![]() ![]() So it’s interesting to look back on this with some nuance, and to look at it in the context of the various struggles around how NBA players were portrayed at that time. And that’s fair yes, absolutely, these were remarkable and unusual comments, but they didn’t indicate that Iverson never practiced or claimed there was no value to practice. Iverson seems to have a lot of understanding towards the reporter who asked the question he went off on, and to even the repeated broadcasts of that clip without the context, and he admits the various failings on his end in clashes with then-Sixers’ coach Larry Brown, but he’s also a little disappointed at the media in general that the wider context of what he was trying to discuss in this particular press conference wasn’t relayed. But the actual context of it is absolutely worth considering, especially when it comes to Iverson taking on this press conference in the wake of a playoff loss, and referencing the death of his friend during that.Īnd Tinsley’s piece is worth a read for a full look at how Iverson now sees this. The “practice” rant remains remarkable as one of the early cases of a press conference comment going viral, and being constantly and consistently replayed without context. Just that press conference, and they just kept asking me about the same thing and I got fed up…I couldn’t accomplish the things I’ve done without practicing. That wasn’t the message that I was sending. And that was something that bothered me a lot because I think the way kids looked up to me, and the way even guys in the league looked up to me, I didn’t ever want them to think that that wasn’t important. “We sitting here and I’m supposed to be the franchise player,” Iverson pleaded, “and we talking about practice!”ĮSPN also covered this with a Scoop Jackson video piece:ĭan Patrick: “You didn’t like to practice either though, Allen…”Īllen Iverson: “Man, that was so off. …What no one in the news conference knew then, aside from Iverson, is that the trial of his best friend’s alleged killer had started only days earlier. Throughout that season, Iverson would wear black armbands with “RA” embroidered on them, tapping his friend’s initials before each free throw. 14, 2001 - just two weeks before the start of the NBA regular season - Iverson’s best friend, Rahsaan “Rah” Langford, was murdered outside a Hampton, Virginia, apartment complex. The backstory behind Iverson’s frustration isn’t a mystery he explained it that day. …Twenty years ago, Iverson spoke for 35 minutes, and yet what we remember is a minute-long sound bite that completely obscures what he was going through. ![]() “Everything is going downhill for me, as far as just that … as far as my life.” ![]() I lost him, and I lost this year,” he said during the contentious event. “I’m upset for one reason: ’Cause I’m in here. And, as many referred to him back then, Iverson the thug. Instead, he was once again seen as Iverson the knucklehead. Some highlights:ĭespite baring his soul, many didn’t hear what Iverson was actually saying. But, as a few pieces explored this year around the 20th anniversary of that rant, there was more going on there than just “talking ’bout practice.” One notable one comes from Justin Tinsley at ESPN’s Andscape (formerly The Undefeated). The “We talkin ’bout practice! Not a game!” comments that then-Philadelphia 76ers’ guard Allen Iverson made to the media on have lived on for decades afterwards as a sound clip, as a reference for comedic bits, and even as a citation from people in other professional sports. ![]()
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