Allen Iverson will pay for the funeral of a man who died three years after he was shot in southwest Philadelphia because he refused to hand over his Iverson jersey to a group of teens.

 

Iverson says he's tired of reading about murders in Philadelphia and wanted to do something.

 

"I don't think one guy can do what needs to be done, but I think one guy can help," Iverson said before Wednesday night's game in Seattle. "I think it's going to take a collective effort. and there is a lot of good people trying to help the situation in Philadelphia."

 

Kevin Johnson died Tuesday morning after his family chose to take him off life support. He was 22.

 

On June 24, 2003, a group of teens approached Johnson while he was waiting for a trolley and demanded he give up the Iverson jersey he was wearing. When he refused, Johnson was shot in the back of the neck by Robert Ferguson, who is serving a prison sentence on attempted murder charges.

 

The shooting left Johnson paralyzed, in a wheelchair and eventually on a ventilator. Last week, the ventilator failed, and Johnson suffered irreparable brain damage. The family chose to take him off it.

 

"It was time for Kevin to go home," Johnson's mother, Janice Jackson-Burke told the Philadelphia Daily News.

 

Johnson's funeral is set for next Wednesday, with the expenses covered by Iverson.

 

The seven-time All-Star contacted the hospital and spoke with Jackson-Burke. She told Iverson how much her son adored Iverson's play and how much he loved the Sixers.

 

"If they were that serious about that jersey, I would have given them 100 jerseys if they wanted it," Iverson said. "It was just tough, just to see somebody die for something senseless like that, over a jersey, over something material."

 

After he was left a quadriplegic, Johnson and his mother spoke at schools and rallies in the Philadelphia area about staying away from guns. He'll be buried in an Iverson jersey.

 

The family asked Iverson to attend the service, but the Sixers play that night in Milwaukee. Iverson said he talked to the family about not wanting to disrespect them, or for them to believe his offer was simply for publicity.

 

"I felt like I have got to do something more than what I have been doing to help this situation as much as I can," Iverson said. "If I can reach one person and take one death away, I think I can do something."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2663839

 

Class. Act.

 

Really sad story though.

 

you know he did this on his own volition and I respect his intentions. Very noble and classy act. I hope that guy kicks some ass on the heavenly bball courts.

"If they were that serious about that jersey, I would have given them 100 jerseys if they wanted it," Iverson said. "It was just tough, just to see somebody die for something senseless like that, over a jersey, over something material."

 

After he was left a quadriplegic, Johnson and his mother spoke at schools and rallies in the Philadelphia area about staying away from guns. He'll be buried in an Iverson jersey.

 

 

Just terrible that something like that can happen.

 

However, my respect for Iverson's growing big time.

AI is an awesome person.

I'll admit I never cared for AI much. My stepdad has actually written him a ticket, he's from this area. But this story is awesome (as awesome as it can be despite being about a guy losing his life). AI is the man.

Sad about this guy dying over something so trivial, but nothing but class from AI.

If someone made a movie about Allen Iverson I'd watch it in a heartbeat.

His story is unbelivable...

 

When he was like 17 him and a group of friends fought a group of white boys in a bowling alley. AI got convicted with something like Lynching By the Mob (which sounds a bit like bogus... couldn't they get him on something else?) and he was sentenced to something like 5 years. The Governor of Virginia gave him a pardon, and he wnet to Georgetown where the rest is history.

 

The way he's matured since the late 90s is nuts. Remember when he was made that rap cd and Stern banned it because he said faggot and motherf***er too many times?

He used to have problems with coaches, he pulled a gun on some guy, man he has come such a long way.

 

The crazy thing is he's like 31, been in the L for like 11 seasons, he?s 5?10 165 I think, he gets beat up more than anyone, and he put up 33 and 8 last year. The Allen Iverson story is unreal, it boggles my mind.

I can't think of an athlete that originally got a bad rap for less of a reason (stupid stuff he did when in HIGH SCHOOL) than the answer did. He's been all class ever since he came into the league a decade ago. Horrible story though.

Very classy gesture by AI.

Very sad story. All the crime in the world, and so much violence. AI did something positive here. The man died for his jersey................ How many of you would do the same? Or for any baseball, basketball, or football players jersey? I wouldn't.

Very sad story. All the crime in the world, and so much violence. AI did something positive here. The man died for his jersey................ How many of you would do the same? Or for any baseball, basketball, or football players jersey? I wouldn't.

 

I'm sure if he knew he was going to die he wouldn't have held onto it.

AI is showing his class all the way. People are defined by their actions, and although he made his mistakes, he is most definately a class act and his actions show the kind of person he has become.

Wow awesome AI.

 

RIP to the victim.

Very sad story. All the crime in the world, and so much violence. AI did something positive here. The man died for his jersey................ How many of you would do the same? Or for any baseball, basketball, or football players jersey? I wouldn't.

 

I'm sure if he knew he was going to die he wouldn't have held onto it.

Bingo. If some group of kids just came up to you and demanded something, would you play the part of a little girl and just give it to them? I'd have to say it's rare that one of the little f***ers would pull a gun on you. At that point you can give it to them, but with being shot in the neck, it sounds like the man was shot after he said no and turned away. It doesn't seem that he was ever 'held' at gunpoint. Rather, he was sucker-shot by a little douchebag. Punk little pussies.

The suspect should face murder chargres rather than attempted murder charges.