AI is Talking Bout Broke

He just went too far.

 

Did Tawana tell them this?

 

Sadder than a prison bid after a brawl at the bowling alley?

 

I'd have to disagree. Anyone who plays with heart doesn't end up most famous for refusing to practice.

 

He can always hangout with the Georgetown Mensa Crew, Victor Page, Michael Graham, Pat Ewing, Austin Freeman, John Turner, Charles Smith, Alonzo Mourning, Morgan Crawford and Mr. Class & Dignity Big John "Lemme Axe You a Qweshion" Thomspon

 

He played with reckless abandon, he played with great skill and instincts, but not heart. If he truly had heart he would have learned how to play with his teammates.
Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.
Alexander Graham Bell

 

i will second creosote. i watched AI play in hundreds of games, and he entertained me more than just about any basketball player of the last twenty years, in part because of the way he absorbed punishment as the smallest guy on the court driving the lane.

i know it's human nature to want to reduce and simplify, but i absolutely hate when people reduce Iverson to his "practice" soundbite. whenever i see kornheiser do it on PTI in his enormously self-satisfied way, i want to throw something at the television. that simplification is the same kind of laziness they claim to be offended by.

 

AI carried Philly on his back to a NBA Finals they had no business being in, given the dead weight around him. Dude busted his ass nightly trying to find any way to put points on the board for his team. How many times did he slam himself to the floor?

So yeah, if my game requires that sort of physical dedication nightly, I'm not going to take kindly when my asshole coach demands me do some rebounding drills with one of the stiffs I win games for. To AI's discredit, that's the sort of thing that should've been settled between him, his agent, Larry Brown, and the Sixers brass in a private meeting. He screwed up by making it public. But the rant was right.

 

If he would've "played with his teammates" more, they wouldn't have sniffed the Finals.

 

He's been broke for years. Here's a story from a couple years back:

http://articles.philly.com/2010-11-21/sports/24953363_1_istanbul-allen-iverson-grand-bazaar

 

He also generally played with more passion, effort and intensity than anybody else on the floor. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who claims AI did not play "with heart" either wasn't actually watching or is utterly fucking clueless. I didn't watch any of his practices, but I did see his games, and he sure as hell did play with heart come gametime.

 

And, I mean, we're just talking 'bout ...

Just wondering, do you think that Bird, Jordan, Magic half-assed it at practice?

And while talking about flawed work ethic, do you think perhaps some of these skill-challenged teammates who kept dragging AI down might have busted ass for him a little more come game time had he busted ass with them in practice?