Allen's thug image pushed aside. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">In continuing our summer misconceptions series, there is another myth that must be put to bed: Allen Iverson is a ball-hogging thug whose style is bad for the game. Allen Iverson was more of a team player last season, averaging a career-best 7.9 assists. Because of his questionable past, Iverson is an easy target for those who point at him for what has gone wrong with basketball, and despite any changes he makes in his own life, people will continue to label him a misfit. Iverson came into the league when Michael Jordan was winding down his career. With his entourage, tattoos and cornrows, A.I. was very easy to stereotype. He was a thug, and instead of trying to build a cleaner image, Iverson embraced the persona. It was a classic case of "I'll show me," and he played the Scarface role well. "Make way for the bad guy. There's a bad guy coming through." He put himself in positions no high-profile millionaire should ever be in, from nearly putting out a controversial rap album to being in the middle of a nightclub shooting to drawing assault charges. Last, he handed the basketball purists further ammunition to criticize him about his approach to the game by airing his side of the story on his disagreement with Larry Brown, making himself look foolish in the process. "If I can't practice, I can't practice," he said in 2002. "If I'm hurt, I'm hurt. It's not about that. It's easy to sum it up when you talk about practice. I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we're in here talking about practice. Not a game, we're talking about practice. How silly is that? </div> Link
I honestly never saw Allen Iverson as a thug. If you follow his career coming out of Georgetown he only had one tattoo and a fade. You don?t just develop into a thug, because of the way you look. He has even said over the past four seasons he does not want to be seen as a thug that is not how he wants his kids to view him or the public. Unfortunately, in the country we live people are quick to stereotype any person by the way they look without taking the time to look at their personality. Also he had several brushes with the law that helped fuel the stereotypical view of many people. They did not bother to think he was still really a kid in his twenties who made some mistakes. They simply looked at his outward appearance. I feel the ?thug? thing was really canned in the mind of most people or should have been since the 2003 season. He got into the best shape of his career that year, and played all 82 games for the first time in his career proving he was ready to be a leader not only by his play on the court, but by his actions off it. Then the 2004 season was a complete bust. But I do not see it as him having a bad attitude we did not have a coach with experience for the first half of the season, and a coach who did not relate to the style this team was built for in the second half of the year.
When was allen iverson ever a thug? Hes a basketball player/millionare. there are thugs that wear khakis and low cuts. A thug is not your dress its your actions. the whole article is meaningless. Allen Iverson has been a bit stubborn in the past but that doesnt equate being a thug. If you think that ivo is a thug you would have to believe that Jason williams is a thug, and we all know that inclination is laughable.
Everyone should click the link, and then click send feedback. Let Tony Mejia know how much he is a moron, as well as how CBS should fire him for lack of sports knowledge.
I've never heard of a thug who gives to charity and has his own foundation to benefit kids. You can't think of someone negatively because of their image, if you don't know the person you have no reason to think of them in a bad light.
Allen Iverson? A thug? Well I mean thats only an opinion. How can his style of play be bad for the game when he was the leading scorer in the league? I think more people should play like Iverson. If they want to be a stud that is??
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Come on now, Allen Iverson isn't/wasn't a thug, he even said so in his commercials</div> , Reebok needs to come up with better commercials. Adidas is killing them commercial wise. Anyways, people are just too quick to stereotype others. Tattoos, brush with the law, cornrows- yep he's a thug.
As many others have said Iverson is def. not a thug, I dont see AI selling drugs or hurting anybody, no i see him owning the league playing hard everynight..thats called a proffesional.
You guys said it all, Allen Iverson is not and was not ever a thug and a bad boy to the NBA. He comes to play everynight and we all know he is all about heart everytime he gets the ball.
AI's not the only one to get hit with this BS label either. Jason Williams somehow landed it, Ricky Davis got it, even Marcus Camby got it because he smoked weed in college and had a bunch of tattoos. Woopdy-friggin'-do. Everyone and their mother did the same things in college and then went out, got themselves a job, and the rest of the world calmed down. I know it sounds ridiculous, but if you look at the people who are bestowing this image upon young black males to keep their popularity down, who is it? White reporters who stir up trouble by making up facts. Yes, he has had brushes with the law, yes he has tattoos, yes he was going to release an album (which he didn't, for the sake of the children he donates money to via his charitable foundation), does anybody really care? I think of myself as a basketball purist, and you know what? I like the thug "image" that some of the players have taken on. I'm white, bright white, LILY white, and you know? I just don't give a damn about these "antics" these ridiculous writers are foisting off on us. I've seen AI's mug shot all over the press, because white America tries harder and harder every year to stem the "urban" image the league has taken on. Well, there is no stemming it, it's what the league has become, and that's a damn good thing. There was no modern revolution in basketball, it was evolution, from the suburbs to the streets (admittedly, I'm from the suburbs, but boy have I played in the streets), and it's been great for ball. If nothing else, it has afforded an opportunity to those dedicated enough to rise to the challenge of becoming the best. Jason Williams is no exception, despite what people think. He grew up poor, sorry, white trash, and made a name for himself doing whatever he could to live rich and happy. What's that? He played basketball nonstop for his entire youth, and now he's here in the NBA where his skills belong. The next time I hear some middle aged white guy complain about how streetball is ruining the image of the game, I'll scream. I just can't take the incredible bigotry and narrow-mindedness of the people who dominate the American sports media. Not only that, but what of the "purists" among high school basketball coaches in the suburbs today? The ones who coach teenage boys to think that they will basketball to lean on for the rest of their lives? I remember quite clearly in high school watching my teammates being ushered out of classes and receiving grades and gifts for doing things that had nothing to do with their education. What do those kids do when they are forced to go to a D-III (if anything) school, and can never rely on basketball for money in their entire careers? I have high school friends who tend bars in my hometown, who literally rake cow crap all day, because they received no education from high school. It happens all the time. Sometimes you get players who would ordinarily make it, if they just stayed in school, but White America whispers in their ear that fame and glory are just after high school, so go for it. Talk about a crock! Lenny Cooke anyone? Agents tell you you can make all that money, pay off your family's bills, buy that car you wanted, that house your mom needs, all that crap, and they set young, black men up to skip an education in favor of a longshot in the NBA. Yeah, I don't like the American educational system as much as the next guy, but at least with a degree in business, a young, black man can foster an image and market himself better when he leaves school, as opposed to knowing nothing and getting taken advantage of. While I do tire of players likening their treatment to slavery (that's just preposterous, a travesty, an insult to your own flesh and blood, probably the number one reason why Latrell Sprewell should just fade away), I do think they have every right to want to complain. If they didn't, what would all those annoying sports writers have to write about? (Aside: the above written article does NOT, in any way, condone the actions or existence of Stephen A. Smith, thank you for your understanding.)
I never saw him as a thug and I still don't. As far as a "bad boy" goes, I still don't see him as one. He is like one sixteenth of what Dennis Rodman was.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Laker_fan:</div><div class="quote_post">I never saw him as a thug and I still don't. As far as a "bad boy" goes, I still don't see him as one. He is like one sixteenth of what Dennis Rodman was.</div> And about one nine-hundreth the villain Bill Laimbeer was.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Ignignot:</div><div class="quote_post">And about one nine-hundreth the villain Bill Laimbeer was.</div> What are you guys missing something here? you making allen iverson sound like a saint. Not 1/16th dennis rodman? the man kicked his wife out of his house naked while brandishing a gun that was in 2003 remember? the most rodman did was dress like a chick...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Lamont:</div><div class="quote_post">What are you guys missing something here? you making allen iverson sound like a saint. Not 1/16th dennis rodman? the man kicked his wife out of his house naked while brandishing a gun that was in 2003 remember? the most rodman did was dress like a chick...</div> I guess beating Carmen Electra up was not bad?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Best Kept Secret:</div><div class="quote_post">I guess beating Carmen Electra up was not bad?</div> dude they beat each other up, obviusoly evryone was gonna balme him though...
He just a hustla he aint no beating up thug what is yall talking about you people SOME OF YOU truly have no idea what you talking i truly dont think hes bad but really dont like him that MUCH But hes is wearing A PAC t shirt on quite frankly with stven a smith on espn he okay but not a killer or a beater thats just stupid....
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AznxBaller:</div><div class="quote_post"> , Reebok needs to come up with better commercials. Adidas is killing them commercial wise. Anyways, people are just too quick to stereotype others. Tattoos, brush with the law, cornrows- yep he's a thug.</div> YOU RIGHT about the commercial thing
well, in my opinion, the only reason why AI was considered to be a "thug", was because how he looked. i mean, he has a ton of tatoos and a cornrow. people shouldnt judge a book by its cover.
