Friday, May 7, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section B · Page 5
Iverson wins scoring title
The Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — Allen Iverson's friends had to drag him to a local nightspot to see if Shaquille O'Neal would catch him. If it had been a pickup game against Shaq, or anyone else, Iverson wouldn't have hesitated.
"Everybody stay humble," Iverson told his friend, Que Gaskins, as they settled in at a restaurant just outside the city to watch Iverson's dream of an NBA scoring title become reality.
When Shaq fell short, there were cheers, champagne and even a few tears from Iverson, who became the 76ers' first scoring champion since Wilt Chamberlain in 1965-66.
"I've worked so hard," said Iverson, embracing his friends and family Wednesday night when O'Neal fell far short of the 40 points he needed to pass Iverson for the scoring lead. "All my dreams are coming true."
After scoring 33 points in the Sixers' 105-100 overtime victory over the Detroit Pistons Wednesday night, Iverson left the arena not knowing whether it was enough to capture his first scoring title.
O'Neal, playing against Portland on the West Coast, scored 18 points and lost the scoring race 26.75 to 26.31 in one of the battles in NBA history. O'Neal,
who led the league in scoring in 1994-95,
also lost by.42
points to David Robinson in 1993-94.
"It would have been very selfish for me to try and get 40 tonight," O'Neal said.
The first scoring title of the post-Michael
Iverson: Defeated Shaquille O'Neal for the NBA title.
Jordan era went to Iverson, a 6-foot speed demon who has been criticized for everything from his criminal record and fashion statements to his brief history of selfishness and perceived arrogance on the court.
Just as he does when he drives fearlessly to the basket, Iverson stood up to all the giants who have led the NBA
in scoring — names like Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West and Elvin Hayes. He is the shortest scoring champion in NBA history, eclipsing the 6-foot-1 Nate "Tiny" Archibald, who did it in 1972-73.
"I think it would be a great for the league, a little kid winning the scoring championship," said Sixers coach Larry Brown, who had a one-on-one meeting with Iverson before the game.
Brown wanted to prep Iverson for the night ahead because he'd been through this before. Brown was the Denver coach when David Thompson went into the last game of the season in a tight scoring battle with San Antonio's George Gervin.
Thompson scored 73 points for the Nuggets, only to watch Gervin go out later and pour in 63 to win the title by 07 points.
"David and I talked before the game, and we all wanted David to win the scoring title," Brown said. "And he didn't want anybody to help him."
"I was just hoping that Allen would get the scoring title without us doing anything silly."
Michigan State guard to stay in school
The Associated Press
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State point guard Mateen Cleaves will stay in school next season and not declare himself eligible for the NBA draft as an underclassman.
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound All-American made his announcement yesterday at a news conference in East Lansing.
edly that she would like her son to finish work on his degree in family community services.
Cleaves had said after Michigan State's loss to Duke in national semifinals of the NCAA tournament that he would stay in school. Cleaves follows the plan endorsed by Spartans coach Tom Izzo and by his mother, Fran Clemens, who had said repeat
"That last game left any empty feeling in my stomach." Cleavens said yesterday. "This year, I want to bring it home."
Two of his peers — Duke's Elton Brand and Connecticut's Richard Hamilton — already decided to leave school early. But some NBA scouts believed Cleaves would be better off staying at Michigan State and working on his shot.
"It wasn't a tough decision to tell you the truth. My family and coaches just thought I ought to check everything out." Cleavay said. "The education is very important to me. I want my degree. I don't want to be known as just a jock."
Despite the fact that he was the Big Ten player of the year for the second straight season, Cleaves saw his scoring average dip from 16.1 points per game in 1998 to 11.7 last season.
Still, there are few who can match Cleaves in clutch situations.
He scored the winning basket with 3.7 seconds remaining against Northwestern in the Big Ten tournament. Cleaves also hit the winning shot with 1.2 seconds left in a late-season game against Minnesota, and with four-tenths of a second remaining against Penn State.
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