Allen Iverson Live - www.alleniversonlive.com - A Fan Site on NBA Legend Allen Iverson Forums-viewtopic-USA Today

alleniversonphat3 · Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2004 10:50 pm Post subject: USA Today

Iverson puts heart online, ignores injuries
By Roscoe Nance, USA TODAY

Philadelphia 76ers guard Allen Iverson, who has gotten off to a rocky start with new coach Chris Ford, gets knocked down more than a bowling pin. That's nothing new for him.
It has been happening since he played youth football in Hampton, Va., and he keeps getting up and coming back for more the way he was taught as an 8-year-old quarterback.

"He's a football player playing basketball," says Gary Moore, Iverson's business manager. "That's really the answer to all his toughness."

Moore should know. As Iverson's youth league football coach, he instilled a sense of toughness in Iverson that helped him become an all-state high school quarterback. That quality remains with Iverson as an NBA All-Star.

"One of the main things that I taught kids is you never let your opponent know he has hurt you," Moore says. "Unless it's a broken limb, your thing is to get back up. Once you let your opponent know he has hurt you, you give him an edge."

That explains why Iverson, generously listed at 6-0, 165 pounds, is able to stand up to the pounding that he takes. When he drives the lane and challenges 7-footers, it's no different than when he ran the quarterback option and took onlinebackers and defensive linemen. They knocked him down, too.

"Being an ex-football player, I'm used to the contact," Iverson says. "That's part of football. That has enabled me to withstand everything that goes on in basketball."

Unlike football, in basketball Iverson doesn't wear protective padding, and his hellbent style often leaves him battered and bruised.

"I'm used to being banged up," he says. "You try to suck it up and not think about it. You just play off your adrenaline."

Countless times Iverson has limped into the locker room before a game and there seemed to be no way he would play. But at tip-off, he's almost always in the lineup.

"It's just playing with my heart first before I play with my talent," Iverson says of his ability to play despite being injured. "It's just basically wanting to play and being able to be there for my teammates. My football background definitely has a lot to do with it."

And it's why Iverson wonders how Ford can question what he has to do for the team to be successful.

Iverson's penchant for playing through injuries is legendary. Iverson was on the verge of tears in 1999 when he told the media he had broken his right thumb and would have to miss time. He missed 10 games but tried to speed up his return by removing the cast himself.

Once, before a game in New York, the equipment manager hid the No. 3 uniform to keep Iverson from playing with an injury. Undaunted, Iverson wanted to go to the NBA Store and buy a uniform to play.

"Whenever he misses a game, you know he's truly injured," teammate Eric Snow says. "It's not some little nick or a hangnail. More than anything, I think he's tough mentally. He can somehow kid himself into thinking he's (feeling) better than he actually is. Then he has the will to get out there and will himself through it and do some things even he didn't think he could do. ... It's an amazing thing to see."

Last season Iverson was expected to be out two to four weeks after breaking the third finger on his right (shooting) hand, but he was back practicing after five days. Later in the season he broke his right thumb and sprained a ligament in it but didn't miss any games.

"He takes the hit, he defends," Washington Wizards coach Eddie Jordan says.

This season, however, even Iverson has felt he needed to protect himself from himself. He asked the Sixers to put him on the injured list after he bruised his right knee and missed 12 games.

They were unable to accommodate him because the list was full, so Iverson chose to stay in Philadelphia when the Sixers went on a five-game Western Conference trip. He says if he had traveled with the team, he would have wanted to play.

"Pound for pound, inch for inch, he's the toughest," Atlanta Hawks general manager Billy Knight says. "He's the type of guy we used to say you have to kill to get him off you (in a fight).

"There are a lot of guys who say they are tough but aren't genuinely. He is genuinely tough."

Carisma20 · Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2004 11:37 pm Post subject: USA Today

BLAH,BLAH,BLAH I'M TIRED OF READING THE SAME OL STUFF ABOUT HIM. I WANNA HEAR SOMETHING NEW LIKE...................HOW BIG HIS DICK IS?

sherritaiverson · Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2004 11:43 pm Post subject: USA Today

HA HA HA HA!!!! THAT WAS FUNNY!! I'M GOING TO FIND OUT NEXT MONTH.

baby_ko · Starter Joined: Jan 6, 2004 Posts: 128 Location: dc

actually it was good to read this. everybody else has been dissing him. now as far as his dick size.......hmmm something tells me its average.

alleniversonphat3 · Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2004 1:04 am Post subject: USA Today

LOL

...Shakira you are throwed! We have some D**k Fiends up in this piece! lol

I just posted this but I'll post it again just in case you weren't watchin' Oprah. It was all about sex.

I was just watchin Oprah with my sister and they confirmed that the stereotype that Black males have the biggest thangs... (sorry I hate using the D word )lol... Anyway black men have the biggest thangs of all races. Asian men are the smallest.

Karamel3A.I. · Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2004 6:21 am Post subject: USA Today

^^OMG OPRAH WAS GOOD. YOU SEE THE COUPLE THAT WAS TALKING ABOUT THEY HAVE SEX LIKE 3TIMES A DAY! AND 4TIMES A DAY ON THE WEEKEND! THAT s*** WAS FUNNY!

DAMN I JUST REALIZED THAT WE DONE TURNED LIKE 3 TOPICS INTO SEX TOPICS!! WE SOME FREAKS!

[ February 19, 2004: Message edited by: Karamel3A.I. ]

AI3girl · All-Star Joined: Apr 3, 2002 Posts: 898 Location: Chicago

quote:
Originally posted by shakira:
HOW BIG HIS DICK IS?

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH I KNOW I KNOW ITS 9 INCHES AND THICK ASS f***. LOL

Karamel3A.I. · Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2004 6:50 am Post subject: USA Today

LMAO @AI3GIRL! AND HOW DO YOU KNOW?!

AI3girl · All-Star Joined: Apr 3, 2002 Posts: 898 Location: Chicago

quote:
Originally posted by Karamel3A.I.:
LMAO @AI3GIRL! AND HOW DO YOU KNOW?!

WELL LIKE LAST YEAR WHEN HE WAS IN CHICAGO ME AND HIM HOOLED UP. AND I HAD TO PULL OUT MY YARD STICK LOL (I WISH)

[ February 19, 2004: Message edited by: AI3girl ]

[ February 19, 2004: Message edited by: AI3girl ]

AllensBabyGirl3 · Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2004 6:59 am Post subject: USA Today

YALL R OFF THE HOOK, LOL. IF YOU NEED A GOOD LAUGH YOU CAN ALWAYS COME TO AILIVE B-BOARD

AI3girl · All-Star Joined: Apr 3, 2002 Posts: 898 Location: Chicago

quote:
Originally posted by AllensBabyGirl3:
YALL R OFF THE HOOK, LOL. IF YOU NEED A GOOD LAUGH YOU CAN ALWAYS COME TO AILIVE B-BOARD

I KNOW THATS RIGHT

[ February 19, 2004: Message edited by: AI3girl ]

Karamel3A.I. · Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2004 8:05 am Post subject: USA Today

quote:
Originally posted by AI3girl:
WELL LIKE LAST YEAR WHEN HE WAS IN CHICAGO ME AND HIM HOOLED UP. AND I HAD TO PULL OUT MY YARD STICK LOL (I WISH)

[ February 19, 2004: Message edited by: AI3girl ]

[ February 19, 2004: Message edited by: AI3girl ]

OH OK I SEE! WELL THANKX FOR THE INFO! BEFORE I GO TO PHILLY I'LL DO MY STRETCHES SO I CAN BE PREPARED.

ABG3 I DECIDED TO HEAD OUT TO LA CUZ I CANT WAIT FOR THEM TO GET BACK TO PHILLY. I'M ON A MISSION! I GUESS I'LL MEET YOU OUT THERE!

[ February 20, 2004: Message edited by: Karamel3A.I. ]

alleniversonphat3 · Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2004 9:35 am Post subject: USA Today

quote:
Originally posted by Karamel3A.I.:
^^OMG OPRAH WAS GOOD. YOU SEE THE COUPLE THAT WAS TALKING ABOUT THEY HAVE SEX LIKE 3TIMES A DAY! AND 4TIMES A DAY ON THE WEEKEND! THAT s*** WAS FUNNY!

DAMN I JUST REALIZED THAT WE DONE TURNED LIKE 3 TOPICS INTO SEX TOPICS!! WE SOME FREAKS!

[ February 19, 2004: Message edited by: Karamel3A.I. ]

I guess we are some freaks huh!! lol

But yea I saw that on Oprah! Those couples need to be part of our daily conversation. We seem to have alot in common with them. Everybody on here is a sex fiend! lol j/k!