Book claims Iverson was drunk during ‘practice’ rant
Allen Iverson was drunk during his infamous “practice” rant, according to “Not a Game: The Incredible Rise and Unthinkable Fall of Allen Iverson,” a book written by Kent Babb of the Washington Post that was released this week.
In the book, Babb writes that former 76ers coach Larry Brown suspected Iverson had been drinking before the news conference, which took place four days after Philadelphia was eliminated in the first round of the 2002 NBA playoffs.
“I assumed he went and fooled around somewhere,” Brown said, tipping his hand up like a bottle, Babb wrote.
John Smallwood, a Philadelphia Daily News reporter who was at the news conference, was convinced Iverson was drunk.
“He was lit,” Smallwood said in Babb’s book. “If he had been sober, he would have been able to get himself out of that. He never would’ve gone down that path.”
To paraphrase Iverson, we know it’s important, we honestly do, but we’re talking about drinking. We’re talking about drinking, man. We’re not talking about the game. We’re talking about drinking.