![]() So the coach is telling me, 'Cherelle, pass the ball around, move the ball, we got 20 seconds!' And I literally dribbled out the ball for 20 seconds. "And it was 20 seconds left, and we were up by two. "I was in the seventh grade, and we were in a championship game," Cherrell recalls. It could give her access to a free college education, and who knew - maybe an opportunity to travel the world.īut there was one aspect of Cherelle’s game that coaches - and even her mom sometimes - thought could get in the way. It was clear to her mom that basketball could be Cherelle’s ticket out of the projects. And, when her family moved to Georgia, she became a star on her middle school team. And I know my mom would be tired, but I knew she knew that it would pay off."ĭuring the summer blacktop league, Cherelle was playing on boys' teams and dominating - wowing everyone with her skills. Don’t forget.' My mother didn’t always have a car, so we would walk hours to my games. We have time.' But I would just like, 'Don't forget. "She'd be like, 'Girl, your game ain't 'till 10. ![]() "Just tugging my mom, like, 'Get up, Mom!' Like, if I knew we had a game at 10 a.m., I’m up at 5 o'clock in the morning," Cherelle says. ![]() "On the weekends, we would get up - I would get up super early. Holly George didn’t get much sleep with Cherelle around. And it would drive my mom crazy." Cherelle George's obsession with basketball began with a perfect gift from Santa. Just in the dark, in my room, sometimes eyes closed. "I was that kid who would go in my room in the dark and would just dribble in the dark," Cherelle says. You could often find her watching the men at the local court, or in front of the TV, rewinding and rewatching And1 mixtapes. And as I got taller - which, I mean not much taller - I would raise it up, and I would dunk on it."ĭunking was fun and all, but Cherelle found that dribbling was her real bread and butter. And I just remember bouncing it all day, like, being so excited," Cherelle recalls. "I woke up the next morning to a Fisher Price hoop and a basketball. So on Christmas Eve, Santa dropped off the perfect present. When she was 4, her mother noticed that her daughter loved trying to play with the neighbors, despite her tiny hands. Every time she hit the court, she was feeling out her style, figuring out how to make it to the top in her own way.Ĭherelle hails from the projects of Reading, Pennsylvania, where kids in the neighborhood played streetball nearly every day. But Cherelle didn’t want to be Iverson’s carbon copy. This is awesome.' Like, I want to do that.' "Īs soon as she got the chance, Cherelle went outside and practiced that crossover fadeaway shot over and over again. "And then Allen Iverson steps over Tyronn Lue and kinda, like, gives him a look," Cherelle continues. ![]() Tyronn Lue tripped and fell to the ground. "He jab steps, takes a dribble, crossover, shoots it like a fadeaway," Cherelle remembers. But, right before that, he pulled a move that would become a viral internet meme in years to come. By the time the final whistle blew at the end of overtime, he’d have a whopping 48 points and a win. And, if she had any remaining doubts, his performance in Game 1 snuffed them out.Ĭherelle sat at home, eyes glued to the TV as she watched him sink basket after basket - just tearing the Lakers apart. He was proof that short people could ball. But Iverson, standing at 6 feet even, gave Cherelle hope. By high school, she realized that she wasn’t going to get much taller. "He was, like, my hero."Ĭherelle was a 16-year-old, 5-foot-3 aspiring point guard, who often joked that she had to throw the ball up rather high to make a layup. "Honestly, Allen Iverson was the one player that I felt like changed my life," Cherelle George says. Most people had placed their bets on the Lakers sweeping the series.īut among those who were rooting for the underdog was one girl who never, ever, ever missed a Sixers game - at least, not after she first saw Allen Iverson suit up for Philly. It all went down during Game 1 of the 2001 Finals: The Los Angeles Lakers vs. Before becoming “Torch,” Cherelle George was often told to “tone it down.” (Courtesy Cherelle George) This article is more than 2 years old.īasketball fans call it one of the greatest moments in NBA history.
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