:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73036161/909255944.0.jpg "Allen Iverson talks football, John Thompson and crossing over to MJ with starting five")
Freed Richardson and Jadakiss welcomed “Answers to the Complex” and chopped them up on the latest episode of The Starting Five.
Allen Iverson is one of the true legends in basketball history, an iconic superstar of the late 1990s and 2000s, an 11-time All-Star, 2001 NBA MVP and Hall of Famer.
However, as “Set Free” points out, football was Iverson’s first love. AI said people would call him crazy when he said he was actually better at football than basketball, but he wasn’t lying at all. He said the people of Virginia will support him and let everyone know he is special in football, and AI believes that wholeheartedly. He really wants people to see what he does on the court. Heck, he even joked that if he had continued playing football, he might have lifted weights.Check out some of Answer’s football highlights here.
AI said it wasn’t really an option for him when it came to football or basketball. He said he was recruited by every college in the country to play football, but he got into trouble in high school and got locked up. Once that happened, AI said every school stopped recruiting him, and his mother begged Georgetown’s John Thompson to save his life and give him a chance. He did it and the rest is history. He said now he has no regrets about switching to basketball. Iverson said this is God’s plan and you can’t stop it.
Speaking of Thompson, AI said Coach Thompson saved his life. He recalled one time after burning Seton Hall, hearing Thompson say Iverson was incredible, which took his confidence to a whole new level and made him who he is today.
“Unleashed” tells the story of Iverson’s relationship with Philadelphia. Set Free noted that Philadelphia has a reputation for toughness, but noted that Iverson had a connection to the city even outside of the game. Philadelphia, he said, reminds him of his time in Newport News, Virginia, and Hampton Beach. He said that even though he’s long since retired, playing his last NBA game in 2010, his relationship with Philadelphia remains the same. He said it was like they grew up together.
Iverson said the biggest compliment he ever got in the NBA was when his teammates said they could beat anyone as long as they had artificial intelligence. Iverson said he played with some guys as well. AI highlighted some of his teammates — Eric Snow, Aaron McKie, Dikembe Mutombo and others — who told him to go out and get the ball Make the basket and they’ll take care of the rest. Iverson said he knew he wasn’t a defensive guy, but he always had the ability to get into passing lanes and disrupt the game. After all, he led the league in steals for three straight seasons despite never earning an honorable mention All-Defensive team appearance.
Both Unleashed and Jadakis asked about playing against Michael Jordan when talking to Iverson. One of Iverson’s most famous moments on the court was when he passed Jordan in 1997.
Iverson said he told his friends that if given the chance, he would try his move on the best player of all time. The most exciting part, he said, was that despite being passed over and beaten, Jordan still almost recovered and blocked the shot. AI says he loves MJ, but if you know the move, after he hits him with the first move, you know Iverson has him under control. Now he’s going to hit him with the real deal. Iverson said that if you think about all the players he used in this move, they all ended up being left out. But for Jordan, he was right there and still came close to blocking a shot. AI even revealed that as a rival, MJ said that if Iverson really loved him as much as he said he did, he wouldn’t have outdone him the way he did. Jordan will be Jordan.
But where did the crossover come from?
Jadakiss and Set Free said Iverson exudes hip-hop and looks like hip-hop is hip-hop. But Iverson said his attempt to drop an album and serve as a host was one of his most embarrassing moments. He said he would get so embarrassed when he would go somewhere and someone would start playing his tracks that he would tell them to stop playing. Iverson remembers meeting then-Commissioner David Stern in New York and hearing him recite the lyrics. He was embarrassed, but it was a lesson.
For more from our conversation with Allen Iverson, check out the full interview below. Be sure to check out DraftKings Network on Samsung TV Plus, Roku, Xumo Play, Google TV, or DraftKingsNetwork.com!Learn more about how to watch DraftKings Network here.
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