“Hell yeah my mom whooped my a**”: Allen Iverson talks about receiving tough love from his mother, Ann Iverson

Allen Iverson says that his mom used to “whoop his ass” when he was younger in an effort to make him train harder to make the NBA.

Allen Iverson’s come-up from where he started off his journey to the NBA in Newport News, Virginia, all the way to becoming perhaps the most iconic superstar in the 2000s is truly inspiring.

There are a bevy of reasons as to why AI is where he’s at today; a well-respected legend who dominated the game at a mere 6’0, winning multiple scoring titles and a league MVP. 

His success can be attributed to his intense work ethic and determination to strive for better when it came to honing his skills. However, this determination didn’t come from nowhere as Allen Iverson has reiterated on several occasions that his mom, Ann Iverson was the catalyst and driving force behind his eventual arrival to the big leagues.

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Raising Allen Iverson, along with two other daughters is no easy task to ask of anyone, let alone a 15-year-old. However, looking back at parenting her three children, Ann recounts on only the positive aspects. 

Allen Iverson received tough love from his mom as he trained to become better 

Training to be in the NBA from the ripe age of 10 is incredible taxing on any individual; especially for someone of Allen Iverson’s stature trying to enter the physical nature of 90s and 2000s basketball. The Hall-of-Fame guard claims it was his mom who would encourage him to keep going, even “whopping” his ass at times.

Allen Iverson and @pat_croce speaking about the influence Iverson’s mom Ann had on him as a youth. (2002)

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mom’s out there. pic.twitter.com/1MnwnmVo9G

— Hoops Nostalgia (@HoopsNostalgia) May 9, 2021

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“My mom was just somebody that I believed in and for her to tell me that I can be an NBA basketball player, an NFL football player, I believed it just because she told me.” 

Ann Iverson’s parenting clearly worked as Allen Iverson enjoyed an incredible career in the NBA; a career that culminated in him getting inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016, a moment that was both surreal and emotional for Ann. 

“Being there and sitting in that seat was enough. They had the cameras on me and I was bawling. To have your child speak of you in that manner. To say what I told him I wanted him to do, as far as basketball. He said it and he did it.”