldn't help but notice that he was playing a little reservedly at times. He still posted 22 points, but I was expecting a more selfish player to debut that night. Iverson was working hard to make plays for his teammates and spread the ball around; he earned 10 assists for the game and would have had more, had the Nuggets shooting percentage from the field not been so abysmally low (.371). My expectation was likely the result of the sports media's tendency to dwell on the controversial side of players such as Iverson, who has certainly had his share of melodrama in the league. However, the A.I. that played in a Denver uniform on Friday was magnanimous and relatively humble, even while displaying the characteristic daring and skill on the court that has made him a star. Iverson himself admitted that he was more nervous for the game than he had been in years. But was his selfless play and gracious demeanor just a product of nerves? I think not.
What many people, media-types included, seem to often forget is that although professional athletes like Allen Iverson are extraordinarily gifted and have unusually lucrative high-profile jobs, they are, first and foremost, just people. Iverson is world-famous and skilled in a way few have been or ever will be, but he is after all just a man. He dreams, hopes, fears, laughs, loves, hates, and desires just like any of us and his arrival in a new town, to a new job, and even a new home signals for him likely a time of reflection, anxiety, and promise. This is nowhere more evident than in not only his self-professed nervousness and his generous play, but also in how genuinely touched he seemed by the warm reception he was given in Denver. Allen Iverson is uprooting from Philadelphia, where he thought he would spend his career, and making a new start on a team with more talent than he has played with since starting on the U.S. Olympic team. He could not reconcile differences with the management of the 76ers, where he began his professional career, but has been given a new start on a team seemingly determined to achieve excellence. Denver fan support for Iverson is something of a warm pat on the back at the beginning of his promising but somewhat lonely new journey.
In this way, Iverson's move is a bittersweet reminder of the decisions that we all face, especially in this, the Christmas and New Year's season. I reflected on Iverson's performance and his comments, as I too battled the elements and the uncertainty of a new life to come home for the Holidays. It's been several years now since I graduated from University and began adventuring around the world, taking risks, betting on my own skill, luck, determination and positive spirit to find a better fulfillment in this life. My sisters also now both live outside of our home state and this was the first Christmas I spent in my father's home without them. I think we all are looking for The Answer in our own way, trying to find a path to achieve something more, oftentimes at the expense of that which means the most to us: our loved ones. Time inexorably pushes
forward and we must make the best of the turns that life takes, or in a leap of faith we must turn our lives in a different direction ourselves. We cannot all be as blessed in ability or fortune as Iverson, but we can remember to treasure those that are most dear to us and to embrace new opportunites, rebirth, the promise of a New Year and a new start. In taking a new adventure, we can push through to be something better than we might have ever been, and hopefully, if we're lucky, those that mean the most to us will be along for the ride.
