When Keeping it Real Goes Wrong: Allen Iverson

            This past weekend, my team lost for the first time during the 2012 Wake County Bar Association basketball league.  We began the season 5-0 and I had hopes that we could maintain our momentum.  Our momentum was halted a bit with the loss but in our defense, we were missing two of our top scorers.  I do not believe in excuses and I have to credit the opposing team for executing their game plan.  I played well and scored 25 points, but there is no “I” in team, right?  That brings me to the point of this article-IVERSON.  I grew up watching Allen Iverson play basketball at Georgetown University and then later in the NBA for the Philadelphia 76ers.  His impact on the game of basketball during the late 1990’s through 2007 is undeniable. His rise to stardom coincided with hip hop’s rise in mainstream America.  He made it cool to wear cornrows, have tattoos, and play the game with relentless aggression and passion.  Iverson’s talent has never been questioned, but his work ethic and decision making, now that is a different story.  He did not take practice seriously and he never adapted his game for a day when he physically could not dominate as he once was able to do so.  That day has come and it is disheartening to see such a warrior down and seemingly out for the proverbial count.  When keeping it real goes wrong describes what his life has become.

Allen Iverson was raised in a rough part of Virginia, where loyalty and “looking out” for family is important, if not sacred.  Iverson often discussed how his circle of friends protected him and kept him out of trouble as he grew up.  He credits that same group of people for supporting him while he was incarcerated during his senior year of high school.  When he was interviewed, he always seemed to feel like he owed those people everything.  It is sad that when people from rough, checkered backgrounds finally “make it,” they feel they have to repay the debt to loved ones by giving financially.  They fail to realize that if they do not take care of themselves, the entire group will collapse.  When high profile celebrities do not “hold down” their friends by giving handouts, they are considered “sell outs.”  Jay-Z has been called a sell out for his public disassociation with long term friend, Damon Dash.  He has also been blamed for not “holding down” Beanie Siegel.  I hate to hear that because my dad always told me to be my own man.  He told me never to depend on the next man or woman to provide for me.  As an adult, providing for yourself and your family is what you are expected to do.  Members of Iverson’s circle of friends have to be held accountable for their own actions and ultimately for their own lives.

Reports have been swirling with respect to Allen Iverson’s finances.  I recently read an article which stated he had an outstanding jewelry debt of over $800,000.00.  The article also discussed how a court garnished his bank account in an attempt to pay the debt.  The first thing I thought was “why is he buying jewelry at this level of his life?”  It was cool to wear jewelry and over sized white T-shirts when he was in his 20’s.  However, due in large part to David Stern’s mandate regarding the NBA players’ dress code, and the emergence of well dressed superstars, Iverson’s image is no longer popular.  Lebron James, Chris Paul, D. Wade, and Carmelo Anthony are all super stars and all of them wear tailored suits and dress like grown, professionals.  It seems the NBA matured and Iverson never got on board.  In another article I read, it discussed that Iverson grossed over 150 million dollars during his career.  That is a staggering amount of money to have made and squandered.  It is disheartening because Iverson represents so many young, urban athletes who were raised poor and became rich almost overnight.  Their sense of loyalty, which should be revered, is also the same sword that inevitably chops off their heads.  I have no doubt that if you asked Iverson if he did the right thing, he would answer affirmatively.  He would tell you how he “kept it real” he would tell you how he did not “sell out.”  What he probably will not tell you is how his friends did not keep it real with him.  Instead, they drained the well until it went dry.  Iverson was paying a debt to his friends that he could never repay with any amount of money.  His debt he felt he owed to his friends is just like the hamster running on the wheel.  No matter how hard the hamster runs, it will never escape the box which it lives in.  That box for Iverson is in his mind and is a prime example of what happens when keeping it real goes wrong.

The very thing that made Iverson a great basketball player is also the thing that doomed him for failure.  Iverson is a victim of his talent.  Iverson had natural, God-given ability to play the game of basketball.  He did not have to practice nearly as much as an average player in order to be successful.  During his career, I heard rumblings of Iverson partying until 4am in the morning and then scoring 40 points the next night.   Basketball was easy for him.  I still remember his interview when he was asked why he missed practice.  To paraphrase, he said something like: practice, practice, I mean we are talking about practice, not a game, but practice.  It was that attitude that held him back during his later years.  The opposite attitude and approach to the game enabled harder working players to maintain their healthy diets, and strict work out programs while Iverson was still partying and avoiding offseason conditioning.  Guys like Steve Nash, Ray Allen and Kobe Bryant all entered the NBA in that famed 1996 draft class along with Iverson.  They are all still playing at a very high level.  Also, each of the aforementioned players adapted their respective games because they knew that one day they would not be as athletically gifted as they once were.  If you watched Iverson throughout his career, his game was predicated on speed, athleticism, and pure aggression.  He was never a great shooter, or a great pick and roll player.  He was a scorer at heart and as soon as his skills diminished, and he was no longer the “go-to-guy,” his ego would not allow him to play a different role.  I do not blame him necessarily, because his whole life he was “the man” and his circle of “friends” were undoubtedly “yes men” who told him he was still “the man” even when they knew better.  Somebody should have been telling Iverson the truth that he was still a good player but that he was no longer the number one option.  Someone should have been pleading with him to stick to a strict diet and avoid alcohol and fast food.  Somebody should have kept it real with him.  Unfortunately, because nobody did, he epitomizes the latest example of when keeping it real goes wrong.

Peace