Uncoachable: My Defense of Allen Iverson

When you hear the name Allen Iverson, many words come to mind, and not many of them are positive. Gifted with speed and incredible handling ability, Iverson has long been considered among basketball enthusiasts as a ballhog, a team cancer, and an uncoachable player. More recently in his brief stints with Denver and Detroit, he has been termed as "washed up", or a player that will never know his role on the team. "The Answer" has been one of the most controversial figures in recent NBA history, and those who follow basketball either love him or hate him. Life did not start out easy for Iverson. He was born in the poor section of Hampton, Virginia to a single mother and a father that deserted him. At his one area of residence in Hampton, he had to walk through knee deep sewage daily just to reach his house. He grew up in an area surrounded by poverty and violence. In just one summer, he witnessed the death of almost 10 of his closest friends. One summer, he was at ...