Undeniably one of the appeals of watching sports is to compare yourself to your favorite player. However in recent times many critical people have pointed out specific athletes as being terrible role models, citing things like the stereotypical drug abuse and thug personas of some celebrity athletes as being anything but inspirational to young males. This is probably the big deal why the media are still doing stories on Kobe Bryant and at the same time promoting athletes like Lebron James. The media loved Kobe. He was a superstar athlete, he was not a thug, meaning he did not come from the streets and he had lived abroad, and so Kobe was everything you wanted as a black role model. Then the whole Kobe case happened and the prince of the NBA fell from his stature and what came out was an immature but talented athlete who perhaps was no role model after all. On the court though, there was another basketball player who was also talented, but who has never had the darling image, and that player is Allen Iverson. Not only is A. I. a brilliant basketball player, but he is everything that the NBA wanted to distance itself from, namely the street and attitude.
At one point, I heard the comment that most black kids could never be Kobe, because Kobe had opportunities that they could never have. On the other hand Iverson came from the street courts and he played his game tough and he made it to the main courts of the NBA, and he’s still there, fighting not only for his legitimate right to be there, but also for his legacy.
At 32, I identify with A. I., with his passion to win even when the odds are against him, with his selfishness to be The Man, and definitely with his failures as a player and as a person. I have messed up plenty in my life, and know just how much it means when people disregard your past crimes and still welcome your company. This does not happen often and you definitely are thankful when it does. Iverson may never win a championship, but he is a proven winner. Every time I see him miss a shot, my heart goes out to him, cause I know failure is painful, but when he picks himself off the floor and goes right back into the game, pain and all, I admire him all the more, because not many people have the sheer will to drive themselves toward something by themselves, but Iverson does it in every game.
And also at my age, I know that role models are not the solution to the problems that plague our young men. I never had a role model that I could see, instead I had to open up a book and read about men that I never knew. Eventually I saw that if I was to succeed at all, that I had to do it myself. Sure it would have been nice if someone had taught me to do the things I now know, and I could have used some help sometimes, but in the end I ended up doing it myself and I am stronger for it. But just like A. I. points out about how hard it is to be a father to his kids, and how hard it is to be a husband, I know what he is talking about. At our age, both of us have had to do things on our own, but that should not blind us or prevent us from helping our kids succeed where we failed. Being tough is just one part of our character, it should not be everything. I am pretty sure Iverson knows this too.
Iverson is a role model, because of his toughness and because he has failed many times, but never given up on himself or his team.