Original subtitles

Downloaded from YTS.MX

[ambience]

Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX

[children shouting]

Man: Tell me about Allen Iverson.

That's my cousin! That's my cousin.

He a good player on the court.

Yeah. He got bad behavior.

- I'll take-- - He got a bad attitude.

He got a real bad attitude.

Sometimes.

Why do you say that?

[talking at once]

When he came here to talk, he signed no--

he didn't sign no autographs he just walked on the court.

He think he better than everybody.

He pushed this one boy from out of the limo.

I'll take up for him at basketball,

but I don't think I'll take up for him in public.

[Nina Simone performing "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"]

♪ Don't you know no one alive can always be an angel ♪

♪ When everything goes wrong you seem so bad ♪

♪ But I'm just a soul whose intentions are good ♪

♪ Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood ♪

♪ I try so hard

♪ So please, don't let me be misunderstood ♪

Everybody know why we're here.

Um, I'm formally announcing

my retirement from basketball.

I never imagined the day coming,

but I knew it would come, and, um...

I'm happy with the decision that I'm making, and, um...

it was a great ride.

Man: Allen Iverson could've been

the most popular athlete the NBA has ever had.

Male announcer: Raw lightning.

Iverson all the way. Yes!

- Take that! - I do not believe it!

You can't take your eyes off him.

Male announcer: Iverson in OT.

Two seconds and open twofer!

He's just, pound for pound, one of the greatest

that's ever played professional sports.

The steal by Iverson posting in!

- Wow! - He won the game!

He won the game!

After Michael Jordan, he's, like, the biggest NBA star in China.

He's big in France. He's big in Europe.

He crossed race, religion, gender. Women loved him.

Guys loved him.

Some people get scared of who you are, man.

When you got the effect on a whole generation,

then all they want to do is dig up some dirt on you.

We need to get to the bottom of this,

and the league does as well.

This could ultimately impact his big picture legacy.

We're sitting here. I'm supposed to be the franchise player,

and we're in here talking about practice.

He's got the reputation for what might diplomatically

be called ungentlemanly behavior,

and she's talking about decorum and everything else.

Listen. We're talking about practice.

Jalen Rose: When you're becoming a cultural icon,

you're making a lot of people upset.

Man: It suggests that success, wealth, all that,

is tied into this gangster prison attitude.

You get paid to get on that mic and talk shit, don't you?

Man: Yes. Don't you get paid?

Allen Iverson in trouble with the law again.

He could be headed to jail.

Gangsta rap glorifies a violent lifestyle.

Still calling us hoes. It's calling us niggers.

It scared the son of God because of his reputation.

You're not gonna sign him because of all the stuff

he's bringing in his locker room that you don't know about.

I go through it, man, like, I really--

I really go through it. It's like--

Stephen A. Smith: Go through what, exactly?

Hell.

Iverson: I wish it didn't have to be like that,

to have to go through the things

that I went through in my life.

But I can't cry about that. This is what it is.

[Run DMC performing "It's All That"] Huh!

[police siren blaring]

[dog barks]

♪ Money is the key to end all your woes... ♪

Iverson: It was tough being from the projects.

Sometimes there was no food.

Most of the time we didn't have lights or water,

and those things were hard, but I didn't look at it

like it was something odd.

It was natural, like, I felt like this is what we come from.

My mom, she had to do what she had to do,

to try to help us get out of the ghetto.

She had different odd jobs. She would stay in bingo,

thinking she was going to win the world.

She told me that I could be anything,

so whenever I kind of fell down, I always got back up.

[baby cooing] [indistinct voices on TV]

[laughter]

Iverson: I don't know my biological father,

but I had somebody took care of me since I was three months.

My dad was in and out of jail most of my life.

I actually seen him get arrested.

I was, like, 13 years old, and I ran outside

when I see them arresting him. I was hurt because I felt like

you going back to jail again.

You just came out, you know.

We miss you. We come visit you. We see you.

And it's tough when we gotta walk away,

when the visiting hours are over, and then for you to do it

all over again, you know, it was kind of disappointing.

[♪♪]

It was just tough, you know, just trying

to stay out of trouble and just stay on a positive path,

seeing like most of the negative things that were going on

in my neighborhood was the right thing to do.

I was just running in the streets,

hanging with guys that were 12 and 13 years old,

sniffing cocaine right by the dumpster.

I'll never forget it. Then they say to me, like,

"Here, Chuck. Hit that. Hit that."

And I'd be, like, "No, man. I'm gonna be

an NBA basketball player.

I'm gonna be a professional football player."

My mom not being there all the time,

and my dad not being there all of the time, it was tough,

but I have friends there, you know, and I saw

a lot of things that made me the person that I am now.

[dog barking]

Jamie Rogers: I was seven when we moved

into Stuart Gardens.

Bubba-Chuck, he was nine.

The first time I ever met Bubba-Chuck,

he asked me did I play football,

and I told him I didn't know anything about football.

Then he said, "Put the ball like this and just throw it,"

and I just threw a perfect spiral.

He could teach anybody. He just wanted you to be good.

Iverson: Jamie was cool. He was my little man,

the only white boy in an all-black neighborhood.

He used to get picked on a lot, or whatever,

and I used to just look out for him,

make sure he was all right.

Rogers: Bubba made it a lot easier for me,

'cause me and him, we was just best friends.

Linda Rogers: Bubba took Jamie under his wing and taught him

a lot about sports, and Bubba spent the night with us a lot.

Iverson: I remember one time, I was getting waves in my hair, whatever.

I was, like, "You know, what you do, man,

"you take-- You wash your hair in soap,

"and then you just keep brushing it all the time, man,

and you'll get waves or whatever."

And I remember one day just having him in the tub, like,

had his head down in the tub, washing his hair and then,

you know, put grease in his hair and brush his hair trying...

Trying to get white boy waves.

[laughing]

That was my little partner though.

They got so used to Jamie being one of them after so many years,

that they'd be playing a ball game in the backyard,

and they'd be calling him a nigger, too,

because that's how the black kids talked to each other.

Iverson: His mom, she was the best.

When my mom wasn't home, or I couldn't get in the house,

something like that, you know, she was right there for me.

Cooked for me all the time, you know.

I fried a lot of fish and chicken and pork chops, too.

He was always a real good kid.

He always cared about the younger ones.

He always looked out for them.

When I was with Bubba, that's what I always saw.

She loved me to death, and vice-versa.

[♪♪]

Gary Moore: This is where it all started,

the back of Aberdeen Elementary School.

This was my father's field.

My dad was one of the people

that started the Aberdeen Fathers League.

They were guys who dedicated their lives

to helping young boys grow to be responsible young men

through football.

A lot of what Allen knows today

was learned on this field.

Iverson: Mo meant a lot in our lives coming up.

A lot of guys just wanted to get off the streets

and get up under him to feel like

they were doing something positive.

Moore: Allen and some of the other kids needed me

to do things that fathers would normally do.

I never had a biological son,

but I felt that sort of connection with him.

Pick it up, Bubba-Chuck!

From the moment I met Al, I knew that he was special.

He was special to me. Most kids his age would not have been able

to handle the things that he's been able to endure.

I'm talking about the time that he spent on the streets,

the times that he had to feed himself. I felt like God sent me

you know, to him, and when I saw that he looked up to me,

I wanted to use that in a positive way.

I used to tell him, "You're going to mean to people

"what people like Martin Luther King meant to people,

what Malcolm X meant to people."

Iverson: I just respected him so much for how he went

about his life. He went to work, had a real job.

I saw how he treated his only daughter.

I just believed in him,

and it was easy for me to listen to him.

[♪♪]

Moore: From day one, he actually wanted

to jump right in and play.

He wanted to be my star player,

and that aggression and that enthusiasm

is what I admired most about him.

And when I saw him dance and move,

completely reverse his feel all the way back around

and not allow any of those kids to touch him,

that's when I really said, "Wow. This boy is somethin'."

Bob Barefield: When he was about six years old,

I saw him steal an inbound play

and shoot a shot behind his head, and it fell

right down the basket. He kept running. He never turned around.

I said, "This young guy has a future in basketball."

Iverson: Barefield was, you know, tough on me at times.

When I got in the van in the morning,

he always made me and my friends comb our hair.

After not combing it for days.

Barefield: He was several steps ahead of his age group

at that time, and you could tell that.

Chuck was always a competitor, you know, hate to lose.

When he lost, I had to give him that eye,

you know what I'm talking about, and say, "All right now."

But he never was disrespectful.

Never could you say that he was a disrespectful kid.

Jamie Rogers: He'd be at my house at 6:30 in the morning,

knocking on the door.

"Come on, man. Let's go to the basketball court."

I'm like, "Bubba, it's 7:00 in the morning."

He committed himself to sports.

He worked at it, and he worked at it

because he knew that was going to be his way out.

Johnson: When he was in the 7th grade,

the high schools had what we call a turf war over him.

Every high school in the two cities

wanted Chuck to come to their school.

Iverson: But then I failed the 8th grade.

I failed the 8th grade, man.

That was the most humiliating thing, ever.

I just wasn't getting it done, not coming to school

till the last period,

so I could play in a game that night.

I didn't like school.

I especially didn't like the hours.

You know, Mo saw the potential that I had,

and he saw that I was ruining my life.

There were so many dangers of being young,

and being at the wrong place at the wrong time

could very easily cost you your life.

Iverson: And I was headed down that path,

just fighting all the time and, you know,

just doing negative things.

Moore: I knew that it was time for me

to be more than a coach to him.

Iverson: And he came and got me,

took me to Hampton, and I lived with him.

[♪♪]

We went from the projects to a real house.

[chuckles] It was a big difference.

Moore: I told Al back then,

"You're gonna always have a room in my house."

That metal window, that was Al's room.

We sat up together all night watching football games,

watching basketball games, eating popcorn, watching movies,

you know, doing stuff together. Mo just didn't never have no money.

My dad and my mom would give me $100 at a time.

I asked Mo for some money, it would be $5, $10,

maybe $20 at the most.

And Christmastime, he used to shop for my clothes.

Oh, man. It was just-- It was rough.

But he would feed me. He would take me to practice.

He would take me to school. He would talk to my teachers

when they was talking about suspending me.

He would go to the school and talk to the people

and make sure I got detention instead of them suspending me.

I remember getting hugged, and then I remember

almost getting thrown through a car windshield

when I missed 69 days at school.

Moore: He was just about to lose it all, academically.

Mo said, "I'm a show you how serious I am about this."

When he grabbed me and threw me on the car, first of all,

I was just shocked. And then you got your friends around,

and it happened. It's embarrassing,

and it hurts that much more.

A light went off in my head,

and I knew how serious he was

because he never got that mad at me.

Moore: He knew that I was willing

to go through that windshield with him,

to help him get the message.

I felt that he loved me, and he wasn't my blood.

I wasn't going to allow him to fail.

[♪♪]

Janet Baily: Our kids laugh at us

and call this the Allen shrine.

We have our own collection of bobbleheads.

We were lucky enough to be at his MVP ceremony for the NBA.

That was the highlight of our life.

[crowd cheering]

And Iverson cans both free throws.

You see Mike Bailey coaching from the sideline.

Iverson: He was my basketball coach,

and she was one of my teachers,

so I couldn't escape neither one.

[laughing]

My name's Allen Iverson.

I'm a member of [indistinct] High School.

Janet: He was definitely the class clown kind of kid.

He was a kid that would sing on the bus. He was the kind of--

But not in class. He was quiet in class.

Respectful.

But you know, when he got with his peers,

he was a jokester.

He was a singer. He was... He was Allen.

Most people who really knew him way back when

call him Bubba-Chuck or Bubba.

I called him Bubby one time,

and he said, "Ms. Bailey, now you've got

everybody in the world calling me Bubby."

"It just won't work."

Iverson: Bethel was one of the best times in my life.

I met my best friend, my wife.

For me that was, like,

love at first sight.

She was the girl that I always

wanted to meet, and I wanted to be a part of her life.

Mike: I've said this many, many times to people that,

when I really realized how to coach Allen was,

I learned how to coach with my heart,

not try to outmaneuver him, outsmart him,

because that was never gonna work.

Good hustle by Iverson. Boy, he's fast.

Iverson: I played JV in 8th grade, and that transition was easy.

I scored a lot.

Janet: I asked Mike if he was gonna play Allen as a freshman.

He didn't usually do that kind of thing, and he said,

"I'd play him as an 8th grader if it were legal."

Iverson: My 9th grade year going up to the varsity,

I broke my ankle that year,

and I didn't do what I wanted to do,

but once I got to 10th grade,

that's when everything clicked, football and basketball.

[♪♪]

Iverson, always elusive,

gets away from another would-be tackler, and turns it on!

Still wants to throw, now does,

and he's got Terrell inside the 10!

He was first team all-state as a quarterback and safety

and the best player in the state.

Iverson will take it all at one hop,

trying to get a block on the sideline, and he does.

He's down the sideline looking for one block.

- He may go! He will! - Oh!

Moore: He played quarterback, ran back punts,

ran back kickoffs and played in the defensive backfield.

And if it wasn't for Allen Iverson,

it would've been a touchdown.

He's the best football player

I've ever seen play the game.

A loose ball inside. Green has it stolen by Iverson.

Iverson, with nobody there...

[cheering]

Look at the crowd!

People would stand in line for hours

to get to see him play.

Bubba-Chuck, and a trade.

He looks like he's on ice!

He just glides in there. Oh!

Stolen! Look out, Fox!

Oh! Showtime!

Once I started getting national notoriety,

that felt good to, just, looking in those magazines

and seeing myself at number one in the country.

This is Iverson on the naked bootleg.

Racing for the corner...

Touchdown!

Iverson: My junior year, won in state in football

and won it in basketball.

The lob... Slam dunk!

The alley-oop! It's over!

It's over!

Mike: Right after the state championship in 1993,

Allen comes running, and I come running.

I say, "I love you, Allen." He says, "I love you, Coach."

Very special moment in both of our lives.

We wanted this, man. First one. Feel good.

Congratulations on two state championships!

All right.

Iverson: It was a day that I'll never forget.

It was one of the greatest times of my life.

The Bruins have done it!

Iverson: And then they threw me in jail.

Female reporter 1: 18-year-old Allen Iverson may end up

spending the next several years behind bars.

Female reporter 2: Star football and basketball athlete from Bethel High,

Allen Iverson faces three felony counts...

Female reporter 3: One of the top high school athletes in the country

to go on trial.

A fight started in a bowling alley.

And it's white people fighting black people.

Female reporter: A chair-throwing brawl,

which injured half a dozen people at this bowling alley...

But it was far more black people than it was white people.

I had friends hiding under chairs, you know.

Stuff like that kind of scares me.

Man 1: Is the green light on?

Man 2: It's on.

Yeah. You're taping me!

Man 1: I'm taping right now.

February 14th, 1993.

It was approximately midnight--

myself, Allen, Michael Simmons

and my cousin Dwayne Campbell,

we went bowling, and we're just having a good time.

Mike: All three students at Bethel,

friends of Allen, lifetime friends.

Allen had lots of friends, black and white.

I mean, I taught at Bethel for a long time,

and he had as many white friends as he did black friends.

Iverson [with high voice]: How you doing, little guys?

Little buddies?

[normal voice] See you all later.

That's just the type of person he is,

with a real great sense of humor.

He was pretty much trash-talker out of the crew.

Dwayne Campbell: We was bowling, I mean, before,

hour, hour and a half before everything happened.

We was on, like, lanes 8 and 9.

The incidents took place around lane 32, 33,

totally on the other end of the bowling alley,

where the concession stand was at.

I don't even know how the incident got started,

'cause at the time, I was on the lane bowling,

and I just-- I hate to admit it again, but I threw a gutter ball

and happened to slip at the time, and I was getting up

off the ground, and I hear somebody say,

"Who was that guy in Allen's face?"

Iverson: They white guys from Poquoson,

and if you're from Virginia,

you know that some people from Poquoson

don't like black people.

The guys were trying to-- They were messing with him,

try to get in his head.

I remember at times, I had to grab him.

"All right, look, man.

There ain't gonna be none of this, man."

Simmons: That scene was, you know,

guy about my height at the time, white guy,

so I just started jogging down there.

We was there among friends, and friends protect friends

when something go down.

Everybody knew that Allen had the most potential,

so nobody really wants anything to happen to him.

You don't need this, man.

These guys wanna bring you down with them.

I see the chair swinging, and instincts just took over.

The protection came in.

Iverson: I don't remember exactly how it started.

All I remember was just fighting,

like, just everywhere.

[people shouting]

Iverson: While it was going on, I stopped and stood there

and just looked around everywhere,

and it actually scared me, like, I actually was, like,

"Man, I'm outta here."

First thing, I see chairs flying,

bowling alley pins.

My friend Dwayne was like, "Let's go, let's go!"

And somehow or another, we end up getting out of there.

We all just got in the car and just went

and got something to eat 'cause we was hungry.

I remember calling Mo and said, "Mo, I was at the bowling alley,

and this is what happened."

And right then, he'd tell me today, he knew I was in trouble.

From the moment that he told me that,

I knew that there were going to be problems,

and I knew at that point that we needed a lawyer.

I didn't have a lot of money, and number two,

I needed an attorney that was a household name.

I was working at Hampton University, and Herb Kelly

was one of the attorneys that worked for the university.

I thought that if I could get Herb Kelly,

then this case could quickly go away.

I was sadly mistaken.

Iverson: One day, he told me the detective called him

and told him, if I didn't come down there

and take these pictures that night,

they was gonna arrest me off the floor of the coliseum,

'cause we had a game that night.

Moore: That was a Hampton-Bethel game.

That was a game that was going to be attended by more people

that had ever come to see a high school basketball game

in the state of Virginia.

And he was, like, they're gonna come get me off the floor.

So I go down there, me and Mo.

I looked at the pictures of these guys.

I'm 17, these guys are 25 and 30 years old.

Plus, people know who I am. I said, "Look, if I don't take

these pictures, what's gonna happen?"

And they said they was gonna arrest me and charge me with it.

So, my lawyer, he said, "They're gonna arrest you.

Just take the picture." So I took the picture.

They waited, like, I think, eight months or maybe longer,

just so they could try me as an adult.

Moore: We were pretty optimistic that the truth was gonna

come out and put this thing behind us,

but it was that first day in court that led me to believe

that this thing was far from over,

that these white folks

was not gonna allow this to be over.

[gavel strikes]

Iverson: In the preliminary hearing,

my lawyer asked the detective,

"Did you tell him, if he didn't take these pictures,

you were going to arrest him?" And this is the lead detective.

And the detective said, "No, he didn't say that."

And right then, me and Mo knew something was gonna happen.

You know, this is the lead detective,

and he lied right there on the stand.

Female reporter 1: Allen Iverson is charged with three counts of maiming,

stemming from a brawl at a bowling alley.

Female reporter 2: One guy said Iverson threw a chair at him,

breaking his glasses. Other people said that Iverson

broke their arm. One person said he broke a thumb,

and one Poquoson resident said

she received a gash in her head.

70-some people in a bowling alley,

how do you pick four individuals?

Everyone should've been charged for their current--

We asked to press charges. It didn't happen.

I'm the only one that everybody in there knew.

Had he not been basically a star at Bethel High,

had he not been as well-known as him,

then he may not have been identified by anyone.

He may have been like the other 20 people who were involved

that were not charged.

They found out from family members

that there was a tape.

And actually, I think they thought

that would exonerate because they knew

that Allen hadn't been directly involved in this.

If you knew what Allen had on that night,

you saw him leave in that tape.

As everything was still going on,

and people were still fighting, and things

were still being thrown, Allen was on his way

right out the door, right in front of the camera,

but of course that never got brought up.

Male reporter: Iverson's on trial for participating in a mob

that maimed three people last February.

It was portrayed to be like we was acting like a mob

of some sort, like we were some organized team that go in

and just beat up white people in a bowling alley that night.

By definition, there was no mob.

A mob is an assembled group,

assembled before they get to the scene,

for a specific purpose.

It was just a fight between individuals

that happened to be blown up into something that it wasn't.

At 17, to be tried as an adult

for a fight in a bowling alley,

you'd have to think there was a plan.

People wanted to make an example of Allen.

Janet: I testified and tried to make them understand

that he was a good kid, and he didn't cause us trouble,

and I didn't think anybody listened to me.

I didn't think anybody cared, and I came out of there

feeling like he doesn't value

someone who's taught 25 years

as an expert in this field.

Moore: I strongly believe that there was a conspiracy

to destroy the future of a young, gifted black person.

This morning, the Bethel High School basketball guard

was found guilty of maiming and being a member of a mob.

The verdict was read, and you could just hear a big, "Aw!"

Just like, "No time left on the clock,

you just missed the free throw to win the game."

We just got, you know, the raw end of the stick.

The question now is,

how much time could Iverson spend in jail?

He now faces up to 20 years on each maiming charge.

Up to 60 years on three counts of maiming by mob.

Iverson: I didn't think I was, you know,

going to go to jail or anything like that.

I didn't even think I would get probation.

I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Simmons: Me and Dwayne, we was at Allen's house,

and we was just talking, and I was just, like,

"Yo, I feel we goin' to jail, Chuck."

He was like, "No, we're not going to jail."

Iverson: We don't deserve to go to jail, man.

I'm tired of worrying about what's gonna happen.

And hearing different people tell me what can happen.

Like, do this and that.

Yeah. You shoulda this and that.

All these people trying to tell me what to do and shit.

Those were kids, man. They had no idea.

They didn't know racial prejudice.

They didn't know these bigots.

If he asks me, I'm gonna be, like,

I'm like, you know, "First of all, I want to...

"I want to thank my family and friends

"for sticking behind me, people in the [indistinct]

"I want to thank all the little kids--"

No, no. Let me say...

"Then again, I want to apologize

to my family and friends..."

Moore: They did not know that these people were about

to lynch their ass. These people were about to railroad you.

If I really did all the stuff, like they say, you know,

if I would've came with you all, shit like that,

you know what I'm saying, the real deal, came with you all,

hit the girl in the head with the chair, hit him,

I understand why that shit happen.

Well, you know damn well I ain't coming with you all...

You know, I really thought that I was being railroaded.

Man, this shit can ruin everybody's lives.

This could turn us to hardcore criminals.

That judge could tear four black people down

right now, just like that, if she want to.

Don't worry, motherfucker got some pull.

Female reporter 1: Security was very tight here

this morning at Hampton Circuit Court.

Several deputies and police were on guard.

Simmons: We're seeing all the police they had in the courtroom,

and I knew right then what was about to happen.

Female reporter 2: Only Iverson had anything to say before sentencing.

I did feel bad for what happened to the people

that night at the bowling alley so I wouldn't want that

to happen to nobody in any situation.

Judge Nelson Overton sentenced Iverson to 15 years behind bars

but suspended all but five.

His co-defendant Michael Simmons

received 17.5 years, and he suspended

all but five of that as well.

Fifteen years, ten years suspended

for an incident like that,

you know, when people do a lot worse.

The air just totally went out of the courtroom,

and then just everyone began to look around.

Some people was crying,

but it was just real weird and awkward.

It just didn't seem like a real-life story right then.

It didn't seem real at all.

I never thought I'd see the day

where adults would do something so drastically wrong to kids.

It's pretty sad.

[♪♪]

Woman 1: Do you think they treated you differently

because you're a star? How do you feel?

Woman 2: You'll be all right. You'll be all right.

You'll be all right.

Back up, back up.

Woman 2: That don't make no sense.

It was a nightmare, you know. It was really a nightmare.

Woman 2: What did he get?

[overlapping voices]

Female reporter: Ann Iverson said she'd like

to see her son finish high school.

I don't want him to be in jail that long.

I want him to get out, and I want him to go to school.

I think they can be rehabilitated in jail also.

I mean, there are programs available.

There's a GED program there.

Iverson could finish his education.

They have recreational facilities.

I don't think he'd be any worse off.

I just couldn't believe that people were this mean.

The judge decided that he would not grant a bond

pending the appeal, at this point,

because he wanted them, very frankly,

to go ahead and to start accumulating credit

for the time that they would go ahead and serve.

In all the years that I've been doing this,

the only defendants that are not given a bond

are capital murderers.

Uh, capital murderers.

That's people that are going to the electric chair.

That was true injustice, and that's why it hurt so much,

because it was truly unjust.

The guy got what he deserved, and I hope he does

every bit of time that he's given.

Moore: He was unjustly tried and convicted

and sentenced to time

in a prison facility for grown men.

Iverson: I remember telling my grandma, like,

"Nana, if I didn't do what these people said I did,

why is God letting this happen to me?"

And she told me, and I never did it since then,

"Never question God."

[♪♪]

Iverson: I had my life, my family,

and a game that I loved so much

taken away from me.

I think I just learned so much from it.

It taught me a lot at an early age.

Ted Hudson: Mr. Iverson would be awakened at 4:00.

He would shower and shave or whatever he needed to do

to prepare for that day.

This is a working camp.

You are here to work.

We cut all the grass for 27 miles.

Anything green and not moving, we cut it.

Oh, it used to kill me, man.

[bird squawks]

You know, I had to be up at 6:00;

here he come waking me up at 4:00 in the morning.

Hudson: I would come in, and he knew it would irritate me,

he would sing a cop killer song.

I put my life on the line for anybody here,

and to belittle the killing of a police officer,

it made me think, "Just another punk from the streets."

He made it extremely hard for me.

Moore: People would pass notes to him,

saying that "I wish you were dead."

"I hope your black ass rot in prison."

The jailers would bring him a doll with a noose,

and written on that doll was "Allen Iverson."

Iverson: I had lawyers.

Every single day that I was talking to them,

they were telling me that "You're getting out tomorrow."

And then tomorrow would come, and they'd say,

"You're getting out tomorrow."

I remember just being frustrated,

and one of my friends came up, and he said

some of the best advice that someone could ever give me:

"You're not getting out of here, so stop thinking about it.

"And do what you gotta do, handle what you gotta handle,

and get back to what you love to do."

It made it so much easier for me to do the time

because I had in my mind that I wasn't going nowhere.

Female reporter: Hampton residents have formed

what they call the Swift Legal Defense Fund.

There was a very vocal support for those kids.

It didn't do any good, but there were marches.

Mr. Iverson received a sackload of mail by himself.

People, ladies, were sending him their unmentionables,

and they were sending him money. They were sending him gifts.

Interviews were requested.

I know Mr. Tom Brokaw was allowed to interview him.

Tonight, we have the story of what has happened

to a young man who was headed for a million-dollar future,

but now he's in jail.

It was one of those classic cases.

Here's a kid with the gift of the gods, as an athlete,

and a community where they'd still not worked out

all the racial issues, obviously.

I'm preparing myself for the worst.

If I have to do this whole time here,

I just have to deal with it.

Brokaw: I thought the sentence was surprisingly harsh,

and I think that our story had something to do with people

looking at the case in a slightly different way

because it got national attention.

Iverson: I got a lot of love for NBC.

Tom Brokaw, I mean, he did a lot for me,

and I appreciate him. I owe a lot to him for that.

Allen Iverson is tasting freedom tonight

for the first time in months.

Male reporter: The high school standout has been handed

conditional clemency by Governor Doug Wilder.

Our Governor pardoned Allen, you know.

His rule was he couldn't play sports.

Who cared? He could go to school.

I think it was a relief for the officers

because the news media would be gone.

The calls would be gone. All the mail that we received

would be gone, and hopefully no more women's underwear.

[overlapping voices]

Man: Hey, Allen, how do you feel?

How do you feel, Allen?

No comment.

Are you glad it's over?

Governor Wilder gave me another shot at life.

You know, if it wasn't for his signature, I might not be here.

Female reporter: As for the other three young men, Governor Wilder

is considering clemency for them as well. Ed?

[clamoring]

We was out, and there was was hugs and dapping each other up,

and, "Let's go to the mall. I need some new clothes."

[♪♪]

Iverson: After I was incarcerated,

I never even thought about dwelling on that night,

ever again, honestly,

because...

the damage to me was already done.

Moore: I've got so many bags of letters,

from football and basketball coaches all over the country,

but when this happened to him they stopped calling.

Iverson: All I thought about was getting a second chance.

That was it.

Moore: It was almost like no one expected him

to ever amount to anything.

I knew that there would be somebody.

There would be some school that would come to him,

and all I needed was one.

[♪♪]

I never recruited Allen at all. They recruited me.

I was a little reluctant in the beginning.

And his mother asked the people to leave the room.

And she and I talked,

and she was concerned for his life, and she said

that I certainly, being a parent myself, could connect with that.

Being an African-American, I could connect with that.

This is my son. They call him--

What do they call you?

Chuck.

The other thing. Honey Man.

Honey Man.

John: She, more than anybody, convinced me

that if there was any possibility of getting him

in school, that I ought to take a shot at it.

Iverson: Coach Thompson saved my life.

I just came home from jail.

I had to come home and get my school thing together

and graduate and whatever, then I went straight there.

'Cause I was worried. Certainly, you worry, you know.

You have a responsibility to protect the university,

protect your program, and you were taking a chance.

I respected the path he's had to take in life,

which has been a very tough path.

Moore: The Georgetown years, I really just took a step back

because I knew John Thompson would come in and take over.

Where I left off, he would come in and take over.

Iverson: My idol, my hero, my father figure away from home.

He kept people away from me,

and he let me be a college student.

I didn't necessarily agree with everything about him,

and I'm certain he didn't about me,

but I like to think that we both respected one another.

Iverson: He never was the type of guy to jump on me,

especially in front of people, never did that,

but when I messed up in school, and he put himself on the line

for me to come there and be successful, when we got alone,

he got in my ass. "This what you want out of your life, huh?

"Wanna go back down down there to that 'hood? You want your mom

"to struggle her whole life, don't you? You want your sisters

"to stay in that sewer, that hell hole.

"That's what you want out of your life, huh?"

[gunshot] And automatically, man,

I would just-- I would shape up.

[hip hop music playing]

John: Once I saw how he acted in school,

how he acted with his teammates,

I was very, very glad that I had rolled the dice.

Iverson: He was like that force field I had around me

when everybody was coming at me with all the negative things.

John: People did things. Folks said things

that you wouldn't want to hear about his being incarcerated.

Those weren't things that bothered him outwardly.

I'm certain he heard 'em, but I knew that this

was a tough kid, mentally, and that's the same thing

that happened when he played.

What's my name?

Michael Jordan.

It is scout night, as they take a look at two of the very best

in the country, in Ray Allen and Allen Iverson.

John: You don't look at somebody that's flyweight like Allen,

and associate that with strength,

but he's proven that theory totally wrong.

Brad Kessler: There's that One-Two, One-One pressure.

Iverson.

Dick Vitale: Allen Iverson, right out of the gate!

Kessler: Here we go. Length of the court, right the other way!

Vitale: When he gets to the basket, he's so explosive.

Give a little daylight!

Kessler: Now Iverson around the trap, inside now!

Vitale: Oh, what a big-time move!

Super, scintillating, sensational!

- Thirteen-- - Vitale: Oh, nobody's stopping--

- Iverson! - Vitale: Oh, up, up and away!

Jam city! Nobody stopped the ball, Brad Kessler!

Nobody stopped the ball!

Kessler: Again, another steal by Iverson.

Vitale: And he throws it away.

Allen Iverson with a one-hander.

Kessler: Now it's Iverson alone.

Vitale: We got a good shot right here. We got a good shot right here!

[cheering]

Vitale: Congratulations, Alec. Congratulations John Thompson.

Great performance tonight.

Iverson: Coach Thompson meant everything to me.

He's a big-time reason for all the success that I've had.

After carefully weighing my options with Coach Thompson,

my family, I've decided to enter the NBA.

I felt like there was no reason for me

not to be able to take care of the people that I love.

My immediate family

requires me to leave Georgetown.

No, when he left, I didn't think it was a wise decision,

but I supported him with it.

I never, under any circumstances,

worried about his ability to play basketball.

I worried about the other 22 hours in the day.

I was in the NBA. I know the kinds of things

you're exposed to. I worried for him, in terms

of whether he was mature enough or old enough

to deal with it and to handle it.

Please welcome The Answer, Allen Iverson!

[crowd cheering] [hip hop music playing]

You got criticized for leaving school early.

I had to leave. My sister was suffering from seizures,

and she needed a personal specialist,

so I thought about a lot of that before I made my decision,

and my coach stuck with me. I mean, he said,

"Go take care of your family," and that's how I look at

the thing with this, man.

You know, I was bugged, too. I always think they pick on

the basketball players when they leave school

'cause they're black, 'cause Tiger Woods

ain't going to school, nobody gives a fuck about that.

[laughter]

Todd Krinsky: When we had the chance to sign Allen in '96,

we thought this could be big. This could be really something different.

I'll never forget the famous boardroom meeting we had,

where the head of the company said, "Well, isn't there going

to be another Allen Iverson another five years from now?"

And I remember a couple of us looking at him and saying no.

He walked in the room, and he had this incredible confidence,

like he knew he could play at this level, and he knew

he was going to be something special in the league,

and you could just feel it without him saying anything.

This is an exciting, exciting time for me in my life...

My birthday.

[laughter]

The draft is a couple of weeks away.

I've just joined the Reebok family.

[cheering]

But most important, I just feel that this is my planet.

[cheering]

In sports, it's D-Day for the NBA.

The league is holding its annual draft tonight,

with Philadelphia owning the #1 pick.

Pat Croce: Everyone in Philadelphia wanted me to pick Iverson

with that #1 pick. Truthfully, I wanted A.I. because

he was a scorer. He was just a warrior. I love warriors.

With the first pick in the 1996 NBA draft,

the Philadelphia 76ers select Allen Iverson

from Georgetown University.

♪ Dreams come true

Iverson: To be the first pick, it meant something to me

because all of them used to laugh. Like, whatever, man.

Ain't nobody make it from Newport News to the NBA.

Draft day, we had this party at the Spectrum,

and it was packed, mobbed,

And when we made the announcement,

"The 76ers with their #1 pick, pick Allen Iverson,"

the place went berserk.

It was like someone stepped on a detonator,

and all the explosion of energy and pride

came back into the city and into that franchise,

just with that one pick.

♪ I can't stop

♪ Who's gonna stop me?

♪ Who's gonna stop me now?

♪ Who's gonna stop me?

Iverson: Making it to the NBA was a dream come true.

Being from where I come from, every day is a good day for me.

Allen! Allen!

We've gone through so much.

Time to get down.

Moore: All through the years, and all of the things

that he had to overcome, when I hear:

"And finally, a 6-foot guard from Georgetown, Allen Iverson,"

it bring tears to my eyes, man,

because that is the culmination of everything.

I remember saying to him, "Allen, this is up to you and I.

We've got to resurrect this franchise."

Craig Sager: Is there anybody that can stop you one-on-one?

I don't know. I hope not. I don't think so.

Iverson. This is going to be something!

He scores for two!

I do not believe it!

Behind the back, got the layup, and he's fouled!

Oh, my! Take that!

Croce: Allen Iverson brought a lunch box mentality:

dive on the floor, sweat, cry, bleed.

Philadelphia loves that.

I had a bet with my cousin how many times

you were gonna hit the floor tonight.

- That was only one. - That was the first time.

- That's it. - I got three.

[announcers screaming]

Oh, my goodness!

And you are helpless when AI has it going on!

I don't believe what I just saw!

You're The Answer. You're The Ankle Breaker.

Iverson crosses over, gets two!

One time you guys played the Knicks,

and Charlie Ward was stapling his sneakers on.

Chik-chik-chik.

Iverson: I proved what I could do, so I won my respect,

just like everybody else in the league.

Rock: The baddest move you ever made was the one against Jordan.

That was incredible.

The best crossover was against Michael Jordan.

Did you see when he crossed Michael Jordan up?

He was a rookie that year.

Iverson: My crossover is my patented move,

a move that's hard for people to stop.

My first step is kinda quick, and people respect it,

so when I take the hard jab in one direction,

either you gotta let me get by you, or you gotta try

to beat me to the spot. That's when I take it out of the way.

When I grabbed the ball,

I heard Phil Jackson yell, "Michael!"

Jackson: Michael, get up on him.

Iverson: Once he came out there,

I was gonna put my move to the test.

I gave my little cross to see, would he bite on it?

I let him stay on his feet,

and then I stepped it back again.

Oh, my God.

I lost my shorts when he did that. I jumped in the air.

I'm high-five-- The whole place went wild.

We said to ourselves, "He's here. He's arrived."

Iverson: The best player I'd ever seen was Michael Jordan.

The best player right now,

in my eyes, is myself.

[laughter]

♪ I go to work

Male reporter: Allen Iverson is the 1997 NBA Rookie of the Year.

He's the first Philly player to win the award.

Iverson: To be able to come in this league

and do some things that not too many people have done,

it was a great feeling.

Introducing the head coach to the Philadelphia 76ers,

Larry Brown. Yeah!

Croce: For the team to win, we needed this all-star coach

and this all-star player, both of them highly talented,

highly sensitive, highly headstrong individuals

that come from two different worlds.

Doo-wop vs. hip-hop.

[hip hop beats playing]

Man: Here we go. Here we go.

Larry Brown: I'm a white, Jewish coach from Brooklyn.

There's no similarities, but I think

I'm every bit as competitive as Allen.

Iverson: Being with Coach Brown and being so young.

You know, a lot of the rifts that we got into,

99% of them were my fault, honestly.

The first time I met him, I saw him acting silly,

as a player during a game,

and I said, "You don't need to be like that."

And he kinda looked at me.

Croce: Allen craved discipline because he was brought up

in a chaotic atmosphere. He would stir up chaos

on the court and off the court.

Being rebellious is just trying to fight.

If you go one way, I'm gonna go the other way.

Brown: I just thought he was a young kid

that had a special gift

and really didn't know how to use it.

Iverson: Both of us wanted the same thing

as far as winning, but he wanted me to do things

different than I wanted to do 'em.

Brown: Every time I ever took him out of the game,

he would walk by the bench

and mumble something under his breath,

that if I was in the park I'd have to fight him.

I didn't even put nothing over my mouth.

That's the young immaturity.

I knew he didn't mean anything by it.

That was just his competitive nature.

Iverson: We clashed at times, but the love was always there

because I knew he cared about me.

Brown: For Allen to trust is not as easy as it would be

for anybody else. That's always been an issue with him

because of who he is and where he's from

and what he had to go through.

Croce: To get into his circle, you have to earn that right.

It probably took me five years to earn that right,

but he has to realize that you're telling the truth.

With Allen, there were issues all the time.

Croce: When he missed practice, I was the one that suspended him

in Miami and in Boston. Now Larry Brown doesn't like

to be the bad guy. And I walked in. He goes,

"Take care of your kid. He missed practice."

I'm thinking, "Oh, no."

He might break your heart, in terms of coming to practice

every day on time, but when you know every single night,

whether he's hurt or not, he's going to lay it on the line

for you, that's the thing that's most special for me.

Things that happen, being involved with him,

nobody trains you for that.

It's a growing process.

All of us, we're getting better.

We've been poor for 20 years-plus,

and I mean, I finally came into some money now.

You know, I want to live a little bit now.

Oh, you're living, baby. You're living.

[laughs]

[♪♪]

The whole world wondering how much Bubba took to the bank.

The world will keep on wondering 'cause I ain't telling 'em shit.

If you oughta know, it ain't no joke. My pockets ain't playing.

You believe what I say and what I tell you.

Iverson:

Thompson: I knew that he had been deprived

of a lot of things in his life.

I just hoped that he would mature and get to the point

that he wouldn't be hurt by that.

We don't train these kids to handle

the responsibilities they have.

You put anybody in their position,

they're not all going to handle it the right way, right off the bat.

Female reporter: A promising young pro basketball player

is facing legal problems this morning.

Police say Philadelphia's Allen Iverson,

the NBA Rookie of the Year last season,

has been charged with marijuana and firearms possession.

Iverson: There is a lot of negative things in my life

that I tried to get rid of, but they always stick around,

like, it's like you can hide from the devil,

but he gonna always find you.

He was in a car that had pot and a gun,

and the driver was speeding.

He wasn't speeding. He was in shotgun.

But he got arrested, and they put him on probation.

Todd: Allen is loyal. If you're down with him,

he'll do anything for you, and sometimes I think the loyalty

had him keep people around that maybe he shouldn't have.

Now you just said they judge you

because of who you hang around with.

Is it your posse that's ill?

They've been through a lot of things in their life.

I can curse, can't I? - Yeah.

They fucked up just like everybody else, you know?

[audience cheering]

They've made mistakes, you know what I'm saying?

[♪♪]

Brown: He didn't come out of Georgetown, appealing

to the hip-hop culture. This is just what evolved.

Croce: He wasn't all tattooed up like he is now.

He didn't have the corn rows then.

Todd: The tattoos, the corn rows, were things

that basketball players wanted to do

but didn't think they could.

Iverson: To me, how you look is how you play.

I used to make myself up to look not only

just like a basketball player but look like a superhero--

a skinny one, but a superhero.

You know, nobody would do this.

Nobody would do that. That's how I used to come up with it.

Moore: We were extremely close, but there was an extreme

difference in ages. And those were some of the things

that I had to become accustomed to.

Male interviewer: You have 21 tattoos.

Tell us why. What do they represent to you?

Iverson: Everything that means something--

Strength, loyalty,

prayer hands, my kids.

It's my life.

Todd: Back then when he was doing it, it was like,

Oh, my God. What's an NBA player going to look like with tattoos

on the court? 'Cause it just didn't really exist,

but it's okay to do it now because he did it.

♪ Y'all gonna make me lose my mind ♪

♪ Up in here, up in here

Brokaw: I think Allen's tats are a statement.

He's a rebel with a cause, and the cause is Allen.

Moore: I used to tell him that you're going to influence

the minds of others, like Martin Luther King did,

and Malcolm X, and I lived it, and I saw it.

Iverson! Right here! Right here, right here!

Hey, I love you, baby. You are so fine!

Scoop Jackson: Allen Iverson is one of the true representatives

of what hip-hop stands for and what it's about in this country.

Be unapologetic. Be who you are.

Iverson: I just express myself, and you know, hopefully,

the generation that comes after me can be able to do the same.

[humming] ♪ Can't you see

♪ Sometimes your words just hypnotize me ♪

♪ And I just love yo-- Daddy, what time is it?

♪ Biggie, Biggie, Biggie, can't you see? ♪

Carmelo Anthony: He came in his style, his way.

Anybody won't find nobody like that, besides myself.

Dwyane Wade: He made hip-hop and basketball

really come together. He was the bridge.

Scoop: We take where we're from, and now we have outlets.

The television becomes an outlet.

Magazine covers become the outlets, and now it's out to the world.

[♪♪]

Iverson: Over here just seemed different. It seemed like

everything was so positive. I thought it was just

the basketball part of it, but I'm finding out

people love who I am off the basketball court.

[cheering]

I didn't know I had this many fans here.

I can't explain it.

[cheering]

Allen Iverson!

My lovely friends, Yao Ming.

[cheering]

The people embraced me, the way I handle myself,

my style, and my look.

Man, that was great.

I just wish my wife and kids could've been there to see it,

but I'm pretty sure we have some video footage for 'em,

and I'm pretty sure you're gonna hook us up.

Brown: I've never coached an athlete that I think more people

wanted to know about, loved than Allen.

Little kids all over the place, would always come up to me

and say, "You're Allen Iverson's coach,"

you know. "I want to be like Allen."

Okay. I got all the sneakers and everything.

He's my favorite player, and he's the best player ever to me.

Allen was a role model. Good or bad, he was a role model.

Todd: He was a person that was so real,

the tats, the corn rows. Like, this whole thing was

just like, "This is who I am," and people loved him for that.

But it's a gift and a curse.

Moore: The way Allen carried himself, the way he dressed,

some people liked it, some didn't.

It's important that the players take their end of it,

get out of the prison garb and kill the thuggery aspect

of basketball that has come along with the hip-hop music.

Iverson: When everybody started looking like I looked,

the corn rows and tattoos and baggy clothes,

that was just a great, great feeling, but it was bittersweet

because I had to take the whooping for it.

Robin Givhan writes in the "Washington Post" today.

She said, "That's the body language of a thug,

"and he's got the reputation for what might diplomatically

be called ungentlemanly behavior," and she's talking

about the corn rows and everything else.

It suggests that your success, wealth, all that,

is tied into this gangster prison attitude,

and I just think it's a negative, poisonous message.

If he wants to express himself with tattoos or with hairdos

that are different from you would like to wear,

or wear jewelry that maybe you wouldn't wear,

or wear outfits that you wouldn't wear,

that doesn't make him bad. It just makes him different.

'Cause he's from the 'hood.

Yeah. He keep it gangsta, he do. He keep it gangsta.

He's aware. He's truly aware. You've got to love him.

He's awesome. He's awesome.

He's cute!

'Cause he's cute!

Moore: I clearly thought that they looked at him

and decided that's not where they wanted to be.

Something had to be done

if you're looking nine, ten years down the road.

When commissioner David Stern instilled that dress code,

I'm thinking, "Uh-oh. This isn't going to fly with Bubba."

Female reporter: Under this new policy off court, in public,

the pros are expected to wear businesslike attire.

No more chains, pendants, medallions,

headbands or headgear of any kind.

Iverson: I think they're just targeting guys

that look hip-hop, guys that dress like me.

Brown: Maybe it's unfair, but I don't think

he truly understood the effect and the impact he had

on so many young kids.

If he knew that, I think

he would've done things differently in a lot of ways.

Todd: He got into a period where he was larger than life,

and he was kind of hard to control, you know.

He wasn't showing up for things. He was really late for things.

He wasn't really respecting the relationship.

Man: And action!

Todd: We were in Coney Island one time, shooting this spot.

We had two scenes left. It was kind of chilly out.

It was around 6:00, and then he's like, "Yo."

And I'm like, "What's up?" And he's like, "Yo, I'm out."

I'm, like, what the fuck you mean you're out?

Like, we've got an hour and a half left, and we're gonna

finish this great commercial that's gonna be a great look for you.

This product looks great. What are we talking about?

And he's like, "I'm out," and then he literally calls

to one of his boys, and he leaves.

And this is not a, "Like, okay, everyone. Come back tomorrow morning."

This is permanent. This is a crew.

This is money. This is a big problem, right?

He's got a great soul, and he's a great person,

but he was just in the space where, like,

he didn't give a shit about any obligations.

Magic had a bad TV show.

Shaq did a genie movie.

How are you going to embarrass yourself?

[laughter and applause]

You have to be tolerant up to a point, then you begin to ask:

When is it doing more harm than good?

When is more than just a personal statement?

♪ Man enough to pull a gun, be man enough to cheese it... ♪

Iverson: Somebody could do a rap album like the rap album

that I made, and you wouldn't hear nothing about it.

♪ I'm a bastard case, What's up? ♪

♪ Your fucking hands put my gas in your face ♪

But Allen Iverson can't do it.

I was disappointed in the lyrics

because of his power to promote a positive message.

I was disgusted with the lyrics because they didn't

look positive to me, and we had a conversation,

and he didn't understand exactly what I was saying

until the backlash from everywhere else came upon him.

This offends me as a black woman, still calling us hoes,

bitches and sluts. It's calling us niggers.

The album is weak. The lyrics are just whack.

He needs to stay in basketball. Rap is not his thing.

I'm not interested in legislation.

I'm not interested in regulation.

I'm not interested in starting a boycott.

I just want them to stop.

John Thompson better call but speak to Allen.

I think he needs to speak to him, brother.

Iverson: I was early 20s.

I never looked at how much of impact

that I have on people. Kids that love everything

about Allen Iverson were going to listen to it,

but back then, you know, I didn't look at it that way.

If you're a hardcore hip-hop fan,

then this album is for you. If you don't care

about hardcore gangsta rap, just don't buy it.

♪ Yo, yo, yo...

2001 was a very special season, because before,

in the summertime, he was going to get traded, and I called him.

I said, "Bubba, I got a call from Larry Brown and Billy King.

They're gonna trade you. I want to tell you

you're gonna get traded."

He's, "Pat, no, man. No, listen."

I said, "Well, listen. I can't defend you anymore.

I can't-- If you're not gonna live the talk, I can't defend you.

If you're not gonna be on practice on time

and strength train and lead the team, and not curse the coach--

If you're not gonna do all this..."

"Pat, I promise. I promise. I want, so much so,

I want to be captain. I want to be captain with Eric Snow."

I said, "Listen, if you do half of what you just said,

we'll be champions." I called Larry Brown and said,

"You're not gonna believe it. I want to tell you exactly what he just said."

Now, the trade didn't go down for other reasons,

but thank goodness the trade didn't go down.

Iverson: I always looked at basketball as just a game.

I never looked at it as business,

and I found out the hard way, but, you know, at least

I did recognize it before it was too late.

It started off with a 10-0 beginning.

I think we won our first 10 games. We were going great.

Everyone and their mother was wearing Allen Iverson jerseys.

P.A. announcer: From the Philadelphia 76ers,

Allen Iverson!

Scoop: The all-star game is when I lost all my professionalism

'cause I lost my mind.

[indistinct] Intercepted by Iverson.

Three on two.

Iverson, to the reverse!

A little pass to himself. [laughing]

We've seen two spectacular plays by Allen Iverson,

already playing off the ball.

Iverson! Allen Iverson beginning to heat up.

Scoop: They were down like, by I think 22 going into the 4th quarter.

He willed that victory.

It's only a 7-point game with four and a half to go.

Iverson, does he get the continuation? Yes, he does!

He never gave up, constantly stealing and making people work.

Iverson for three!

And I'm up there, yelling, "That's what I'm talking about!"

Down to three...

Marbury. Trying to get to Bryant.

Duncan came up short, and it's over!

The East comes from 21 down!

This is why you love this cat, 'cause he can do stuff like this.

Marv, that's one of the best all-star games I've ever seen,

just the big plays, getting back in the game.

Every time I come in this gym, in this arena,

I hear my favorite song, you know, all your voices.

Brown: I can't imagine a player having a better year than Allen.

It just seemed like everything was just going the right way.

Female reporter: The NBA had to wait for the final night

of the regular season to crown a scoring champion.

Philadelphia's Allen Iverson scored the season's average

of 26.8, a half point more than Shaquille O'Neal.

Everybody says to me, "Well, Allen took a lot of shots,

and he was selfish." I want him to shoot 40 times a game.

That's the only way we could win.

Croce: It is my pride and pleasure

to introduce to you the NBA's Most Valuable Player,

our answer and now the world's, Allen Iverson.

[applause]

I wanted the relationship that Michael Jackson--

Michael Jordan, I'm sorry.

[laughter]

So I'll let you all know I've been talking for 10 minutes,

and I'm still a bit nervous.

I wanted the same relationship with him, like,

with Phil Jackson and Michael Jordan had.

Croce: Allen Iverson proves to people that dreams do come true.

Here's a guy who was in prison, who ends up the MVP of the NBA,

the best player on the basketball court in the world.

Tell me dreams don't come true.

Now, you know, my goal every day is just working

to get what he got, what he's holding right now, you know.

All I care about is the championship trophy.

Are you going to dethrone to the Los Angeles Lakers?

Hopefully. That's the way I draw it up in my dreams.

Croce: It was wonderful. It was wonderful to see and believe

and expect that we were going to win it all.

That's marketing. That's perfect marketing.

He's talking smack, I'm talking smack. They market that.

[humming NBA theme]

[laughter]

Albert: They are ready for the start of the NBA Finals.

The Lakers coming in with 19 straight wins,

going against a Sixer team

that was taken to the limit by the Bucks.

Iverson: You know, everybody already counted us out.

We're just gonna keep playing hard,

and whatever happens happens.

Look at Shaq, just towering!

Kobe for three! [cheering]

The Lakers in the midst of a 14-0 run.

Shaquille O'Neal is possessed right now.

Kobe Bryant is an all-league defender,

knocks that ball loose.

Terrific defense that time by the Lakers.

Iverson: All the things that I had to endure in my life,

all the obstacles I was faced with,

whatever it is, I fight through it.

A weak person would break. They'd give up.

That's just not me.

Where I'm from, only the strong survive.

♪ Get along!

♪ Get along!

♪ Get along!

♪ Get along! I said I feel... ♪

Two-hander by Iverson, behind the back.

And the finish!

Iverson. Yes!

This guy has such courage.

Iverson... again!

He is fearless.

Allen Iverson!

He is so fast out in the open court.

He just turned on the burners and ran right past him.

Allen Iverson on fire!

Amazing!

The 76ers with the ball, down by one. Iverson for three.

Yes!

Iverson, bothered by Lue.

Iverson. Yes!

How about that?

He just steps over Tyronn Lue!

♪ Get along! I said I feel... ♪

And the 76ers pulling off a stunner in Game 1 here.

Iverson finished with 48...

I believed we were going to have that parade.

Well, when we didn't win it all, obviously it was disappointing.

Brown: We never would've had a chance,

had it not been for Allen.

Nobody had a better year than that kid that year.

A negative story about Allen Iverson is going to sell, regardless.

I hear those things, and I will be lying to you

if I tell you it doesn't bother me.

But if I know, and the people that's close to me know,

why do I have to explain myself?

[♪♪]

Moore: Allen Iverson's life is a book that he has always

refused to open, and by refusing to open that book,

I think people just say, "How dare you?"

And as crazy as it may sound, and as untrue as it might be,

as long as it sells newspapers and gets people to look

at my television station, we're going to say

just about what the hell we want to say about you.

Trouble of a different sort tonight for one of

the National Basketball Association's biggest stars.

Male reporter 1: Allen Iverson in trouble with the law again.

Male reporter 2: He could be headed to jail.

Facing the possibility of some years behind bars.

I got in an argument with my wife, cussing each other out,

all kinds of stuff that ain't none of y'all business,

but you know what it is if you're in a relationship with somebody.

According to police 911 tapes, Iverson threw her

out of their suburban home the night of July 3rd.

Man, they even said I threw my wife out naked.

She was not dressed at the time.

Why would I expect somebody to look at me as a man

if I did that to my wife?

Philadelphia police say the 27-year-old basketball player

burst into his cousin's apartment.

Pulling out guns and stuff. Uh-uh. Can't have that.

He did have a gun. They said it on the news.

Both: He was armed with a gun.

Iverson: They come looking for a gun, five days later,

like the gun still gonna be in the house if I had one.

Man: Were guns found or guns used in this alleged crime?

No, I don't first-hand-- I don't have that information.

Male reporter: It seems as though Iverson didn't necessarily

brandish the gun, but he perhaps

had a gun in his waistband.

They got helicopters flying over my house all day.

They got media people in front of my house,

with lawn chairs, and cooking out with cameras.

Girl, get out of my face with that crazy stuff!

That's only hearsay!

That's rumors. Where'd you get that from?

'Cause somebody told it to you? Did Tawanna tell you that?

Woman: I'm asking you.

Don't ask me nothing. Did Tawanna tell you that?

I haven't spoken with Tawanna.

All right then. Don't go there with me.

Don't go there with me. You want to keep it real,

you keep it real with me 'cause I ain't playing no games, okay?

Well, okay.

Dog, they love you right now. they love you right now,

but please believe me, the first incident,

the first time something happen, they are waiting, man.

They're waiting, man. They're waiting. They're waiting, man.

We're sitting here, I'm supposed to be the franchise player,

and we're in here talking about practice.

The media builds you up to break you down.

Bottom-line, that's the nature of the game.

If anybody tells you any different, they're lying.

We're talking about practice, man. I mean, how silly is that?

I've never heard anybody interpret that honestly.

I know it's important. I do, I honestly do,

but we're talking about practice, man.

What are we talking about? Practice?

That's that sound bite that's going to define him.

That, for Allen Iverson, was his "I Have a Dream" speech with Dr. King.

They used that to portray him as a person

who didn't like practice. That was not what he was saying.

You're entire being now, your whole character,

is going to be this.

[people chattering]

Man: Hang on a second. He's starting right now.

Iverson: I fight to represent Philadelphia.

That's how I became a household name, and every single year,

after every season, you know, I've got to hear trade rumors,

stuff like that about getting me out of there.

I just came from a meeting with those people, and I was upset.

It was bad advice, and it was a stupid decision that I made.

This is what happens when you lose, you know.

You go to the finals, and then the next year

you're out in the first round.

This is what happens, you know.

I went in and talked to Coach,

and I wasn't going anywhere.

That's what I thought the press conference was going to be about.

Man: Allen, could you address what Coach

is concerned about, your practicing habits.

We don't get a chance to see you practicing.

Can you clear the air about all that?

Anybody tell you that I missed practice,

if Coach say I missed practice, and you all hear it,

then that's that.

Every question came,

they were talking about missing practice,

or not missing practice, how many practices did I miss.

Man: So you and Coach Brown then settled the issue

that he brought up on Saturday about practicing?

And my response was, "We're talking about practice.

Why are we talking about practice?"

Listen. We're talking about practice.

Not a game, not a game, not a game.

We're talking about practice.

What, in fact, he was saying is,

"We're spending the time in this interview to discuss practice."

He was not saying that practice is unimportant.

There's no way I could be an all-star, I could be an MVP,

you know, if I didn't practice.

You see me play, don't you? Man: Absolutely.

You see me give everything I got, right? Absolutely.

But we're talking about practice right now.

But it's an issue that your coach felt the need to raise!

I was already gone, but I happened to be watching

the news, and I see him saying, "Practice! Practice!"

And you kept saying, like it's only practice.

I ain't saying that. I'm not saying that.

I'm saying that's why we're in here having this talk,

because of practice.

They knew what he meant. You're getting all over me

for practice, and how about the game?

But I would've grabbed him

and took the hook right off there,

and made sure he got right off that dais.

Woman: Okay, guys...

You know, I ain't going nowhere. I'm not going nowhere.

Yes, it was great for the press, but no, it wasn't good for him.

Nobody looks at the whole comment that Allen made

and what he was talking about when he made that comment.

I'm upset. I'm upset for one reason, man.

'Cause I'm in here.

I lost.

I lost my best friend.

He was talking about his boy dying.

Moore: Rah was a very close friend of Al's,

who died a very vicious and violent death.

Of all of the people that died in Allen's life,

I think it hit him hardest with Rah.

I lost him, and I lost this year.

Everything's going downhill for me, as far as just that,

as far as my life, and then I'm dealing with this

right here.

I don't want to deal with this, man.

I don't want to go through this shit.

"My boy just died the other day,

and you all are talking to me about practice."

That's the whole comment. Go back and listen

to the press conference.

That's what he's talking about.

Try to deal with what I go through in my life.

My best friend, dead.

Dead, and we lost.

That's the entire-- But did anybody? No.

No, not at all, and that's the crest

of how the media looks at and treats Allen Iverson.

Thompson: Because of his candor, because of the aggressive way

in which he will really express himself,

people can conveniently turn. That's what I worried about.

You're all talking about what's going to make me

a better basketball player? When you understand that,

that people are human just like you, then that would make you a better person.

I'm trying to get better. You need to also.

It's something that my teammates joke with me now,

and other guys on other teams, soon as you're missing practice,

the first thing a guy would say is,

"We're talking about practice?"

"We're talking about practice,"

to quote the great Allen Iverson. "Practice."

If somebody else, you know, one of the quote, unquote,

"good guys" would've said something like that,

it wouldn't have been a big thing, but it's me.

We're talking about practice.

They will not play that full track.

They'll play the sound bite.

Allen Iverson could've been the most popular athlete

the NBA has ever had. And I think sometimes

his pride got in the way of that.

If you don't want to go through what I go through right now,

as far as being the bad guy in the NBA and all that,

be fake then-- basically, that's all I'm telling you.

Just be fake. - But you're not fake!

And I'm not going to do it. I'd rather not be in the NBA.

Moore: Before you can have true honor, there must be humility.

Allen played the game with a tremendous amount of honor

and loyalty, but you haven't seen all of the humility.

Male reporter: Allen Iverson has worn out his welcome

in the city of brotherly love. The Sixers decided

they're better off without the #2 scorer in the league.

I want to be a Sixer. I've said that since day one,

but, you know, if I'm not wanted,

then I definitely don't want to be a Sixer.

And I'm willing to start my career all over.

I just wanted to go somewhere, where I could feel appreciated

for what I do out there on the basketball court.

Man: Happy to be to Denver?

Definitely happy. It took a while, but I'm happy.

- Happy to be here, huh? - Definitely.

He is a passionate kid that wants to win,

understands team, has good leadership skills.

One, two, three. All: Nuggets!

Get down, baby.

Iverson: I'm just looking forward to be able to just concentrate

solely on trying to win a championship,

and I want to win right now.

[cheering]

P.A. announcer: Number three, The Answer, Allen Iverson!

Moore: I clearly felt Denver would be the place

that it would all conclude.

Allen would win a world championship, one day retire,

raise his family and live happily ever after,

but that wasn't the case.

Denver had decided

that they would not offer Allen an extension.

Does that make the team bad?

No, that's business, but had we known more

about the business part of the game, I think that

this story would have turned out a whole lot differently.

Allen Iverson, one of the game's best scorers in history,

is headed to Detroit.

Moore: He goes to Detroit.

He was told that he would never be asked

to come off the bench because of who he was.

They didn't go there suggesting that. He was told that.

Male reporter 1: Allen Iverson not playing for the third straight game

because of a back issue. When, if he comes back,

he's coming off the bench.

How well can he handle that role?

I don't know any franchise players

that come off their own bench.

I don't know of any Olympian that come off the bench.

I don't know any all-star that come off the bench.

I don't know any former MVP that come off the bench.

I don't know any 3-time scoring champion come off the bench.

I mean, I don't know any first team All-NBA

that come off the bench. Why Allen Iverson?

Male reporter 2: It was a hero's welcome for Allen Iverson in Memphis.

Iverson: I just felt that this would be

the best situation for me in my career.

Just three games into the season,

unhappy coming off the bench for the lowly Grizzlies.

Iverson asks for and is granted a leave of absence.

Waived by the Grizzlies, the league's 6th all-time

leading scorer in points per game is left looking for work.

[babbling]

Man: Everybody this way.

Turn around, little man.

That's great right there. I love that.

Iverson: Basketball has done so much for me.

It helped me provide for my family,

made me a household name, but I got frustrated

with the process of being a free agent.

Every time God opened my eyes, I was waking up and asking,

like, what's going on?

Like, you know, "We get any calls?"

"No, no calls today," you know, and it was wearing at me,

like, it was actually killing me

'cause I'm waking up every morning, you know,

thinking about that, like, every single morning.

There was virtually zero market for Iverson this off-season.

The corn rows, the do-rags, the tattoos.

When you're becoming a cultural icon,

you're making a lot of people upset,

and a lot of people can't wait for you to fall down,

so now they can step over you.

I'm frustrated, so if I'm frustrated,

then obviously my wife is frustrated

because she have to deal with me

being frustrated, you know. My kids frustrated because, you know,

the things that they usually get away with,

can't get away with them no more.

I just snap automatically, you know.

"Daddy, why you so mad? Why you so mad?" I'm not mad,

you know, but this is the situation, whatever.

And I wasn't being fair to them, 'cause I was taking

my frustrations out

on the people that love me more than anybody.

So, that frustration led me to the retirement thing.

Male reporter: Nationally syndicated radio host

and "Philadelphia Inquirer" columnist Stephen A. Smith

reporting he's been told by Allen Iverson's representatives

that Iverson intends to retire from the NBA.

I gotta kiss you. I gotta kiss you.

I gotta kiss you. I've got to.

I thought to myself, "Man, I can do anything that I want

"to do with my kids every single day, not leave

"for weeks at a time and be frustrated

because I miss them so much."

Man, look. I need to take him to get him

a basketball, 'cause he's driving me crazy.

How much are they? Man: Twelve bucks.

- Twelve dollars? - Yep.

I need some money.

[laughter]

I'm thinking to myself, I can be happy as hell

If I just leave this alone and be a full-time,

24/7 husband and father.

I'd like to kiss you.

But then, when this opportunity came, the first one was my wife,

and she said, "You gotta take that opportunity."

[♪♪]

Man: Allen Iverson has spent the bulk of his career--

His identity was Philadelphia 76ers.

They need Allen Iverson, and Allen Iverson needs them.

Moore: He goes back to Philly, trying to recover,

and the only tools that he had was his passion for the game.

You know, when I had the opportunity to...

When I had the opportunity to come back here,

you know, it's just something I couldn't turn down.

I'm just...

I'm just ha...

I'm just happy.

The last couple of years have been hell because,

you know, all I want to do is play basketball,

and, you know, help the guys that I play with.

[♪♪]

With the mistakes that I made in my life, you know,

I created a picture of me that is not me.

You know, I did a lot of things when I was young

that I'm not proud of, but I think, you know,

those things helped me to be the man that I am now.

P.A. announcer: Allen Iverson!

I always dreamed about coming back to Philadelphia.

It was a blessing from God, you know,

being able to come back here

and see that people wanted me as bad as they did.

Male reporter: Allen Iverson will not be back with the 76ers this season.

The 4-time NBA scoring champ and his family

are dealing with an undisclosed illness

of his 4-year-old daughter, Messiah.

Team President Ed Stefanski said Tuesday that Iverson

no longer wanted to be a distraction to his teammates.

Female reporter: According to a report from "Basket Magazine,"

Turkey may possibly be Iverson's next home.

Iverson: I never would've thought

that this situation would occur,

but it is here.

I had a great time playing in the NBA,

and who knows if I ever will again, but I'm looking forward

to making the best out of this situation.

[team singing in foreign language]

I promise you, it is a happy day for me.

You know, I really thought

that this day would be a tough day for me,

but it's a happy day.

I gave everything I had to basketball.

Iverson: Every time I come in this gym, in this arena,

I hear my favorite song, you know, all your voices.

You know, the passion is still there.

The desire to play is just not.

People ask me all the time, do I have any regrets?

I don't have any, you know. If I can go back

and do it all over again, would I change anything?

No. I'm proud to be able to say that I changed a lot

in this culture and in this game,

looking the way I looked and dressing the way I dressed.

It was a blessing just to play one NBA basketball game.

I've done a lot in this league,

being 160 pounds coming from Newport News, Virginia,

and my family is taken care of for the rest of their life.

I mean, what do you mean, regrets?

What more can you ask for?

[cheering]

I'm going to always be a Sixer, till I die.

When you think of Philadelphia basketball,

you think of Allen Iverson, and I fought for that.

I earned that.

P.A. announcer: Finally, the 6-foot guard

from Georgetown,

number 3, Allen Iverson!

[cheering]

I love you, Philadelphia...

[cheering]

For accepting me and letting me be me,

letting me make my mistakes, letting me be human,

let me learn from 'em, just embracing me

and making this my home forever.

[cheering]

I love you, Philadelphia, the best fans in the world.

The best fans in the world.

[cheering]

Moore: I saw a kid grow up from absolutely nothing

to just about everything.

Took all the bumps

and the bruises and achieved even with the mistakes,

and to go through it with him, it gives you

a bit of gratification and satisfaction

that God did not have to allow us to have.

Iverson: I don't care about being misunderstood by the media,

but, hopefully, you know, my people, hopefully,

I'm not misunderstood by them.

I just want them to say

I was a fighter, man, that's it, and a survivor,

and willing to get knocked down

to be able to get back up.

[Jay-Z performing "I Made It"]

Jay-Z: Told you, Miss Carter.

Here we are.

♪ Momma, I made it

♪ Ya'll know how I do when the Doc do it ♪

♪ I fly thru it

♪ That's how I operated Momma, I made it ♪

♪ Ghetto like the grease when you gettin' your hair braided ♪

♪ Sweeter than your sister Kool Aid is ♪

♪ Hooray is the underdog

♪ Now my feet under desk

♪ It's the presidential favorite ♪

♪ Can't believe I got away with my earlier stages ♪

♪ Being on stages...

You ever seen a-- What does it say?

Man: "You ever watch." - Ah, you ever watch, okay.

You ever watch a big game and say to yourself,

No, no. "Can I see some ID?" Okay.

You ever watch a big game and see--

[groans]

What does it say?

Ah, okay, okay. Come on, Al.

You ever watch a big game, and see somebody

do a nice move and say to yourself,

I wish I could do that? It all boils down

to one word: Practice. Practice. Practice.

[♪♪]

♪ Dreams come true yesterday, now ♪

♪ Yes, they do, yes, they do... ♪

♪ Don't you ever stop dreamin' ♪

♪ Just keep believing...

Iverson: Let me say about dreamin'.

Let me say about dreamin'.

David Stern: 2001 NBA MVP, Allen Iverson!

Iverson: Let me say about dreamin'.

Let me say about dreamin'.

[♪♪]

Let me say about dreamin'.

♪ Just keep believing

♪ Mm-mmm

Iverson: Let me say about dreamin'.

Let me say about dreamin'.

Man: Now is... time to party.

[crowd cheering]