Allen Iverson On Possibly Coaching: 'We Would Never Practice'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- It's one of the all-time most memorable press conferences in sports history---Allen Iverson's practice rant. So when AI was recently asked by reporters in the Philippines if he would ever considering coaching, the former NBA MVP amusingly answered, "No, I would never want to coach. We would never practice."
"What keeps me busy is being a father," Iverson explained. "You know what I mean? And being there for my kids. That's enough, that's hard work."
Iverson was asked to list his top-five NBA players of all-time.
"I would put myself at the two-guard, but I can't put myself in the top five because Michael Jordan is in the top-five, and he a two-guard. "I'll just exempt myself and I would say, Magic [Johnson], Mike [Michael Jordan], LeBron [James], [Charles] Barkley, and Shaq [Shaquille O'neal]."
Iverson, the former No. 1 overall pick by the Sixers in 1996, was arguably in the best draft class ever with Marcus Campy (No. 2), Stephon Marbury (No. 4), Ray Allen (No. 5), Kobe Bryant (No. 13), Steve Nash (No. 15), Jermaine O'Neal (No. 17), and Derek Fisher (No. 24).
Iverson doesn't think it's debatable.
"What do you mean probably? We had the best draft class," Iverson said. "People try to debate it all the time, with the [2003] draft class with LeBron, D-Wade [Dwyane Wade], Melo [Carmelo Anthony], but no draft class was like ours."
Bryant, 36, who beat Iverson and the Sixers in 2001 NBA Finals, is not only still playing, but in fact leads the NBA in scoring averaging 27.6 points per game through the first five games of the 2014-15 season.
"No. Not at all," Iverson said when asked if he was surprised by Bryant's level of play. "His work ethic is right where it's supposed to be, his heart is right where it's supposed to be, his competitive nature is where it's supposed to be, so I'm not surprised at all that he's playing at a high level. I mean, he's one of the best to ever do it."
Watch the full interview below:
You may also be interested in these Sports stories: