The Answer

After hours of thought, it has become obvious that the Rise and Fall of Allen Iverson and the teams he has played for can be easily traced through the success of his Reebok Shoes. This post will statistically prove this theory, I assure you this correlation actually exists.

Now before the Showell brothers or LFabes can tear me to pieces over perceived insults of “The Answer”, let me state… Allen Iverson Is the Best Pound For Pound Player of All Time. He is also my favorite player of all time, and my father in law. In addition, he penned one of the greatest rap songs ever and within this songs, one of the greatest lyrics of all time--- “everybody stay fly get money kill and fuck bitches, I'm hittin anything in plain view for my riches." In addition, he made every 76ers game worth watching, broke countless ankles (watch 47 seconds in, especially if you love Kobe Bryant), won a bronze medal, hit a woman over the head with a chair in a bowling alley, made tattoo's and cornrolls cool, has over 13 Rolls Royce’s, was supposedly a better QB than Mike Vick in his Prime, is from Virginia where ain’t shit to do but cook, dunked on Marcus Camby (watch) and took the least talented team to ever reach the finals; Eric Snow, Matt Geiger, Lynch, Bell, Tyrone Hill Jermaine Jones, Rodney Buford. Must I continue? But I must get to the point which revolves around the fact that the rise and fall of his career can be examined by probing the history of the Answer's Reebok's.

The Reebok Questions -- (1996)

The Rebook Questions were released in September 1996. One of the best pairs Sneakers ever; a shoe perfectly fitting for the Number 1 Overall draft pick in the best NBA draft of all time. Won the Rookie of the Year Award and scored 40 points in five straight games in 1997 to set an NBA rookie record

The Answer I -- (1997)

I owned the Black and Gold’s and wore them everywhere… and yes if you’re wondering they do double as children’s dress shoes; good for weddings, bar mitzvahs, and funerals, not just pickup basketball. In my opinion that shoe (---->) is my favorite shoe I've ever owned. In terms of Iverson’s career, just like the shoes, this is when AI transitioned from a question to the answer to all the sixers problems. 1997

Answer I I -- (1998)

The shoe was eehhh, not the best but not terrible. Quite fitting for a season in which AI only played 48 of the 82 regular season games... Forget about the scoring title. The commercial, however, was quite spectacular.

Answer IV-- (2000)

The 2000-01 NBA Season was an unforgetable one in Philadelphia Allen Iverson had his Career defining season whenhe won NBA MVP and carried the Sixers to the finals. In AI’s MVP season he averaged 31.5 PPG while the Reebok Answer IV’s took over Philadelphia during my 6th grade year. In retrospect, like Iverson’s career the A IV’s was the peak of the Answer shoes. However, don’t think that means his career or shoe’s just instantly fell off.

Answer V -- (2001)

The Answer V were stellar basketball shoes. The only thing better than the shoes was the commercial with “Even on the court we stay fly, Jada and AI, reppin’ the A Fives”. And of course Iverson won the Scoring title 31.4 points during the 2001-02 season.

Answer VI -- (2002)

Even though the shoes weren’t as hot (27.6 ppg) everyone still had them. (Thus one of the only 2 seasons where AI played all 82.) But when it comes down to it everything up through the second commercial with Jadakiss was a little weaker.

Answer VII -- (2003)

These shoes were still alright because of the name attached, but obviously not up to par with previous pairs. In 2003 26.4 PPG in an injury plagued season with only 47 games started.

Answer VIII -- (2004)

The Answer VIII's were a definite improvement from the previous seasons pair (30.4). Unfortunatly this was when it was clear that even if it wasn’t spoken aloud, Reebok (the Sixer) was never going to be as popular as it was in 2000. The clear beginning of the end when in the 2004 season the 76ers acquired CWebb and drafted Andre Igudala, (who under no circumstances should be called AI). That year they went 43-39, and it was clear Reebok’s would never return to the level of Nike, especially with Chris Webber’s bum ass making 20 million dollars a season.

Answer IX -- (2005)

While Iverson did average 33 points and 7.4 assists per game in 2005. No one was wearing these shoes anymore because at this point Reebok (not AI) got corny. Oh yeah did I forget to mention the 76ers went 38-44 that year. The main similarity between the Shoe and the season for AI is the change from the norm. In previous seasons Eric Snow had started at point guard position, allowing Allen Iverson to outrun his opponents as the Shooting Guard. AI was switched to point guard by coach Mo Cheeks in ‘05 for the first time in years. The similarity you might ask. The Answer IX’s was the first pair of AI’s that had straps, and this deviation from the norm perfectly represents AI’s transition to PG. (He is not a Point Guard, in fact he is actually an undersized two guard)

Answer X -- (2006)

On December 19, 2006 AI’ career as a Sixer came to an end and this was evidently realized by Reebok when they attempted to combine all 10 of the previous pairs in one with the Answer X’s

Answer XI -- (2007)

Like AI’s career in Denver The Answer XI were pretty nice from the outside (AI and Melo) but once you dig alittle deeper you realized he was on some other shit. This picture is from the inside tongue of the shoe. Castor and Pollux???? Part Horseman Part Boxer???? What the fuck does that even mean??

Answer XIII --- (2009)

Yeah I didn’t know they existed either. And If this shoe analogy is not perfectly clear at this point

click here

Unfortunatly AI’s actual size (5’10’’ 165) was a gift and a curse in the long run. A gift because it enabled him to be the quickest player on the court at all times. However, over the past 12 years AI has been fouled more than any player, other than the Diesel. He’s taken a beating and unfortunately that means that once the injuries and the constant barrage of fouls he received on a nightly basis caught up with him he was forced to stop driving to the basket and rely on his streaky jump shot. So let’s not think about the Nuggets, Chauncey, or The Pistons, let’s think of what Allen Iverson accomplished and why he is going to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer and is without a doubt one of the top 50 NBA players of all time.

But the fact of the matter is Allen Iverson changed the NBA more than any player in NBA history. Just like Jadakiss said “they even reinstated the zone to try and stop him.” While it's obviously more than that, there is some truth to that statement. AI was the realest NBA player in history, and if you didn’t like him he didn't care. While he is not entirely responsible, he was the reason the NBA instated one of the biggest policy changes as a business. The Dress Code. How many times did you see Iverson sitting in the post game press conferences in a fitted hate, white t, and a pair of tims. Apparently David Stern wasn’t having it. So what if he missed practice He was the face of a new generation of ballers. Come to think of it, that generation is the Denver Nuggets. That team would not be possible without Allen Iverson paving the way. Who was the first one to be accepted as mainstream with a body covered in tattoo's? AI. I don't remember a kid growing up watching basketball after Jordan retired in ’98 that wanted to be Kobe or KG or Shaq or Vince Carter or Tracy McGrady, or Karl Malone, or Chancey Billips they wanted to be Allen Iverson. At least in Philly they did. Come to think of it AI may be just be the reason that peoople that live in the City of Philadelphia are so thorough.

--MW