Allen Iverson established his legacy as one of the most lethal scorers to ever grace a basketball court during his 14-year NBA career, from 1996 to 2010. ‘The Answer’ recently spoke about another factor that made him unique, and the challenges he faced because of it.
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Iverson was almost always against what the norm or the dictated standard was. A media storm enveloped him almost perpetually back in the day, thanks to that. Iverson said he still feels hurt by what was thrown at him because it was unfair to judge him for what he wore or how he presented himself.
As a young black man, AI considered it a right not to be forced to conform. From getting tattoos to not wearing suits to games to growing his hair, he led life in his own terms. That rebellion reflected in how, unlike most young ballers of his generation who wanted to grow up to be Michael Jordan, Iverson had different ideas.
“Yes, I wanted to be like Mike, basketball-wise, but I didn’t want to be Mike,” Iverson said in an exclusive interview with the CBS Evening News.
“I wanted to be my own version of me. I am happy with who I am, and then why would you want to be somebody else anyway? Everybody else is taken up,” he added
Iverson then spoke about how he was considered a pariah back then; he became a pioneer and a style icon later. Everybody in the league dresses the way they want these days, having more or less escaped the notion of living up to the expectation of a rigid society.
Iverson wished he had a chance to attend the kind of red carpet events that NBA stars are regulars at these days. And he is happy the current stars care about their personalities and choose to dress uniquely to reflect who they are as people.
AI then narrated a story of how, when he was playing, he did a photoshoot for a magazine cover, but they airbrushed all his tattoos. This offended him deeply at the time because that wasn’t an authentic representation of who he was.
The Hall of Famer admitted that he was a fashion conformist when he was younger. He loved his Air Jordans. Iverson claimed he had three pairs of jeans that he would wear in rotation. And none of it mattered to him as long as he had his Jordans.
Even when he met MJ, long after he himself had become a star, his friends had pointed out that he behaved embarrassingly, like a fan boy.
“You have to got to understand that, I wouldn’t be one of the top 75 if it weren’t for him [Jordan]. He gave me the vision. He made me want to be an NBA basketball player,” Iverson.
It is good that, despite being such a huge fan, Iverson decided to carve out his own path. Apart from the contributions he made to the game as a player, Iverson can certainly take credit for being an inspiration for the next generation, expressing themselves to their fullest.
