Allen Iverson is one of the most influential players of all time in the NBA. The Philadelphia 76ers legend was great on the court, but was also involved in many controversies during his career.
Besides his chill attitude and the way he dressed (which cause a series of issues with then NBA commissioner David Stern), Iverson had an issue putting into work to get better. Practice wasn’t something he really enjoyed, and many people picked on him due to that.
Back in 2002, the former NBA MVP was asked about his problems with practice. He wasn’t having any of that and went off on the reporter and starred in his infamous practice rant.
“We sitting in here — I’m supposed to be the franchise player, and we in here talking about practice. I mean, listen: We talking about practice. Not a game. Not a game. Not a game. We talking about practice. Not a game. Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game like it’s my last. Not the game. We talking about practice, man.”
Many years after that moment, Iverson would explain what went through when he exploded and threw a tantrum in a press conference.
Allen Iverson tells the true story behind his infamous ‘Practice’ rant in 2002.
(via All The Smoke/ YouTube) pic.twitter.com/UCXNCmJAxl
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 24, 2020
“Best friend just got killed… I was dealing with a whole bunch of shit at the time… Whatever reporter it was, just kept asking me about the practice situation and I just lost it,” he told Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson of All The Smoke.
AI was very passionate about basketball, but he also wanted to see everybody around him doing great. Losing your best friend must be extremely painful and many people tried to kick him while he was down until he couldn’t take it anymore. Iverson is still a controversial figure, but nobody can deny his impact on the game, his talent with the basketball and all the things he did for the league.
He obviously wasn’t going through a good moment in his life, and focusing on practice was something Iverson would have rather skipped.
