Allen Iverson formally announced his retirement from basketball Wednesday.
“I gave everything I had to basketball,” Iverson said at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Wednesday. “The passion is still there but the desire to play is not. It was a great ride.”
At the announcement, Hall of Famer Julius Erving and John Thompson, Iverson’s college coach at Georgetown, were present along with his mother, Ann, and three of his five children. 76ers owner Josh Harris spoke at the ceremony but Iverson was not formally recognized by the team. That is expected to happen later this season and include a retirement of his No. 3 jersey. He played parts of 12 seasons in Philadelphia after being selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1996 draft.
Iverson said he’ll be a Sixer “until the day I die.”
Earlier this week, LeBron James said Iverson was the best “pound-for-pound” player in league history because of his abilities and toughness despite being 6-foot and just 160 pounds.
Although he delayed his retirement announcement to exhaust all his professional basketball opportunities and believes he could still be effective in the NBA today, he said he arrived at the decision on his own terms.
“I promise you it is a happy day for me,” he said. “I thought this day would be a tough day but it’s a happy day.”
Information from The Associated Press, Eurweb.com and Espn.com contributed to this report.
