Iverson, the coach, is a hit at exhibition About 5:30 yesterday afternoon, the stretch of Broad Street that runs through the Temple University campus was gridlocked for blocks. The Allen Iverson Celebrity Summer Classic had just ended, and an estimated 5,000 fans of all ages were leaving the 10,000-seat Liacouras Center after a lively session of summer basketball. The only thing the crowd missed was seeing the star of the show playing. Iverson, the 76ers' star guard and the NBA's most valuable player last season, limited himself to coaching his team, the Allen Iverson All-Stars, because of a nagging hip injury. Iverson spent the game - in which his squad used a late rally to defeat the Crusaders, 120-115 - walking the sideline and exhorting his players. He also clowned with them and played with the officials. He stepped out of his sandals and did a Michael Jackson moonwalk to reach center court when he was introduced. He received thunderous applause from the hometown fans, of course. But later, he said he wasn't so sure about this coaching thing. "If I were a coach, I'd get thrown out of every game, I think," Iverson cracked during a break in the action. The game capped the three-day Allen Iverson Celebrity Summer Classic, which the Hampton, Va., native had held in his hometown the last three years. All proceeds will go to the nonprofit Allen Iverson Celebrity Summer Classic Foundation, which is geared toward helping inner-city youths. There were a number of forceful dunks and no-look passes that excited Iverson. Fans knew that Iverson would not be performing the same magic that helped carry the Sixers to a berth in the NBA finals. But they were still pleased to see who accompanied Iverson when he finally made his way to the court, looking very much like the pied piper. For 30 minutes, players from both teams shot around before the game. Then a buzz that got louder and louder took over the arena as Iverson appeared on-court accompanied by former Simon Gratz standout Rasheed Wallace of the Portland Trail Blazers; Jumaine Jones of the Sixers; Golden State guard Larry Hughes, a former Sixer; Tim Thomas of the Milwaukee Bucks, another former Sixer; former Temple standout Pepe Sanchez; and Sixers guard Aaron McKie. McKie, also nursing injuries, was in street clothes and served as Iverson's assistant coach. On the other bench was singer and actor Isaac Hayes. Jones led the all-stars with 28 points. Wallace collected 26 points. Hughes finished with 25. Their opponents were mostly out-of-town players who made a game of it behind 30 points by 6-foot-9 center Jason Wallace (McNeese State '97) and 28 by 6-6 forward Danny Gee (Iona '94). But the all-stars carried the day, with Jones, Rasheed Wallace, Thomas and Hughes teaming to show the crowd every kind of alley-oop dunk imaginable. Jones soared over Wallace to throw down a two-handed slam. Wallace, who fell from the force of the dunk, shouted at Jones with a smile as they ran back downcourt.  "Hey!" he said, "I'm on your side!" Meanwhile, while he wasn't doing much dunking, 6-foot-3 guard Aaron Owens wowed the spectators with his ballhandling. Owens, who did not play basketball as a student at Gratz, is on the AND1 touring team traveling the country promoting street games and sports apparel. On one play, Owens bounced the ball off his opponent's head before leaving him behind. Some of his assists that led to dunks were extraordinarily creative. Jacqui Frazier-Lyde, the daughter of former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier, who played basketball at Plymouth Whitemarsh High and American University, suited up for the all-stars and delighted the crowd when she hit a 15-footer on her first attempt from the field. Later, when Frazier-Lyde was called for a foul, one fan shouted to the official: "You wouldn't have called that if that were Muhammad Ali's daughter." Fans seated nearby laughed. "Philadelphia fans are the best in the world," Frazier-Lyde said. "They really came out and supported this. I'm proud to be from Philadelphia." The Allen Iverson All-Stars led for most of the game, but found themselves trailing by 89-72 with 4 minutes, 50 seconds remaining in the third period. They cut the deficit to 91-86 by the end of the period, and knotted the score, 104-104, with 4:50 left in the game. The Crusaders wilted. "I wish Allen Iverson had played, but I like the way the all-stars seemed to play their best, " said Carol Smith, a Philadelphian who came out with family members to watch the show. "It was going pretty fast out there." "It was great," said 11-year-old Aaron Briddell. "I liked it when they were doing all of those dunks." After the game, Iverson addressed the crowd. "Everything we're trying to do, we're trying to do it for the community," he said. "I'm trying to give back to Philadelphia, and, hopefully, next year there will be no empty seats."		Author Kevin Tatum   Source Inquirer   Return to Articles