Before I go too far in praising Allen Iverson, I should first emphasize that he is not Michael Jordan. Jordan was already one of the best players in the league as a rookie. Iverson's performance as a rookie, though it's been impressive, places him well below the average NBA player.
Iverson is a special player. He is probably the most exciting player in the league right now, edging out Jordan only because MJ has to live up to himself. Iverson's flash is not fluff, either. It does not hide a fundamental weakness in his game as Jason Kidd's flashy passing hides his offensive deficiencies. Iverson's only current problems are those related to inexperience. He has a jump shot, but he sometimes shoots it at bad times. He can pass well, but sometimes does not pass enough. He can fake Jordan out of his shorts, but can also dribble the ball off his foot. He can draw lots of fouls and go to the line, but he doesn't make 70% of his shots from there. He can pick anyone's pocket, but he can also pick up cheap fouls.
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Translating to numbers so that we can compare with history: Iverson commits too many turnovers and has a relatively low shooting percentage. Historically, we can say that his turnovers are guaranteed to go down. Almost every rookie commits more turnovers than he ever will later in his career. His foul shooting will also likely go up, though history isn't as strong on his side here, especially recent history, which shows players like Shaquille O'Neal and Chris Webber not improving. Iverson's shooting from the field will also probably go up, not because it is typical, but because he did it in college.
Iverson's brief two year college career showed marked improvement. Although he was Big East Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year as a freshman, he played much better his sophomore year. He shot better, he committed fewer turnovers, he ran the offense better, and he got Georgetown farther in the post-season. And he was Big East Defensive Player of the Year again. This history strongly hints that he is going to get better in the NBA, too.
Other players have had similar college histories, though, and not done well in the NBA. The most prominent examples are Wayman Tisdale and Ralph Sampson, who were awesome undergrads at major schools whose NBA games never improved over their rookie seasons.
Iverson differs from these players in two important ways. First, Sampson and Tisdale, though they were great college players like Iverson, didn't show as much improvement in college as Iverson did. Second and perhaps more importantly, neither has as much physical talent as Iverson. Iverson is the quickest player in the NBA. Quickness -- not height -- is the physical characteristic most touted as being valuable in basketball; John Wooden won with quickness before he had famous big men Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton. Iverson can also leap like a cat. He has done what Jordan used to do, dunking home missed free throws and having alley-oops run for him out of the Philadelphia offense.
Right now, it is all a promise, though. In his rookie year, Iverson has failed to deliver a winner to Philadelphia. He has failed to make Jerry Stackhouse into the great player he had been hyped to be. He has actually brought negative controversy to the city with unfortunate statements about "respect" and rumored disagreements with Stackhouse. He probably will not win Rookie of the Year and probably should not win it. But voters will likely give the award to Minnesota's Stephon Marbury out of "respect" and because the Timberwolves are winning more than most people expected, not because he is the best rookie.
Regardless of who wins, Iverson stands alone as the one rookie with a chance to fundamentally change the way people watch basketball.