Allen Iverson's Practice Press Conference

00:00:04 Speaker 1: The Philadelphia seventy six Ers finished the two thousand and one to two thousand and two NBA regular season with forty three wins and thirty nine losses, making them the sixth seed out of eight for the Eastern Conference to make the playoffs. Now, it's never a bad thing to make the playoffs, but for this team, it was a far cry from the year before. That Sixers team had won fifty six games, entered the playoffs as the number one seed, and made it all the way to the NBA Finals before losing to an LA Lakers team with two guys that are pretty good at basketball, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neill. Now, a big reason the team had even made it that far was actually one of the smallest guys in the league. Alan Iverson the Star led the league in scoring that year with thirty one point one points per game, also won MVP, and averaged thirty five and a half points in the five game finals loss against the Lakers. So all that to say, following up a top seeded regular season and finals run with a record barely above five hundred was not what the Philadelphia seventy six Ers had planned or wanted when they started the season, but injuries had been a key factor, and nothing saulves failing to meet regular season expectations more than a deep playoff run. Unfortunately, none of that ever happened. The seventy six ers took the three seed Celtics all the way to a winner takes all Game five, but they lost that by thirty two points. That game took place on May third, two thousand and two, at around seven pm. Four days later, on May seventh, Alan Iverson would hold a thirty minute question and answer session with the media. About two and a half of those minutes, or eight point thirty three repeating percent of the full press conference, would go viral forever labeled as the Alan Iverson practice rant. If you somehow don't know what I'm talking about, here's a small snippet. 00:02:12 Speaker 2: Well, I mean, listen, we're talking about practice, not a gang, not a gang, not a gang, We're talking about practice. 00:02:21 Speaker 1: Iverson would use the word practice twenty times in that conference, and over twenty years later, the quote isn't going anywhere. I mean, even if you don't know who he is, you've probably heard it in some way, shape or form. Maybe you saw the twenty two second version on YouTube with fourteen million views in counting, or a meme on Twitter sorry Ax featuring Iverson behind the iconic press backdrop, or maybe saw it on Ted Lasso, But you probably don't know the true story, the full story behind the quote, like the fact Iverson was grieving a close friend's death and the fact that he actually agreed to do the conference because earlier that day he had talked with coach Larry Brown and they had decided that they would both be returning to the team the following season. So yeah, there's a lot more that we need to talk about. Hey, I'm will Goatchell and this is sports Dot MP three, a podcast about iconic sounds in sports, and today's episode will be about the missing context behind Alan Everson's infamous practice rant. After all, there is a lot more to the story, so don't freak out. But that means we're going to have to start off with a seven letter word worth sixteen points in scrabble and infinitely more in real life context. I'm talking about context, So where to begin other than with the man himself, Alan the answer Iverson. He's one of the most influential basketball players of his era and arguably of full time. A dual sport high school state champion in basketball and football out of Bethel High School in Hampton, Virginia, he was always a truly special athlete. I mean, you should google some of his highlights on the football field. It is wild. But he spent two years playing ball at Georgetown University before he was selected as the number one overall pick in the NBA Draft in nineteen ninety six by the Philadelphia seventy six ers. Now he went on to win Rookie of the Year and set the league on fire with his extraordinary ball handling, quickness and shot making. Plus he did call out Michael Jordan, cross him up and hit the shot in his face as a rookie, So yeah. Standing at six feet and zero inches and maybe approaching two hundred pounds after an all you can eat buffet rampage, he was definitely the definition of wearing your heart on your sleeve, whether it was diving for loose balls and playing throughout innumerable injuries on the court, or being brutally honest at times when a simple smile and nod would suffice. And through it all, Iverson always remained unapologetically himself, which shocker, didn't always result in a great relationship with the media that covered him. So we have a star athlete that has a somewhat rocky relationship with the media, but that in and of itself is nothing new in the league. Well, enter Larry Brown. He took over as head coach of the seventy six ers following Iverson's rookie season, and after Brown's rocky first season at the Helm, that team would never miss the playoffs during his time there. That success, however, didn't prevent Brown and Iverson from clashing throughout their six years together as player and coach, some of which resulted in not so veiled comments to and through the press. One of Brown's go to quips was about Iverson's that was a drummer practice. Habits differing expectations can lead to a lot of conflicts, and Iverson's practice ran epitomizes that the tension between Brown and Iverson and the media I mentioned earlier wasn't anything new per se, but it did need a kindling to light that fire, and there were two matches that did just that. In addition to the already let King of Gasoline that was the disappointing seventy six or season. Firstly, Iverson was still dealing with the death of his best friend, Rashaan Langford, who had been tragically killed in shooting seven months earlier. Now it's impossible to try and understand the grief that one would feel in that situation, and it's doubly so to think about having to deal with that while being a public figure and a team throughout the season. So yes, it had been seven months, but the trauma had been reopened when the murder trial for the alleged shooter of his friend had begun just a few days before the press conference. Secondly, earlier, on the day of the press conference itself, Brown and Iverson had hashed I'm using air quotes. You can't see me though things out, so to speak. Basically, there had been talks during the season that grew louder after the season ending loss about Iverson's future on the team and his on again off again relationship with Larry Brown certainly didn't make those whispers any quieter, But according to an ESPN article, Brown and Iverson had actually had a shouting match outside team facilities that ended with Brown assuring Iverson that he would actually stay on the team the next year. Actually, because of this discussion, Iverson reportedly agreed to hold the press conference later that day. Yeah, I feel like that's pretty important. But hey, so that more or less was the context leading to the interview itself. Just to recap, Iverson, filled with a mix of emotions, grieving the death of his friend, but at least having comfort in knowing he'll remain in Philly the next year. After a talk with Brown earlier that day, enters the press conference. One other note to point out. A reporter, Kent Bab wrote a book and he alleges, based on his talks with some of the people there, that Iverson may have been drunk. He and by he, I mean Alan Iverson has firmly denied this, and so I'll just leave it at that. So Iverson sits down to start the press conference. He answers a few questions about how the season went and his relationship with Larry Brown. Then he asks, I recent a question about practice all. 00:09:04 Speaker 2: Could you address what coach concerned about your practicing habits. We don't get a chance to see your practicing. 00:09:09 Speaker 1: Can you clearly error about all that? Now you might think that this is where it all goes down, but Iverson doesn't bite it. He answered differently than you might expect. 00:09:20 Speaker 2: Anybody tell you that I missed practice. If if a coach I miss practice and y'all hear it, then that's that. I mean, I might have missed one practice this year. But if if somebody say he doesn't come to practice, it can be one practice out of all the practices this year. That's enough. That's enough to get a whole I started. I mean, it's just that's enough. 00:09:50 Speaker 1: And it's only after that answer that the infamous rant comes. The reporter following up that question about practice asks, so you and Coach Brown got caught up on Saturday about practice. 00:10:05 Speaker 2: So you and Coach Brown then settled the issue that he brought up on Saturday about practicing. 00:10:10 Speaker 1: We know what follows next. 00:10:14 Speaker 2: If I can't practice, I can't practice me him, I'm hurt. 00:10:17 Speaker 1: I'm hurt. 00:10:19 Speaker 2: I mean. 00:10:21 Speaker 1: Symbol's debt. 00:10:23 Speaker 2: It ain't about it, and. 00:10:25 Speaker 1: We really don't have to dive into it more. After all, that clip has been replayed millions of times, and it will continue to be played in the future. The mind boggling part about this whole story is actually only a few minutes after iver since rant, he opens up about why he's so upset, and it's honest, sincere and sad, tough thing for anyone to talk about, let alone a star athlete. To the press reporter, you said that you and coach are on the same page, but it does not sound. 00:11:01 Speaker 2: Like that on the same page. 00:11:05 Speaker 1: That it doesn't sound. 00:11:05 Speaker 2: Like we are man we are we are, we are man, we are. I'm just I'm upset. I'm upset for one reason, man, because I'm in here. I lost I lost my best friend. I lost him, and I lost this year. Everything's going downhill for me far as just that, you know, far as my life, and then I'm dealing with this right here. I don't want to deal with this, man. I don't want to go through this year. I don't want to deal with this. This is why I want to be man. I love this place, I love my teammates. I don't have no problems with coach brown Man at all. 00:11:54 Speaker 1: So why does any of this matter? Why should we care about the fact that he had more going on than we thought for this viral clip about practice, Well, it's because it's not about practice. Iverson a six foot guard in a league dominated by six foot five and above giants. One of the most skilled ball handlers of all time certainly practiced. He played through injuries, played through exhaustion, and played with everything he had on the court. He's got some of the most outrageous highlights ever. Look up that rookie highlight of him crossing up MJ. And yet somehow this practice quote hovers over him like a storm cloud. And that's why it matters. When things go viral. We jump to conclusions, pick sides, seek confirmation bias. I know I do it, but we forget that behind every clip there's a human and Alan Iverson was a human who was coming off a poor season, which I'm sure he knew more than anyone else that it ended just a few days prior. He was tired morning friend's death and was expecting to talk about a good thing instead of facing tough questions. And when you really think about it, did he really say anything that wrong? I mean, imagine you're the best potato farmer in the world and someone's asking you if you practice, Sorry, that made no sense. Imagine you're the world record holder in XYZ, doesn't matter what it is. Would you not be a little frustrated if someone asked you about your practice habits. And this happened before podcasts existed, before social media was what it is today. I mean, it's hard to even think about what the reaction would be to something like that today. But it's also impossible to envision another player like Iverson from the way he represented himself and brace his influences without apology to his one of a kind style of play and never say die attitude. So instead of watching Iverson's practice clip right after this episode, watch the entire interview or read the full script. Better yet, watch some of his amazing highlights, or read up on the tremendous amount of good he has done for others. But no matter what, don't think he didn't practice or work hard. Eversent didn't become an MVP four time scoring leader and the king of the Crossover without practice. He didn't play his hard out play after play, breaking ankles, diving for loose balls just to be remembered as the practice rant guy. But why not let the man himself explain, just like he tried to do on that very day. 00:14:36 Speaker 2: I know I don't do everything right, No I do, so I'll do a whole lot of that ain't right. Yes I do. I'm just like y'all, though, believe me, like you, I'm just like you. I'm just like you. I might be better, I might not be, but I'm just like you. I'm human, just like you, just like you. I bleed like y'all, I cried like y'all. I got feelings just like y'all. I ain't no different from y'all. But I'm alan Ibsen. I'm sitting up here and y'all back there. That's the only thing different. 00:15:21 Speaker 1: And that's all, folks. Can I get super saying that? Sorry? Stay tuned for next episode, and please be sure to leave a rating and review if you enjoy it, and if you didn't, maybe don't leave it rating this time. All right, take care, enjoy the day, week, month, and I'll see you for the next episode.