Iverson just keeps growing Call it half pep rally, half tent revival meeting if you want, a celebrity crawl or an autograph hunt if you must. But don't forget to call it a defining moment for Allen Iverson and his most fervent fans: the 6-foot-and-under milk-and-cookies crowd. Iverson arrived in Camden in the name of children, charity, and his newly chosen path as the 76ers' team leader this weekend for a series of celebrity-rich fund-raising events. The NBA's MVP brought to an eager audience of children at the Tweeter Center yesterday not only pieces of pro basketball, Hollywood, and Philadelphia entertainment and sports royalty but also increasing evidence that he, the Sixers centerpiece that coach Larry Brown affectionately calls "the little kid," continues to grow into a bigger man. Like so many celebrities and stars before him, Iverson has always had the avenues to this better place. Now he shows every indication that he wants to stick to this track. Gone are the detours - hubris, ego, immaturity, questionable decision making, questionable work ethic. In their places are the tools that help him blaze a higher path, a time-honored road that he now not only gladly travels but also implores youngsters to follow him on. Just by being there, Iverson ensured that the treasure hunt would be more than profitable when measured in the giveaways, lunches and collectibles, more than a diversion from just another hot July day. By his mere presence, he guaranteed something memorable - perhaps even life-altering - for all the little ears that strained to hear his every word. "You have to work hard, man," Iverson said to one of a handful of youngsters fortunate enough to cut through the squeals and get a question asked and answered by The Answer. "Hard work is what it takes to be successful." Iverson, of course, could have said the exact opposite and elicited the applause and adulation that greeted him at the completion of his every response. The young eyes that follow his every movement have never seen the blemishes, not even when the adult world has arm-wrestled over the propriety of the angry rap CD that he has made but thankfully never released to the public.  The kids would have accepted that Iverson, to be sure. That's how innocent and vulnerable they are to celebrity. For every celebrity who exploits, you have to hope that there are a dozen doing the exact opposite - reaching back, lending a hand, uplifting themselves and society as a whole.  The team that formed up in Camden, including Iverson, was made up of the latter type of star.  Among those turning heads and causing tidal waves of excitement was Stephon Marbury, the newly minted Phoenix Sun. He told of his appreciation for his parents, who took the basketball out of his hands for a full year, until he had realized that education was just as important. "It was the hardest thing I've ever done," he said. "But when I came back, I did better on the basketball court because my mind was getting stronger." Jacqui Frazier-Lyde, the lawyer turned boxer, told the youngsters: "It's a fight every step of the way, and sometimes the fight starts and ends with you." Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men spoke of daring to be different, daring to break away from the currents of the streets of Southwest Philly in order to study, to learn his art, to sing. Actors Larenz Tate, of Love Jones and The Ink Well fame, and Terrence Howard, from The Best Man, talked of how the difficulty of operating without a script can be eased by education and faith but made harder by peer pressure.  "If you can't get through school, life is going to be real tough," Tate said.  Said Howard: "It would be better to be deaf, dumb and blind than to be worried about what people think about you." Then there was Iverson, the captain - on merit - of yet another team. He knew instinctively what his audience really wanted to see. He repaid the 200 or so children for their patience and their politeness as they squirmed - but only a little - and listened to speaker after speaker while awaiting the final act.  When the questions for him came, some were delicious. "Can I have a hug?" a little girl shyly asked. Iverson obliged.  Some weren't questions at all. "I don't have a question because you're The Answer," one little boy said to laughter and applause.  Then there were the queries that offered a peek into the soul of the new, improved icon.  What did you study at Georgetown?  "I majored in fine arts," Iverson said. "I like to draw. That's what I'm going to do when my career is over." Who was your role model? "My mother."  What does it take to be a leader?  "Hard work. You've got to keep getting better. If you keep getting better as a person, that will make you a leader." Iverson, preaching to the choir, enraptured his audience. The sermon, sweet and sincere, was like a beacon, there to show the children the way - and to measure just how far Iverson himself had traveled.		Author Claire Smith   Source Inquirer   Return to Articles