There is officially an Iverson playing in the state of Pennsylvania again.
The MLB transaction log revealed this week that the Pittsburgh Pirates have signed a player with an interesting name — Iverson Allen, who is a 16-year-old outfielder from Panama. Allen signed with the Pirates upon the opening of MLB’s international signing period this week.
Pittsburgh’s signing drew a strong reaction on Tuesday from social media. Everybody joked that it was actually Basketball Hall of Famer Allen Iverson whom the Pirates had signed (with almost all of the jokes centered around Iverson’s infamous “practice” rant).
There are actually some surprisingly strong parallels between the two beyond just their names. Allen is listed at 6-foot and 160 pounds, while Iverson was virtually the same during his playing career at 6-foot and 165 pounds. Both also were or are now employed by pro teams in Pennsylvania (the Pirates and the Philadelphia 76ers).
If Allen is 16 years old, that would mean he was born in 2007 or 2008. That was right around the time Iverson was wrapping up his NBA career, so it is very possible that Allen’s parents were influenced by The Answer in naming their son. Piratesprospects.com notes Allen's father played for the Panama national basketball team. Hopefully, though, Allen has a better sense of timeliness than his namesake does.
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