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Superstar guard will get an additional 4 years, $76.7 million

Philadelphia 76ers President and General Manager Billy King announced today that the Sixers have signed guard Allen Iverson to a multi-year contract extension.

Iverson, the No. 1 overall draft pick by the Sixers in the 1996 NBA Draft, will enter his eighth season with the team in 2003-04. A prolific scorer, Iverson has averaged 27.0 points per game in his career, a mark tied for fifth in NBA history, and is a three-time NBA scoring champion (2002, 2001, and 1999). He owns a career-high of 58 points set versus Houston on Jan. 15, 2002, tying the fourth-best mark in franchise history.

The 2001 NBA MVP, Iverson has led the Sixers to the playoffs the last five years, including the 2001 NBA Finals. In 57 playoff games, the six-foot, 165-pounder has averaged 30.6 points, including a playoff career-high and a franchise playoff record 55 points in Game 1 versus New Orleans on April 20, 2003.

Iverson has started 484 out of 487 games in his career, and has missed just 53 contests due to injury. The 2002-03 season marked the first time in Iverson's career that he played all 82 contests. The native of Hampton, Va., has scored in double figures in 472 of those 487 career outings, and at one point, held the NBA's longest, active streak for double-figure scoring before it ended at 186 games from Nov. 24, 2000 to March 18, 2003. Included in his career numbers are 47 games with 40-plus points, helping Philadelphia to a 30-17 mark.

The 2003 All-Star Game marked Iverson's fourth-straight appearance and start. He was named the 2001 All-Star Game's MVP after leading the Eastern Conference All-Stars to a come from behind win at the MCI Center.

Iverson's impact is felt in the record book. Among his accomplishments, he ranks sixth in points (13,170), sixth in field goals (4,669), sixth in free throws (3,200), third in steals (1,158), sixth in assists (2,722) and first in three pointers (632) in the Sixers' record book. He has led the NBA in steals and minutes per game the last three seasons, including an NBA high 225 steals in 2002-03 that broke the Sixers single-season steals mark of 212. He also set an NBA playoff record with 10 steals against the Magic in Game 3 of the first round on May 13, 1999.

A first-team All-NBA selection in 1999 and 2001, and a second-team All-NBA pick in 2000, 2002 and 2003, Iverson's potential was evident as a rookie. He became the first 76er to be named the NBA Rookie of the Year (1996-97) and was the MVP of the Schick Rookie Game held during All-Star Weekend. Later that season he became the only rookie in NBA history to record five-straight games of 40 or more points.

Iverson recently completed a busy summer that included play on the 2003 USA Men's Senior National Team that qualified for a berth in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. In addition, Iverson and his wife Tawanna, the proud parents of Tiaura and Allen II, welcomed their third child, Isaiah.