Iverson comes back to the court
On December 2nd, 2009, a lot of fans dreams came true, as the Philadelphia 76ers signed Allen Iverson to a one year contract. In the five days between him signing his contract and playing in his first game in his second stint as a 76er against the Denver Nuggets (who coincidentally was the team he was traded to on December 20th, 2006), the 34 year old Iverson, though not the same player he was when he was traded to the Nuggets, was still able to generate a buzz around the city unlike no other player.
Tickets for the game were sold out for the first time all season in a matter of minutes after the announcement of when he would make his debut. Fans rushed to buy number 3 jerseys. My team in the Kaiserman Jewish Community Center 18 and over league had a playoff game the same night that Iverson was making his debut. As the clock ran down for warm-ups, my team was outside the gym watching Iverson receive a deafening ovation from all in attendance as he went to center court to kiss the 76ers logo.
Iverson, who last played in a NBA game a month prior to his 76ers debut, played 37 minutes, scored 11 points on 4-11 shooting from the field, grabbed five rebounds, dished out six assists and did not commit a turnover in a 93-83 loss to the Nuggets. He played 25 games that season but none of them was able to garner the attention of the fans as much as his debut. As for my team, we lost because we did not practice before the game.
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