A charitable Iverson returns to his roots The Most Valuable Player in the NBA left the building, hopped on a black scooter and motored into the early evening traffic down Jefferson Avenue.  Somewhere in Allen Iverson's Philadelphia 76ers contract, there must be a clause that forbids -- frowns upon, at least -- riding scooters helmet-less down Jefferson Avenue.  As if Allen Iverson would care about that. As if he would call a cab or something.  Allen Iverson was home. He wanted to ride. He rode.  Allen Iverson is who he is. He does what he does. And yes, he did what he did, years ago now, in that bowling alley. That all came up again Friday, when he spent an hour at a Boys and Girls Club kicking off his fourth Celebrity Summer Classic charity weekend. It includes a ``Dream Day at the Park'' today at Briarfield Sports Complex and a celebrity softball game tonight at War Memorial Stadium.  ``I can't live without this place,'' Iverson said. ``I gotta be here. These kids here mean everything to me, 'cause they are me. It's where I came from. I come from this struggle.  ``It's important for me to try to get back here and have an event like this. It's special to come back and do something in the place you came from.''  See, this is what many people are still coming to terms with as it concerns Allen Iverson. He is one of the most wondrously skilled and courageous athletes to ever play pro basketball. He is the shortest player to be voted MVP. He defies you to watch him play and not be astounded.  He throws charity events. He is fiercely loyal. By all accounts, he is a terrific father to his two children.  But there are people who see his tattooed, bare-chested and bejewled image on the cover of a national magazine and write, in letters to the editor, ``That's it, right there. That's why I don't watch the NBA anymore.''  There are people who will read what he wore Friday -- brown, untied Timberlands, baggy, blue, shin-length shorts, a long white T-shirt beneath a long shiny necklace and a gray mesh wave cap over his famous corn rows -- and wonder why he has to do that.  Why he has to record rap CDs with hideous, obscene lyrics -- never mind that good-guy Shaquille O'Neal does, too. Why Allen Iverson won't cooperate with those who would mainstream him.  And why, after happily signing autographs in a private room for 125 kids assembled for the Allen Iverson Basketball Clinic, he'd scoot off before the clinic started.  These are people who may as well wonder why there is air. There are no easy answers to Allen Iverson. But maybe Mike Bailey is a clue.  Bailey coached Iverson at Bethel High School. He coaches now in Williamsport, Pa., where he's a big deal for having coached Iverson. Yet he is here this weekend, as he was in Philadelphia last weekend -- when Iverson threw his first Philly charity bash -- because Iverson brought him here to work the clinic.  There are things Iverson doesn't forget. True friends top his list.  ``When he says a billion people hate him, one of my jobs on earth is, every time I talk to someone, to make sure there's one less,'' Bailey said. ``The one lucky thing I was able to do as his high school coach was, I got the chance to get to know him.''  It's easy to tell the ones who don't know Iverson. They actually ask him why he comes back and does this. He hurt a woman here, he went to jail here. There are those who will never forgive him.  Why wouldn't he just stay in Philadelphia, where his popularity is already legendary, and build his life there.  ``It's hard to stay away,'' Iverson said. ``This is all I got. I spent so much time in the league defending myself. As long as my family and friends know what type of person I am, that's the only thing that matters. If I can look myself in the mirror every day and be satisfied with it, that's cool.  ``I made mistakes, just like anybody else. Just like you, but you won't hear about it 'cause you're not in a fishbowl like me. That's the only thing: I'm gonna continue to make mistakes. I just hope to learn from them so I don't make the same mistakes again.''  It is all anyone can ask. Even of an MVP.		Author Tom Robinson   Source Hampton Roads   Return to Articles