I haven’t read the book (it is on the way though), but by briefly chatting with the author on Twitter and then seeing some of the revelations, I can already tell it is a MUST-READ.
This isn’t the first time someone has implied that A.I. was drunk during practice rant, but here is a little from the book via ESPN about how it all came about.
According to the book, King suggested that Iverson speak to reporters four days after the Celtics had eliminated the Sixers in the first round of the 2002 Eastern Conference playoffs. The news conference came on the heels of Iverson showing up late for a meeting with Brown, then arguing with Brown about the player’s future in the parking lot of the team facility. According to the book, Iverson asked Brown — who days earlier had said any Sixer could be traded — if he was on the block. Brown said no.
After his talk with Brown, Iverson left with a friend and returned later for the news conference. “I assumed he went and fooled around somewhere,” Brown said, tipping his hand up like a bottle, the author wrote in the book.
Wrote Babb: “Some were entertained, and others watched the train wreck unfold, knowing from experience that Iverson was drunk.”
John Smallwood, a Daily News columnist who was in attendance, was also quoted as saying: “He was lit. If he had been sober, he would have been able to get himself out of that. He never would’ve gone down that path. Maybe you had to have been around him all the time to know the difference, but we all knew.”
Iverson said in his documentary on Showtime he was not drunk, but upset about the trade rumors and his friend dying.
Iverson says that is why he was upset about the practice questions because there was much bigger things going on in his life at the time.
It did spawn the greatest youtube video of all-time though.