“If Coach tells you that I missed practice, then that’s that. I may have missed one practice this year but if somebody says he missed one practice of all the practices this year, then that’s enough to get a whole lot started. I told Coach Brown that you don’t have to give the people of Philadelphia a reason to think about trading me or anything like that. If you trade somebody, you trade them to make the team better…simple as that. I’m cool with that. I’m all about that. The people in Philadelphia deserve to have a winner. It’s simple as that. It goes further than that … If I can’t practice, I can’t practice. It is as simple as that. It ain’t about that at all. It’s easy to sum it up if you’re just talking about practice. We’re sitting here, and I’m supposed to be the franchise player, and we’re talking about practice. I mean listen, we’re sitting here talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, but we’re talking about practice. Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game like it’s my last but we’re talking about practice man. How silly is that? … Now I know that I’m supposed to lead by example and all that but I’m not shoving that aside like it don’t mean anything. I know it’s important, I honestly do but we’re talking about practice. We’re talking about practice man. We’re talking about practice. We’re talking about practice. We’re not talking about the game. We’re talking about practice. When you come to the arena, and you see me play, you’ve seen me play right, you’ve seen me give everything I’ve got, but we’re talking about practice right now. … Hey I hear you, it’s funny to me too, hey it’s strange to me too but we’re talking about practice man, we’re not even talking about the game, when it actually matters, we’re talking about practice … How the hell can I make my teammates better by practicing?â€?
— Allen Iverson at a press conference on May 8, 2002
“We are talking about practice. Not a game, but practice.� Words written in stone.
This tirade will follow Allen Iverson for the rest of his professional career. Famous for his 2002 outburst, Allen Iverson is notorious for his hip-hop image of corn rolls, crossovers, baggy clothing, and outspoken approach. From the 1993 bowling alley incident Iverson experienced in high school, to the alleged 2005 brawl at a Washington, DC nightclub, controversy surrounds the Virginian who was voted to the All-NBA Team seven times. Allen Iverson ushered the NBA into the new era of superstars. Out the window are the clean cut Larry Birds and Michael Jordans; now we cheer Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson, adorned in tattoos and headbands. The Answer proved that being true to yourself does not make you any less marketable to mainstream America. But is it negativity that allows such crossover success?
In the past few months, negativity in the sports world constantly finds the front page. From the witch hunt of Barry Bonds, to the Isaiah Thomas sexual harassment civil suit. Football players Michael Vick and Adam “Pac Man� Jones are currently suspended by Roger Goodell’s new and improved NFL where players are held to a higher moral standard. Even Olympic hero Marion Jones returned her five gold medals because she lied to a Federal Grand Jury about steroid use. In a conversation last weekend, a friend asked me, “is no black athlete safe?� Well Allen Iverson is still striving after 14 years of controversy to prove the stereotypes wrong.
Last month, Eileen Mellon, who attends Roanoke College, and Ashlee Skweres, a student at Old Dominion University, were driving on Interstate 64 in southern Virginia after midnight. While driving, Mellon reached for her cell phone and swerved, flipping the vehicle three times and leaving the car on its side. Spiderman, Superman, David Stern, and Roger Godell were nowhere to be found… No. 3 of the Denver Nuggets to the rescue! Iverson happened to be driving on his hometown’s highway and stopped to help. The former Georgetown Hoya pulled the girls out of the vehicle to safety, waited for the police and ambulance to arrive and suggested the two women get checked out at the hospital. Once the situation was under control, a humble Allen Iverson continued on his way. The 2001 NBA MVP did not wait for any cameras, he did not call ESPN, he thought nothing of his good deed. If not for April Snoparsky, a friend of one of the girls, who wrote a letter to the Daily News about Allen Iverson’s good deed, the event would have gone unnoticed. But surely not underappreciated, which would have been fine by Iverson.
It always interests me how easy it is to focus on the negative. If Allen had been the cause of an accident, been arrested for marijuana, gun possession, or had a mistress in his vehicle, it would be on the front page of the sports section and a top story for ESPN. Media outlets would write about another athlete abusing his money, talent and blessing. But because Allen Iverson is the Good Samaritan, who wants to hear about that?
One Feedback on "Just Because He’s “Street” Doesn’t Mean He Isn’t One Of The Good Guys"
Tim
Ah… it’s very refreshing to hear these stories, isn’t it?
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