Philadelphia 76ers icon Allen Iverson has witnessed the rebirth of a winning culture in The City of Brotherly Love after the franchise traded for Jimmy Butler. Despite a mere 2-1 record with Butler on the Sixers, there has been a major difference in the team's spirit after adding a proven four-time All-Star of his caliber.

“We got through so much — excuse my French — sh*t to get to this point,” Iverson told Shams Charania of The Athletic. “Been through so much sh*t. We’re here. We got a great player in Jimmy. We’ll miss those guys [Robert Covington and Dario Saric], but adding Jimmy was just beautiful for our team. I remember taking us to the Finals (back in 2001), the energy this city had, and I love the energy we got now, man. We did a great trade.”

Butler is the final addition in the newly formed Sixers trio that includes second-year point forward Ben Simmons and centerpiece Joel Embiid, giving the team the star power to chase the Eastern Conference throne with full force.

“I love our guys — Jo, Ben — having their own identity,” said Iverson. “I love them having three superstars on this squad. The greatest thing we’ll see unfold is all of the role players accepting their responsibilities, what they have to do, and let the stars be stars. That’s what we did in 2001. This way, you don’t have to lean on one person every night. We got a collective group of guys night in and night out.”

“We got a chance now.”

Iverson did most of the heavy lifting for Philadelphia during his long stint with the team, and while seeing a powerful trio could bring many of what-ifs, he has remained the quintessential fan of the Sixers after retiring from the game.