If there’s one thing that NBA fans know about Allen Iverson, it’s the fact that he did not care for practice. His famous rant when asked about missing practice during his time with the Philadelphia 76ers is one of the most iconic moments in NBA history.
While Allen Iverson started taking basketball a bit more seriously in his later years, he never really stopped enjoying his life either. His former teammate Dahntay Jones revealed how Iverson would be when they were practicing during the summer.
“I showed up to Denver, me and J. R. got there early because we were going to start working out early,” Jones said. “And every day, Allen Iverson in the car be like, ‘Yo, come to Dave and Buster’s.’ They’ll play shuffleboard, and they’d play pool till about 11:30-12 am. AI go to the club, you know AI liked to have a few drinks.
“He’d walk out the club like, ‘What time y’all going to the gym?’ We’re like, ‘We’ll be there at 11.’ Me and J. R. there at 11, AI don’t show up. This is for like, 2 months. Get to training camp, AI do a couple of stretches, caught the ball, ‘Give me like 5 spots, 5 shots.’ And he fully AI, he hadn’t touched the ball all summer. I’m not saying he didn’t love it, it’s just that he was so gifted, it just poured out of his pores.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nbDncpF9vo
Allen Iverson was a pure hooper, he was a killer every time that he stepped onto the court. Pound-for-pound, Iverson is arguably the greatest scorer ever, it’s wild that he won MVP and was the scoring champion four times considering how poor his practice habits were. It’s insane to think that he might have been even better if he committed more time to practice. Although, then he probably wouldn’t be AI either.
Allen Iverson Himself Wondered What Could Have Been If Practiced More Often
The NBA is full of ‘what ifs’ that never came to pass and Iverson’s career was no different. He spoke out about his practice habits, wondering how different his career might have been, while also saying that he still did a lot.
“What if I woulda lift weights? What if I woulda dedicated myself more? But, I did a lot. I dedicated myself a lot to be who I am. I did a lot.”
Allen Iverson became the icon and superstar he was because of who he was. It’s fun and games to think about how different he might have been, but that’s a little disrespectful to all the greatness that he did achieve. Very few have had the impact Iverson had on basketball, and some more practice likely wouldn’t have changed much.
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