The Philadelphia 76ers honored franchise legend and Basketball Hall-of-Famer Allen Iverson on April 12. The franchise held an event to unveil their statue of Iverson.
Among those who were not impressed with the statue was former Sixer Matt Barnes. Barnes took to his X account to question the small size of Iverson’s statue.
“I know I might be late to the party, but what the f*** did the Philadelphia 76ers just try to do for Allen Iverson?” Barnes said, per All the Smoke Productions’ X account. “I know the whole city of Philadelphia has gotta be embarrassed of that s***. Salute, bro. (He) just got the street named after him. He should have a statue bigger than the arena. But that s*** y’all just did? That a trophy or a statue? 76ers, man, that 76er organization, y’all gotta do better than that, especially for bro. That s*** is terrible.”
Barnes played with Iverson on the Sixers during the 2005-06 season. In his final NBA season, in 2017, he won a title with the Golden State Warriors.
To be fair, Iverson’s statue isn’t any bigger than the statues of the Sixers legends that came before him.
Allen Iverson Sees Luka Doncic as Next Face of NBA
Though Iverson has been retired from the NBA since 2010, he still monitors some of its current superstars. Iverson singled out Doncic as the one player who he sees as the next face of the NBA.
“Luka is crazy, man,” Iverson said on the April 12 episode of ESPN’s NBA Today. “His skillset is just ridiculous. This guy is scoring 70. It’s so wide open…It’s hard to guard Luka one-on-one, and his skillset is so crazy.”
Iverson won the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award in 2001 when he was 26 years old. The Dallas Mavericks superstar has not yet received that honor in his NBA career, but that could certainly change since he’s only 25 years old. He has already received multiple First-Team All-NBA honors and multiple All-Star games, much like Iverson did during his time in the NBA.
Iverson also took the Sixers to heights that Doncic has not as of now. In 2001, he guided the Sixers to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1983. Doncic has taken the Mavericks to the Western Conference Finals once in 2022, but that’s as far as they’ve gone.
Former NBA Guards Question Allen Iverson Statue
Barnes was not the only once who took issue with the Sixers’ statue of Iverson. Other former NBA players also questioned the statue. This included Brandon Jennings, who played in the NBA from 2009 to 2018. Jennings paid tribute to Iverson on his X account but called the statue disrespectful.
Former NBA point guard TJ Ford echoed a similar sentiment on his X account. While praising Iverson, he called out the Sixers for how they honored him.
Iverson created a legacy that impacted the players who came after him, such as Ford and Jennings. Regardless of the size of the statue, the Sixers still paid tribute to one of the greatest players who ever played for them. That’s more than, say, what the Minnesota Timberwolves have done for Kevin Garnett since his retirement.
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