NBA

Iverson more mature but still does it his way

Hard to believe it’s year No. 10 for 76ers star, now team's elder statesman

Duane Burleson / AP

Allen Iverson winning a championship is the lone void in a bio sheet that screams Hall of Fame. The Philadelphia 76ers star won four scoring titles, two All-Star game MVPs, and his 27.4 career scoring average (through 2004-05) is the third highest in NBA history.

Winning a championship is the lone void in a bio sheet that screams Hall of Fame. He’s won four scoring titles, two All-Star game MVPs, and his 27.4 career scoring average (through 2004-05) is the third highest in NBA history.

Iverson says glumly, “I still have yet to accomplish what I’ve been trying to do from Day 1.”

He came close in 2001 when he won the MVP under Brown and the Sixers lost in five games to the Los Angeles Lakers. In the four years since, the Sixers have been more mediocre than masterful, missing the postseason once and not advancing out of the first round two other times.

While Iverson’s maybe a half-step slower than he was 10 years ago, that’s still a step quicker than most players in the league. He looks at Michael Jordan’s career as proof that his game doesn’t have to decline once he hits 30.

Injuries have taken a toll on Iverson, who ricochets around the court like a pinball and seems to be slammed to the court after every basket. He missed 34 games because of injury two years ago, and another seven last year. He sat out some preseason games this year because of soreness in his right knee.

The various aches and pains aren’t ready to get the better of him yet.

“I feel the older I get, the better I’ll get,” he said.

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Better than he’s already been? Pick one play, any one, and somehow they all define him.

Was it the killer crossover in his rookie season that dusted Michael Jordan? How about when he buried a jumper over Tyronn Lue, then highstepped over the fallen Lakers defender in Game 1 of the NBA Finals? Or maybe it was the standing ovation that thundered throughout the Wachovia Center after his first 60-point game last season.

And ever since Terrell Owens brought his flapping gums to Philly, Iverson is no longer the most polarizing, initials-only-please athlete in the city.

Iverson even joked — at least it sounded like a joke — that he stopped considering the media “devils.”

“I went through hell here, from you guys (reporters), coaching situations, even times with fans,” he said. “I really feel I am a man and I think being here in Philadelphia helped me with that.”

The only part missing is the championship ring — the shiniest bling of ’em all — that not even the commish could ever make him take off.

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