Allen Iverson has found himself in the news quite a bit over the course of the last few weeks.
First, rumors circulated that the former NBA MVP was broke, which he emphatically shot down. Shortly thereafter, news leaked that the man who had once sold a ridiculous amount of Reebok sneakers had inked a lucrative sock endorsement deal. No, seriously!
Just a few weeks ago, the documentary IVERSON dropped on Showtime to positive reviews. The film chronicles the 11-time All-Star’s journey from the projects in Virginia to NBA super-stardom and all of the controversies he faced along the way.
The film helps shed a new light on possibly the most misunderstood athlete in American history, but a new book dives even deeper into the personal issues that contributed to his untimely exit from the NBA.
This past week, Washington Post sportswriter Kent Babb released Not A Game: The Incredible Rise And Unthinkable Fall of Allen Iverson. The 336 page publication dissects AI’s childhood, his ascent in the NBA and unearths many of the epic back-stories of The Answer’s most memorable moments, including his infamous “practice” diatribe.
Babb’s book made headlines as it revealed that Iverson was “drunk” during the “We talkin’ bout practice?!” interview. Iverson, through ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, has denied this revelation, citing his emotional state at the time due to the recent murder of his longtime friend and swirling trade rumors as the trigger for his reaction. But Babb’s words stem from extensive research and interviews with those closest to the man himself. The hard-hitting biography is available now in hardback and Kindle format at Amazon.com.
So who exactly is Allen Iverson?
Both the book and documentary contribute significant pieces to this puzzle of the man. What’s absolutely certain is that Allen Iverson attacks everything one way: as hard as he possibly can. He played hard, partied hard, loved hard, grew up hard, rapped hard, dressed hard and lived hard.
Today is also AI’s 40th birthday. Let’s take a quick stroll down memory lane to his finest hour as a professional— his epic 48-point Game 1 performance in the NBA Finals from exactly 14 years ago yesterday. The 76ers pulled out a 107-101 overtime road win, handing the L.A. Lakers their only loss that postseason.
Salute to the pound-for-pound toughest player in NBA history!