THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 7, 1996 TAG: 9607070290
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB MOLINARO
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: 70 lines
Any fan of basketball will recognize ``Allen Iverson Day'' for what it is: the ultimate makeup call.
Yes, the city that jails also hails.
Speaking to a crowd of about 1,000 at the Hampton Coliseum, Mayor James L. Eason said the city chose to honor Iverson on Saturday, ``rather than require him again to prove his worthiness.''
A curious choice of words.
The words, of course, do not reflect reality.
Now that he's had his day, Iverson has only the rest of his life to prove his worthiness, not so much as a basketball player, but as a local hero and symbol of some significance.
Providing proof of worthiness is a full-time job for Iverson if he is to justify the faith his supporters have in him.
Saturday's modest parade and official pronouncements were just a way to pass a few hours on a summer's day, nothing more, unless they remind Iverson of the influence he has over some inside and outside his community.
What he chooses to do with his fame and fortune will say more about Allen Iverson than anything he has so far accomplished.
Beyond the small-town, insular world of Hampton, the publicity over ``Allen Iverson Day'' must have seemed odd and strangely overdone.
Supporters of Iverson insisted that his achievements deserve recognition. Those achievements actually come down to one: winning the NBA lottery by becoming the first player taken in the recent pro draft.
A year ago, Norfolk's Joe Smith attained the same ``honor.'' No one, not even Smith's Southside fans, thought a parade was in order.
At the same time, the publicized protests of ``Allen Iverson Day'' could not have been worth the attention they received from the media.
A few disgruntled citizens questioning what a former guest of the Newport News City Farm has done for the community hardly constitutes a groundswell of discontent.
As it turned out, this pseudo-controversy dwarfed the actual event, which was so low-key as to be almost quaint.
Friday night, Iverson was introduced before a summer-league basketball game with a spotlight and dry-ice show, while a raucous crowd of 7,000 looked on at Hampton University.
But Saturday, the scene at the Coliseum looked more like the morning after than a public celebration.
There was no dry ice or spotlight when Iverson took the stage. And the parade that brought him to the Coliseum covered all of 1.7 miles.
Those who went inside for the brief ceremony were enthusiastic but restrained. They were told by Mayor Eason that ``there is only one message'' to the day. Nobody is likely to match Iverson's basketball skills, he said, but ``each of our young people can match Allen's work ethic.''
The oratory did not improve when Iverson took the microphone. Holding his young daughter, he thanked God, family, friends and supporters, but said little else. It was just as well for his audience. Most of them came for autographs, not rhetoric.
Those behind the event apparently have expressed the hope that ``Allen Iverson Day'' will help bring the community together. That is placing a lot of faith in a mere parade.
This sort of gesture by the city will be rewarded, though, if it inspires Iverson to handle his celebrity wisely.
``Allen Iverson Day'' and the days that have gone before are mere prologue to his story, with many chapters still to be written. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
CANDICE C. CUSIC/The Virginian-Pilot
Allen Iverson kisses his sister Iiesha, 4. Iverson says his NBA
salary - he was the league's top draft pick last month - will pay
for special medical care Iiesha needs but which the family has been
unable to afford. by CNB