Allen Iverson was just pure inspiration, a good one or bad one was for his teammates and followers’ to decide.
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The 6’0 guard was full of life when he came into the league in the 1996 Draft as the 1st overall pick for the Philadelphia 76ers and changed the game of basketball forever, in more than one way.
‘The Answer’ was the first 6-foot or under player that was a superstar in the league, in fact, he was the face of his franchise for the better part of his career.
In his 14-year NBA career, the 11x All-Star led the league in scoring for four years in the presence of Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and many more prolific scorers of basketball.
Also read: Tim Donaghy, the ref that screwed over Allen Iverson, exposes Billionaire Michael Jordan
2001 MVP’s iconic tattoos, braids, and hood attires when most of it was taboo in the league set a standard for freedom of expression. AI was a complete icon on the court as well as off it.
And because of it some of his actions which weren’t as inspiring also became a bad influence on his younger teammates as well as his followers.
Allen Iverson must have spent millions in strip clubs according to this wild Matt Barnes story
Unlike most other superstars Iverson treated his rookies and juniors like his little brothers. One of them was Matt Barnes, who in his 4th year in the league when he was yet to settle in as a role player was AI’s teammate in Philadelphia.
The 2017 NBA champ told how Iverson never cared about money even 10 years into the league and being a veteran to so many young athletes.
“Allen was the first guy that showed me how NBA players spend money in strip clubs. That guy went. HARD. He’d throw so much money, and this was when I was first in the league, that I used to take my foot and scoop the s–t under my chair and either re-throw it or put some in my pocket. He’d throw $30,000, $40,000 every time we went. I’m like, “You realize what I can do with this money?” Barnes revealed this in an interview with Sports Illustrated in 2015.
That is the most AI thing you’d hear. It is good that Reebok set a trust fund of $32 million aside which he cannot get before 2030 in addition to their $800,000 a year for life.
Also read: “LeBron James is the One”: Allen Iverson holds the King supreme over Michael Jordan
As far as Barnes goes, $13 million worth NBA champion never became a star in the league, and so didn’t earn money anywhere close to what Iverson did.
And thankfully the ESPN analyst and All The Smoke podcast host also didn’t end up broke like 60% of NBA players do, post their retirement. So, Iverson was a good inspiration to him, be it from wrong lessons.
