Allen Iverson may have unceremoniously exited from the NBA scene but as a whole, it doesn't immediately mean that the former Philadelphia 76er star fell out and fell hard.
Like most NBA stars, Iverson simply got lost. There is no question that he had his share of controversies like being drunk or tied up to gambling bits but he isn't the only one. A lot of players in the NBA had their run-ins as well but unfortunately, Iverson is a superstar which thus results in a dark moment getting blown out of proportion.
The best way to go about it is to talk to Iverson himself.
Though he is expected not to want to talk about it, a conversation up close alone with the former 2001 NBA Most Valuable Player should already give anyone an idea on whether that alleged claim is valid or not.
The book in mention is of course is the one by Kent Babb, the man behind the "Not a Game: The Incredible Rise and Unthinkable Fall of Allen Iverson" book which is now enjoying a lot of attention.
Babb cited in his book about the press conference that took place after the Sixers were eliminated by the Celtics in the first round of the 2002 first round playoffs. To sum it all up, Iverson's repeated rant of "practice" was what made Babb to conclude that the NBA All-Star guard was drunk.
ESPN's Stephen A. Smith claimed that this was a flat-out lie and that Iverson was not drunk the day the press conference was held.
GM Billy King did notice something off about Iverson but that didn't mean that Iverson was indeed drunk. As he state, if they had thought he was drunk, the whole press conference wouldn't have been done to begin with.
Iverson left the game on his own terms and one reason he cited was that his passion was gone.
After his stint with the Sixers, Iverson never hit it off with other teams. He tried playing for the Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, Memphis Grizzlies and again with the 76ers but the Iverson of old was simply not there.
Allen Iverson today
Practically 12 years later, Iverson reveals that his passion for the game simply went away.
"The passion that you saw in me throughout my career is gone. I obviously miss the game. I can't watch the Sixers because I get emotional watching them. I'm done. At this stage of my life, I don't want it anymore. I don't want to do it anymore"
Right now, his main focus is his family. He cherishes being a full-time dad and plans to make up for lost time.
"I just love being a full time dad. I lost a lot of time playing in the league and traveling all the time. Now I want to be a bigger asset in their lives compared to before because I was too busy playing basketball to secure their lives."
As far as basketball is concerned, Iverson has no plans of coaching either.
"That is not a goal I want to achieve. That is not something I think I will be good at."
