Allen Iverson Squashes 76ers Statue Controversy, Responds to Backlashes With Honest Admission

The Philadelphia 76ers revealed the long-awaited Allen Iverson statue earlier this year, in February. The small-sized sculpture was unacceptable for many which pushed the fans to criticize the Sixers organization. Several retired veterans like Matt Barnes, Jamal Crawford, etc. called out the NBA team on public platforms. Anyhow, one would be interested to know what Allen Iverson thinks about the statue. Is he fine with it or is he not? Iverson revealed his perspective. 

In a podcast episode on YouTube, Iverson was questioned about the criticism of his statue outside the Wells Fargo Center. The Hall of Famer said, “Man, like I said in the beginning, it’s a tribute to everybody that helped me become who I am, from top to bottom. And it’s a sculpture, not a statue.” Iverson believes sculptures are supposed to be small in size. Statues are sculptures of bigger size. The 76ers’ Legends Walk, where all the sculptures of superstars of the organization are present, is small too. 

Iverson added, “In our defense, when I say our I mean the Sixers, we don’t own the stadium…One of my homeboys was telling the organization like, ‘Y’all need to put out a statement for these people because they don’t like it‘. They don’t like how small it is. Y’all gotta clear that up ’cause was coming at me crazy, ‘Man the statue supposed to be bigger than that’…I was trying to explain to people that it was at the practice facility.”

These above words from Iverson clear the cloud around the size of the statue. One may question the organization for not conveying this earlier, but in reality, the Sixers did mention it. 

Why are the Philadelphia 76ers not to be blamed for the small size of the statue? 

The anger of the fans is understandable. After everything that the Truth has done for the organization, anyone would argue that he deserves a statue bigger than that. However, as mentioned above, these are sculptures we are speaking about. In the 76ers’ official press release, they had used the word “sculpture“, and not “statue“. 

The headline read, “Allen Iverson to be Honored with Sculpture on ‘76ers Legends Walk‘”. They also added, “IVERSON’S SCULPTURE IS THE 10TH TO BE INSTALLED OUTSIDE THE PENN MEDICINE PHILADELPHIA 76ERS TRAINING COMPLEX IN CAMDEN.“ So technically speaking, the organization cannot be blamed here. And this is exactly why A.I. is siding with the Sixers, where he played for 12 seasons. This is what we call loyalty!