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Questions arise about The Answer and his future
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00:00Down goes Basia! Down goes Basia!
00:04United to Amici! Amici!
00:07Amici!
00:08A dance! A dance! A dance! A dance!
00:16The Chicago Bulls won their sixth NBA championship.
00:20Gibson, swing!
00:22This is going to be a home run! Unbelievable!
00:25Don't believe what I just saw!
00:39Hello, I'm Chris Fowler, and welcome to SportsCentury.
00:42For so long, the face of the NBA had been smiling and non-threatening,
00:46from Julia Serving to Magic Johnson to Michael Jordan.
00:50And then came this representative of the hip-hop generation,
00:53a walking billboard of tattoos, braids, fixed scowl, and defiant attitude.
00:58Allen Iverson became a symbol of those on the outside,
01:02and a disquieting reminder that they exist.
01:07Yeah, boy, boy!
01:10This is the outside!
01:13Checkmasters.
01:14Check them out, uh-huh.
01:15Iverson, in many ways, is one of the foremost representatives of hip-hop culture
01:20in modern-day America, outside of rappers themselves.
01:23You know, the way he stepped on the basketball court,
01:27rocking the cornrows, rocking the tats.
01:29I'm here in this league.
01:32I'm bringing my friends with me.
01:34They may look scary to you because they wear hip-hop clothing,
01:37and some of them have records,
01:39but I'm going to be loyal to them, and I'm going to stick by them.
01:42In 1996, Allen Iverson brought a heightened brand of playground brilliance to the NBA,
01:48but with it came a sharp level of street swagger.
01:51In the summer of 1997, he was arrested for possession of marijuana and a concealed weapon.
01:57Although the drug charge was dropped,
01:59and he was let off with 100 hours of community service
02:02when he pleaded no contest to having the gun,
02:05an impression remained.
02:27When Iverson cut a rap album in 2000 featuring sexually explicit material,
02:33the response inside and outside the league was so loud
02:37that the album was never released.
02:39If you're a hardcore hip-hop fan, then this album is for you.
02:43If you don't care about hardcore gangster rap, just don't buy it.
02:47He was naive in not expecting a backlash,
02:52but his argument is the people who were criticizing him
02:55didn't understand the art form.
02:57Backlash for rapping is ridiculous.
03:00There's this incident of Allen on the cover of the NBA magazine
03:04when they airbrushed the tattoos,
03:05and the guy says,
03:06hey, if you wanted somebody without tattoos,
03:09why didn't you just pick another player?
03:11I don't want this publicity.
03:12I'd rather not have it if you're going to take my image
03:15and make it, you know, fit what you want it to fit.
03:18I don't wear a suit before and after a game,
03:21and I'm not clean cut,
03:23and I get knocked for that.
03:24So all of a sudden, I cut all my hair off and wear a suit.
03:27Are you going to love me then?
03:29I'm still going to be the same person.
03:30Allen Anderson does what he feels like doing.
03:33If you try to get him to conform,
03:35that's when you're going to see the most resistance.
03:37You walk and say,
03:39or you wake up,
03:40or you grasp what you need
03:43to not only read,
03:45not only see,
03:47to a generation.
03:48It's a small percentage,
03:50but it's a power percentage
03:51that want him to change.
03:52A large percentage of black America
03:54and younger white America,
03:55your AI cannot change.
03:58Stay...
04:00Notice, he said,
04:01younger white America.
04:04There were white people wearing cornrows
04:06because of Allen Iverson.
04:10Make who you are.
04:11What's happened,
04:12interestingly enough,
04:13is in the culture at large,
04:15he transcended basketball
04:18and became a pop culture icon.
04:20Allen has crossed markets
04:21because if you look at the generation today,
04:24they're wearing tattoos.
04:25They all have do-rags.
04:26You see kids wearing cornrows.
04:28He played with a protective sleeve
04:30on his surgically repaired elbow.
04:32If you take a look at playgrounds
04:34around Philadelphia,
04:35you see 13-year-olds
04:37wearing this long protective sleeve.
04:39He does it because it's a medical thing.
04:41They do it because
04:42it's an inner-city style statement.
04:45It's like the hypocrisy of America
04:46when they're dealing with Allen Iverson.
04:47He's not trying to sell himself to America,
04:50but America wants him to sell itself to them.
04:53At some point in my life,
04:54I got tired of always defending myself,
04:58having to say who Allen Iverson is,
05:00because either you're going to accept it
05:02or you're not going to accept it.
05:03And I care,
05:05but I really don't care
05:06because all I need to concentrate on
05:09is the people that love me
05:10and care about me
05:11for who I am.
05:12Yep.
05:13And just being a good player,
05:15a great player.
05:16The thing about him,
05:17I respect and admire,
05:19he's tough.
05:20If you hit him,
05:20he's going to keep coming back.
05:22I'm telling you,
05:23the little guy,
05:23he is something.
05:25He takes a finish.
05:26You have certain guys that you know
05:28that are going to weather the storm.
05:32Whatever you throw at him,
05:34he's going to take it on the chin,
05:36and he's still going to get up
05:37and give you 40 points.
05:39The irrepressible Allen Iverson,
05:43you cannot kill that guy.
05:45When the superstar goes down
05:46and then gets right back up,
05:49and instead of going to the side,
05:51pushes through,
05:52pushes through,
05:53because that really makes an effect
05:55on the team.
05:55The pounding he takes,
05:57the injuries he has to his body,
05:59and for him just to keep getting up,
06:01getting up, getting up.
06:02The star,
06:03to me,
06:04the star has to be tough.
06:05If the star is tough,
06:08then why should other players
06:09not be tough and do their job?
06:12It lifts the entire team up.
06:16I don't think there's anybody
06:18in professional sports
06:20pound for pound
06:20that's as tough as he is.
06:25That's something
06:25you can't take from nobody.
06:27It's just something
06:27some people have
06:28and some people don't.
06:29Better have their heart
06:30in their street,
06:30you know,
06:31and he got it.
06:34Because of the game
06:35that I play,
06:36my size,
06:37my weight,
06:37people always said
06:39I couldn't do this,
06:40I couldn't do that,
06:41and I've heard it
06:41all my life,
06:42and I always took that
06:45as a challenge.
06:46And it does have
06:47a lot to do
06:48with where I come from
06:49because I didn't supposed
06:50to make it out of the place
06:51that I made it out of.
06:52A guy who's successful
06:53on his own terms,
06:54he's successful
06:55in spite of all the odds
06:57against him.
06:57All the circumstances
06:59of his life were such
07:00that he probably
07:02shouldn't have made it
07:03past a teenager.
07:05The roots of Iverson's
07:07toughness run deep,
07:08back to his birth
07:09on June 7, 1975,
07:11in the racial backwaters
07:13of Hampton, Virginia,
07:14near Newport News.
07:16Allen Iverson
07:18grew up in a tough neighborhood
07:19as the child
07:21of a teenage mother.
07:22His biological father
07:24had already left the family
07:25by the time Allen
07:26was growing up,
07:28and Allen's stepfather
07:30was also locked up
07:31for several years
07:32on drug charges.
07:33The violence he saw
07:34growing up,
07:35I mean,
07:35it started at 8 years old
07:37when he witnessed
07:37his first murder.
07:39It was a commonplace
07:40occurrence in Newport News
07:42throughout his adolescence
07:43to sort of be among
07:44the crowd standing
07:46around a chalk outline
07:48of a body.
07:49A lot of the people
07:50that he really
07:51kind of counted on
07:53and looked to
07:54were killed.
07:56He had some very
07:57close friends growing up,
07:59and a lot of them
08:00didn't make it out of there.
08:02Allen's brought up
08:02in a house
08:03where there's cousins,
08:04there's 13 kids
08:06in a couple-bedroom house,
08:08and there's chaos.
08:09There was raw sewage
08:11floating on the floor.
08:13And it's one of the reasons
08:13why Allen was always
08:15on the playgrounds
08:17till all hours
08:18of the night.
08:18The crossover move
08:20actually had
08:21rather tragic roots.
08:24At age three,
08:25his mother tells him
08:25that he's got to be
08:26the man of the house.
08:28By five,
08:29when he's jumped on
08:30by five kids
08:31and comes home
08:32to get a fishing rod
08:33to fight him off with,
08:34his mother stops it all
08:35and says,
08:35no, you go back there
08:36and fight them all
08:37one by one.
08:38So here's a cat
08:39that has to go out
08:40and find a way
08:40to make money
08:41when he still has
08:41to be at school
08:42eight hours a day.
08:44But still make sure
08:45that his sister,
08:46his baby sister,
08:46gets to school
08:47and gets to work.
08:48Still make sure
08:48that his mom
08:49is not out there
08:50on the streets
08:50getting caught up
08:51in anything that's out there.
08:53It was bad for me
08:54growing up,
08:55but I feel like
08:56sports was an outlet
08:57for me,
08:58you know,
08:58because it took my mind
08:59off a lot of things
09:00that I was dealing with.
09:02My mom told me
09:03I could be anything
09:04I wanted,
09:04and I told my friends,
09:06you know,
09:06I was going to be
09:07a professional athlete.
09:08Back then,
09:08they always used to laugh
09:13at Bethel High School,
09:15Iverson gained
09:16statewide fame
09:17in two sports.
09:18Iverson will take it
09:19on the one-hot,
09:20trying to get a block
09:20on the sideline,
09:21he does.
09:22He's down the sideline
09:23looking for one block.
09:25Here he goes,
09:26he goes.
09:40He had 30-foot range
09:42on his jump shot.
09:43He was a right-handed
09:45tiny archiball
09:46in terms of handle.
09:47He could jump
09:48through the rafters.
09:50So I could take MJ.
09:52Then we stopped,
09:53we said,
09:53Michael Jordan.
09:54He said,
09:55I'll tell you,
09:56if I get the ball,
09:57I think I can take him
09:58and score him.
09:59I mean,
09:59he got that much
10:00confidence in his game.
10:01He's over!
10:02He's over!
10:03There's no time, man.
10:05We wanted this, man.
10:07He's such an underrated athlete.
10:09I mean,
10:10here he is jumping
10:10out of the gym
10:11in high school.
10:12He could jump
10:13in the NBA,
10:14but he just liked to shoot.
10:16He liked to go to the rim
10:18and lay it up.
10:21First one.
10:22Feel good.
10:24Along the road
10:24to the state basketball
10:25championship
10:26in his junior year,
10:28Iverson's fame
10:28took a downturn
10:30when he became
10:30the focal point
10:31of a racially motivated
10:33brawl
10:33in a local bowling alley
10:34on Valentine's Day,
10:361993.
10:37The allegation is
10:38that there was
10:39the N-word said
10:41that there was
10:41a racial epithet
10:42which ignited
10:44a melee.
10:45And in the course
10:46of the melee,
10:48the violence done
10:49was extreme.
10:51Yeah, well,
10:52where I am right now,
10:53that's four and a half miles
10:54from where I am.
10:57Just about.
10:59Allen Iverson
11:00has never denied
11:01that he was involved
11:03in that.
11:04Some of the white kids
11:05were injured
11:05much more severely
11:07than the black kids were
11:08and there was
11:09a chair thrown
11:10that hit and injured
11:11someone
11:11and it was
11:13Allen Iverson
11:13eventually who
11:14was said to have
11:15thrown the chair.
11:16It was supposedly
11:17a racial brawl
11:18but only four black youths,
11:20two of them minors
11:21with no records,
11:22including Allen,
11:23were arrested
11:24and charged.
11:25They are charged
11:27with a statute
11:29called maiming by mob
11:30that was instituted
11:32to protect blacks
11:34from lynchings
11:35and now it's being turned
11:37against four young black men.
11:39A town was
11:40immediately divided
11:42and the rhetoric
11:44was heightened.
11:47We want the national
11:48leadership of this country
11:50to come in here
11:51and help us
11:51get rid of racism.
11:54People in this city
11:55don't realize today
11:56that that was
11:57a frightening situation
11:58that couldn't have been
12:00a burning Hampton.
12:02I did know
12:03I feel bad
12:04for Hampton people
12:05then I had to go
12:06now
12:07so I wanted to have
12:08to know
12:08what happened
12:08in this situation.
12:11Two people
12:12were knocked unconscious
12:13in the fight.
12:14Iverson was convicted
12:15and sentenced
12:16to 15 years,
12:1810 of which
12:18were suspended.
12:20Man, that judge
12:21gave him that time.
12:22You would have thought
12:23that you were
12:24a feral
12:24of a slain leader.
12:27Me and myself,
12:28I was proud.
12:28I couldn't believe it.
12:29I was incredulous.
12:31After serving
12:32four months
12:33at the Newport News
12:34City Farm
12:35Correctional Facility,
12:36Iverson was granted
12:37clemency
12:38by Governor Douglas Wilder.
12:40Barred from playing
12:40high school basketball,
12:42Iverson earned
12:43a diploma
12:43at an alternative school
12:44and although
12:46his conviction
12:46was overturned
12:47in 1995,
12:49the stigma
12:50attached to it
12:50remained.
12:52He feels
12:52that he was
12:53wrongly punished
12:54and because of that
12:55he has been
12:56on a mission
12:57from that day forward
12:58never to be
12:58knocked down
12:59by anybody
13:00in quote unquote
13:01the system again
13:02and I think
13:02that drives him
13:03more than anything else.
13:04It was tough
13:05for me
13:05when I got
13:07locked up
13:07because
13:08you know
13:09you say
13:09nobody makes it
13:10from Newport News,
13:11Virginia.
13:12I just said
13:12well I'm just
13:13going to be
13:13one out of the million,
13:14one out of the billion.
13:17Here was a guy
13:18whose trouble
13:19that he had
13:20in high school
13:20got a lot
13:21of attention
13:22and the message
13:24as I recall
13:24that went out
13:25to college coaches
13:26was
13:28this is not
13:28a good guy
13:29this is not
13:30a guy
13:30that you want
13:31to recruit.
13:32Ann Iverson
13:33went to John Thompson
13:34and said
13:34listen
13:35my son
13:36is a great
13:36basketball talent
13:37and he needs
13:38some help.
13:39She saw John Thompson
13:40as a strong
13:41black man
13:42a father figure.
13:43She broke down
13:44crying and told me
13:45that if I didn't
13:47help him
13:48that her son
13:49would be killed.
13:50Under Thompson
13:51Iverson was twice
13:52named Big East
13:53Defensive Player of the Year
13:54and earned
13:55All-American status
13:56when he averaged
13:5725 points
13:58as a sophomore.
13:59Then he became
14:00the first Georgetown
14:01player to leave early
14:03when he entered
14:03the 1996
14:04NBA draft.
14:06The first pick
14:07goes to the Philadelphia
14:0976ers.
14:10We had a draft day
14:12party where
14:12the spectrum
14:13was filled with
14:14maybe 8,000 to 10,000
14:15fans
14:16and this was because
14:17everyone knew
14:18that we held
14:18the number one pick
14:19and it was going
14:20to be AI.
14:21Iverson has Georgia
14:22the crowd
14:23is in the way
14:27He did say
14:28back in high school
14:29that he could
14:30take Jordan.
14:31Well, he took him.
14:34Although winning
14:35Rookie of the Year
14:36the top NBA pick
14:38got low grades
14:39as a team player.
14:40I thought
14:41over his career
14:42he played
14:43more like
14:44streetball
14:45playground all-star.
14:47He's a great player
14:48the only knock on him
14:49is that he's
14:49thinking only
14:50about himself.
14:52While Iverson
14:53averaged
14:5424 points
14:55in 1997
14:55the Sixers
14:57lost 60 games.
14:58That spring
14:59Philadelphia
15:00hired a new
15:01head coach
15:01purist
15:02Larry Brown.
15:03I know the right
15:04way to play
15:05and I'm not
15:05Hold on, hold on, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
15:08We're calling him
15:09a team
15:09a guy first
15:12selfish player.
15:13He has
15:14seven and a half
15:14assists
15:15his rookie year.
15:16Then six.
15:20then after they
15:21hired Larry Brown
15:22who kind of
15:22went down
15:23to four and a half
15:23five.
15:26Not afraid to tell
15:27the players to do
15:28that.
15:28I've never had a
15:29player like
15:30Allen.
15:31I never saw
15:32a player like
15:33him and I
15:34didn't look forward
15:35to the opportunity
15:35of coaching him.
15:36You have two
15:37people who are
15:38so different
15:39a guy who's
15:40in his 60s
15:41white
15:42old school.
15:44On the other
15:45hand
15:45you have
15:46African American
15:47hip hop.
15:49You would literally
15:49see moments
15:50during a game
15:51where Larry Brown
15:53would take
15:53Allen Iverson out.
15:54He's only coming out
15:55for three minutes
15:55four minutes
15:56and Allen Iverson
15:57is about to have
15:57a heart attack
15:58but that's why
15:58I got to a point
15:59where he would
16:00continuously
16:00curse at Larry Brown
16:02and Larry Brown
16:03would say
16:03come on off the bench
16:04and Allen Iverson
16:04would walk by
16:05about time
16:06you know
16:06about effing time.
16:08What does he do?
16:08He gets rid of
16:09everybody else
16:10and he keeps Allen.
16:11The team is built
16:12paradoxically
16:13around the one
16:14player Larry feels
16:15least like he can
16:16coach.
16:17Although the Sixers
16:18steadily improved
16:19over the next
16:19three seasons
16:20it was a great
16:21great
16:23great move
16:26the relationship
16:28between old school
16:29and hip hop
16:30continued to clash.
16:32It was rough
16:33because he's
16:33competitive
16:34I'm competitive
16:35he's fiery
16:36I'm fiery
16:36I want to win
16:38he wants to win
16:39he wants to do
16:40it his way
16:41and a lot of times
16:42I feel like
16:43you know
16:43my way
16:44is the best way.
16:45Allen shows up
16:46late
16:47the coach
16:48kind of can't
16:49help himself
16:49he is going to
16:50say what he feels
16:51needs to be said
16:52and Allen's
16:53going to react.
16:54I'm tired of
16:55everybody talking
16:57about my relationship
16:58with Allen Iverson
16:59I wonder what
17:00your relationship
17:01would be
17:02with any employee
17:03that you might have
17:04who doesn't
17:04choose to come
17:05to work
17:05on time
17:06who doesn't
17:07choose to come
17:07to work
17:08at all
17:08these were
17:09two men
17:10who refused
17:11to serve
17:13look at
17:14washed up
17:15John Starks
17:16on the jazz
17:39but that trade
17:41in the summer
17:41of 2000
17:42wasn't consummated
17:43when another deal
17:44this one
17:45with the hapless
17:46clippers
17:46also fell through
17:48Iverson
17:48jolted by thoughts
17:50of playing
17:50for a perennial
17:51bottom feeder
17:52started to rethink
17:53his relationship
17:54with Brown
17:55I realize you guys
17:56technically
17:58he was drafted
17:59to a perennial
18:00bottom feeder
18:02they had the
18:03number one pick
18:04for a reason
18:05so I mean
18:05you know
18:06you weren't thinking
18:06of trading me
18:07because of how
18:08I play on the court
18:09you were thinking
18:10about trading me
18:10because of things
18:11that I can control
18:12and he says
18:13I'm willing to look
18:13to do those things
18:14control those things
18:15because I want
18:15to be in Philadelphia
18:18the Sixers
18:19opened the season
18:20with 10 straight
18:20victories
18:21although Iverson
18:22continued to feud
18:23with Brown
18:24to a point
18:24where the coach
18:25considered quitting
18:26all seems forgiven
18:27in mid-season
18:28at the all-star game
18:29where my coach
18:30Coach Brown
18:31is he right
18:33this is
18:34you know
18:35this is a tribute
18:35to Coach Brown
18:37I thought it was
18:38like Rocky's game
18:39Adrian
18:40Adrian
18:41it was great
18:42the Sixers
18:43finished with
18:44the best record
18:44in the Eastern Conference
18:45as Iverson
18:46averaged
18:46the league best
18:4731 points
18:48and was voted MVP
18:49in the playoffs
18:51he led Philadelphia
18:52into the finals
18:53for the first time
18:54in 18 years
18:55101-99
18:56Iverson
18:57against Tyrell Lou
18:58baseline
18:58and in the 20
19:00going on 25 years
19:02since
19:04they haven't been
19:05back to another finals
19:08he backs up
19:09he fires
19:09two balls
19:10he's way too good
19:11you didn't see
19:12the cornrows
19:13and the baggy clothes
19:14what you saw
19:15was someone
19:15who fell down
19:16bruised up body
19:18but no broken spirit
19:19you saw someone
19:20that you wish
19:21was on your team
19:22Coach Brown
19:23is a Hall of Fame coach
19:24and you know
19:26by going through
19:27all this
19:27and we went through
19:28in the beginning
19:29that thing helped us
19:30although the Sixers
19:31lost to the Lakers
19:32in five games
19:33Iverson's gritty leadership
19:34not only won the approval
19:36of most Philadelphia fans
19:37it demonstrated
19:38that he had bought
19:39into some old school wisdom
19:41but after early
19:42playoff exits
19:43in 2002
19:44and 2003
19:45Brown bolted
19:46for Detroit
19:47leaving the 165 pound
19:49Iverson
19:50to face a future
19:51without the coach
19:52who helped turn his game
19:53from a liability
19:54into an asset
19:57if you read that out
19:59or you see
20:00some news clips
20:02it's easy to get
20:03one impression of him
20:04I'm supposed to be
20:05the franchise player
20:06and we're in here
20:06talking about practice
20:08I mean listen
20:10we're talking about practice
20:11if you actually take the time
20:13to find out what he's about
20:14you'll understand this guy
20:15he's really a deep person
20:17he's not as shallow
20:19as people make him out to be
20:21he's not just
20:22a creative force
20:23in terms of basketball
20:24he's a caricature artist
20:27and when he's done
20:28playing basketball
20:29he's going to concentrate
20:30on his art
20:32I had some friends
20:33over at my house
20:34Allen came over
20:35at the end of the night
20:36God came over to me
20:37and said
20:37wow
20:37I had no idea
20:39that this guy was this nice
20:40and he sat up
20:41and he talked to my son
20:42and my mom
20:43and I'm saying
20:43you know
20:44this guy's always like that
20:45you never talked to Allen
20:46Iverson
20:47Iverson
20:47or been around
20:47Allen Iverson
20:48at all
20:49how can you judge me
20:50by what you read
20:51by what you see on TV
20:54but after winning
20:55his third scoring title
20:57Iverson jumped
20:58from the sports section
20:59to front pages
21:00across the nation
21:01in the summer of 2002
21:02he reportedly threatened
21:04two men
21:05after what was described
21:06as a domestic dispute
21:07with his wife
21:08Twana
21:12after he allegedly
21:13threw her out the house
21:14she went with her friend
21:16his cousin
21:17and two days later
21:19so he's looking for her
21:21because she hasn't been home
21:22the initial complaint
21:23was that
21:24he went to his cousin's apartment
21:26because he believed
21:27that she was there
21:28and that in the course
21:30of looking for her
21:31threatened
21:31the cousin
21:33and the cousin's companion
21:34and police claim
21:36that the witnesses
21:37claimed that he had
21:38had a gun with him
21:39it's not about him
21:41being a star athlete
21:42it's about that he
21:43nor anyone else
21:44has the right to do
21:45what was done
21:46at that house
21:47a comparatively
21:48minor
21:49legal complaint
21:51just overnight
21:53morphed
21:54into a
21:54cause celeb
21:56media
21:57feeding frenzy
21:58Mr. Robinson
21:59can we ask you
22:00some questions
22:01I was crucified
22:04during the whole time
22:06for those couple weeks
22:07helicopters flying
22:08around my house
22:09and just living
22:10with the fact that
22:11something I didn't do
22:12I could spend
22:13up to 70 years
22:14in prison for
22:17Iverson
22:18Iverson was slammed
22:18with 14 charges
22:20that included
22:20threatening the two
22:21men with a gun
22:22although all the
22:24charges were dropped
22:25when his accuser's
22:26testimony didn't hold
22:27up in court
22:27Iverson publicly
22:29hit back
22:29he said that at the time
22:31he believed that there
22:32were police in Philadelphia
22:33who were out to get him
22:35and that he had heard
22:37that there were cops
22:37who were toasting
22:38what they called
22:39his next arrest
22:40he did feel occasionally
22:42that he wasn't safe
22:43in Philadelphia
22:43and that he might be set up
22:45by a crooked police officer
22:47first time I talked
22:49publicly
22:50with my wife
22:51we talked about
22:52the incident that happened
22:53this summer
22:53the airlines were about
22:55the Philadelphia police officer
22:56it was an hour
22:58and 30 minute interview
22:59and we talked about
23:00the police
23:01in 5 minutes
23:02if that
23:03I wasn't talking about
23:04all police officers
23:06in general
23:06I was just talking about
23:08a couple bad apples
23:11Alan has always
23:12polarized people
23:13people that like Alan
23:14think the cops are out
23:16to get him
23:16the people that hate Alan
23:17think that he's a criminal
23:18waiting to happen
23:19so it just reinforced
23:21the stereotypes
23:22that both sides hold
23:25everything that revolves
23:26around Alan
23:27generally becomes sensational
23:30everybody wants
23:32something to change
23:33and if you're Alan Iverson
23:35you can't listen
23:36to everybody
23:36Larry Brown
23:38has a great expression
23:39he's got to figure
23:40some things out
23:41for himself
23:41he says it a number of times
23:43he's still going
23:44to make mistakes
23:45but I think
23:46the kid really cares
23:47he has a lot to give
23:48Alan has not
23:50taken the key
23:51he has not grown up
23:53inside of his
23:54manned body
23:55he's still
23:56a little kid
23:57with all the greatness
23:58he still
23:59doesn't get it
24:01I'm not sure
24:02if he's grown immature
24:03I'm not sure
24:04I'm not sure
24:05if he's gotten
24:06the full
24:06impact of his
24:08starting
24:08or responsibility
24:10I don't think
24:11he's ever gotten that
24:13at 27 he's still young
24:14but he's gone through
24:15life of a 45 year old individual
24:17he just doesn't smile as much
24:18not that he's not happy
24:20he's just tired man
24:22I don't want to be
24:23the bad boy
24:24of the NBA
24:24I don't want that lady
24:26maybe people think
24:27I'm a thug
24:28and I want to be that
24:29and I know
24:29by me saying
24:30it's just not gonna be enough
24:32but hopefully
24:33I got a long life to live
24:34and people could start
24:36to understand me
24:37a little bit more
24:41for all his stated desire
24:43to change his image
24:44trouble continued
24:46to follow Allen Iverson
24:47in the early morning
24:48of April 14th 2003
24:50two shots rang out
24:52in front of a
24:52Philadelphia nightclub
24:53one bullet struck
24:55Larry Robinson
24:56a business associate
24:57of Iverson
24:58in the lead
24:58according to police
25:00the 76er guards
25:02stood nearby
25:03coach Larry Brown
25:04said
25:05it's a different world
25:06perhaps
25:07but it's one that
25:08Iverson knows
25:09all too well
25:10for Sport Century
25:12I'm Chris Fallon
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