AI

Say what you will about Iverson, he's a punk, a thug, whatever. He's still my favorite pro basketball player. I'm glad he doesn't pay "deference" to Michael Jordan. Why the f--- should he do that?

The fact is this - Iverson plays his frigging heart out every single time he hits the court. He plays fearlessly and intensely. He'll drive into the face of seven foot monsters and get slammed to the ground like an insect, get up, and make a steal the next play. How can you not love a guy like that? He doesn't fight on the court. He takes a lot of shots, but never comes across as a ball hog. His teammates love him. His fans love him. He's hardly ever in the news for doing anything shady. People keep bringing up a "brawl" he was involved with in high school. High school! Are you kidding me?

I love his loyalty to Philly - he says in this article, he'd rather lose in Philly than chase a championship. That's loyalty.

I'd take losing with Iverson over winning with Kobe any day.