Allen Iverson is in a rare position, widely regarded as one of the most influential players in NBA history, and yet still, his influence seems underrated. After all, the former MVP’s game can be seen in players at nearly every position, and beyond that, his personality, sense of style and overall presence in culture seemed outsized during his peak, and seem downright prescient now.
Iverson’s also someone who has made mistakes in his life, both on and off the court, something he readily admits to, and has learned a lot from. Because of that, it’s young players who come to him most readily, players like Ja Morant, who has had trouble lately balancing the pressures of his ever-rising stardom.
Iverson has spoken to Ja many times, giving him life advice, he tells William Mullally.
“You understand that a mistake is only a mistake if you make it twice. You understand that you are under a magnifying glass. A lot of kids, and not just kids, even adults, are looking at your every move. You understand that you’re not going to be perfect, but you know, you do have an obligation to be a positive person to the people that are looking up to you,” Iverson says.
Iverson’s passion for the game, and passion for life, are clear in the way he approaches his post-Basketball activities, traveling to the UAE for the Jr. NBA Abu Dhabi League, giving both on court and off-court advice to the young players as the 47-year-old embraces his role as one of the game’s most respected elder-statesmen, and his burgeoning role as an NBA global ambassador.
On that trip, William Mullally sat down with Iverson to talk about his influence on the game, and on the new generation of players. Read the full conversation below.
Allen Iverson sits down with Esquire Middle East
Your legacy across basketball, fashion and culture in general is so vast. How do you pereceive that legacy yourself? What are the things you helped change of which you’re most proud?
How much time you got? [laughs] It’s a lot of things. I’m nowhere near who I was when I played, for the better. And then I’m somewhat the same, because I still have the same passion that I have for basketball, I just don’t play it anymore. I obviously still have the same passion for my fashion. I still care about my wardrobe, still care about not looking like everybody else. But I mean, a lot of things in my life have changed—my kids, the responsibilities that I have now, compared to back then when I only had to go to practice, go to the game and perform. My wife took care of everything off the off the court. And now, those are my responsibilities. I’m in my younger kids lives a lot more than I was with my older kids because when they were growing up I was playing. So it’s a lot different. I think my responsibilities are a lot more than it were then.
Do you think there will be another AI in the sport? Do you think that basketball has changed to the point that will allow your kind of skill to transcend the way the sport has evolved?
Allen Iverson: I hope not. I hope there will never be another Allen Iverson. I hope there will be be versions of a better Allen Iverson. With myself, the way I created my game was that I took different parts of my favorite players games, and just implemented it into my game. And that’s what built the Allen Iverson game. And I think that’s the way a lot of guys are creating their own game. You’ve got seven footers doing things on court that I did on the court. And all it comes from is, when you’re growing up, you’re watching your favorite players, and you’re trying to emulate them, and do the certain things that they do, and they don’t care about the size, they don’t care about the fact that they’re not a guard doing guard things. And that’s just making the game so much greater and so much more entertaining. You know, the game is just going keep evolving and getting better and better.
In whom do you see your game most clearly?
Allen Iverson: You can see it in a lot of guys. Obviously people recently have been comparing myself and Ja Morant. But obviously, he’s three inches taller than me. You can see the similarities, but you can see it in a lot of guys. The smallest thing is that I used to do on the court, you can see those guys doing it. And then a lot of times it has a lot to do with coaches. When I say the small things, it’s the way you come off screens and certain ways that you attack the, first dribble the first step. You can see that from a lot of guys, that drive and pull back jump. You can see it from guys from six feet to seven feet tall. You can see Durant doing things that guards do, you know what I mean? And that’s just watching your favorite players do same thing that I went through, just watching my favorite players and watching everything they did and try to put it in my game.
I wanted to jump like Mike, I wanted to shoot like Bird, I wanted to pass like Magic, I wanted to be fast like Isaiah, I wanted to rebound like Barkley, I wanted to be dominant like Shaq. I tried to put all that into one and create Allen Iverson.
Do these guys reach out to you for advice? Do you speak with Ja Morant?
Allen Iverson: Definitely. And that’s that the beauty of being an OG old head—being ‘Unc’, It’s weird, because it seems like you snapped the finger and I turned from the guy in their shoes to being myself
It’s always fun to have their undivided attention when you’re talking to them because you understand that they are really locked in to what you have to say, because they know you’ve been through it. They know you’ve been through the war, they know you’ve been through the rugged 82 game season plus the playoffs, and they want to know, how do you get through it? And how do you manage to be successful as you were in the regular season, and be able to go from the regular season and turn it up a whole ‘nother notch in the playoffs?
And it is great experience for me. I’m always willing to share my ups and downs in my life and in my career. I mean, I just feel like I’m an open book, I have nothing that I want to hide. Because I feel like that’s taken away from stopping them from making certain mistakes in their life. So, I remain an open book when I’m trying to help somebody.
What’s the key advice you’ve given him?
Allen Iverson: Basketball-wise, or in life?
Both?
Allen Iverson: Basketball-wise, I will say, just continue to grow. Understand that it’s going to be a lot of ups and downs. There’s going be a lot of definitely bad games. But I think the most important thing is just going out there and trying to play harder than everybody else. Don’t worry about the statistics, don’t worry about how well you play, or how bad you play. As long as you play the game like it’s your last, you can look yourself in the mirror and feel good about yourself.
How about off the court?
Allen Iverson: It’s kind of the same thing off the court. You understand that a mistake is only a mistake if you make it twice. You understand that you are under a magnifying glass. A lot of kids, and not just kids, even adults, are looking at your every move. You understand that you’re not going to be perfect, but you know, you do have an obligation to be a positive person to the people that are looking up to you.
Absolutely. And you see some people out there hitting a fake rebound to get their stat up to a triple double obsessing over stats. Not naming any names.
We already know who you’re talking about! I mean to each his own, but…I’m going to leave that one alone. I’m going to leave that one alone.