Happy Ten Years To A Press Conference That Will Never Be Forgotten: Allen Iverson Talking About Pratice

Allen Iverson, talking about practice.

Ten years ago, on this day in May, Allen Iverson, who at the time was the Philadelphia 76ers’ star guard made the words “practice” famous.

Practice: the action or process of performing or doing something as it’s defined according to dictionary.com had a different meaning on that afternoon in May.

Sitting in front of several media groups and cameras, Iverson who was holding a press conference due to missing a practice, single handily changed the word. 13 sentences, 193 words, and point guard, Allen Iverson changed the word of practice. Oh yes, I’m talking about the word practice.

Responding to a media member’s question, Iverson had these 193 words to say:

“We’re sitting here, and I’m supposed to be the franchise player, and we’re talking about practice.”

“I mean listen, we’re sitting here talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, but we’re talking about practice.”

“Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game like it’s my last, but we’re talking about practice man.”

“How silly is that?”

“Now I know that I’m supposed to lead by example and all that, but I’m not shoving that aside like it don’t mean anything.

“I know it’s important, I honestly do, but we’re talking about practice.”

“We’re talking about practice man.”

“We’re talking about practice.”

“We’re talking about practice.”

“We’re not talking about the game.”

“We’re talking about practice.”

“When you come to the arena, and you see me play, you’ve seen me play right, you’ve seen me give everything I’ve got, but we’re talking about practice right now.”

“Hey I hear you, it’s funny to me too, hey it’s strange to me too, but we’re talking about practice man, we’re not even talking about the game, when it actually matters, we’re talking about practice.”

Here’s the video of Iverson’s practice comments:

The next day, following his practice comments, Iverson would back it up that it was just “practice” as he scored 31 points, had 7 assists, and 3 steals in the 76ers 104-97 loss to the Detroit Pistons.

As for the 76ers they would go onto lose the series, 4-2 to Detroit. However, they wouldn’t lose Iverson’s famous comments as the story ten years later, wasn’t that the Pistons went on to defeat the 76ers, it was that Iverson re-invented the word, practice.

Allen Iverson and DeSean Jackson Are Practically The Same

Allen Iverson will forever be the bad boy of Philadelphia

Philadelphia sports and practices just don’t mix. Remember back in November of 2006, when Allen Iverson missed a Philadelphia 76ers practice? Then remember the controversial press conference that took place in response to it? Practice?! Practice. You wanna talk about Practice?! Not a game…not a game. But practice?!

That day and that press conference would go onto live with the career of Iverson and the franchise for the rest of his life and the teams future for years and years to come. And six years later, the practice controversy has gotten even worse as jokes about it have been made and players, coaches, and the general public have mimicked it in several different ways.

It just never really seemed to get old and it probably never will as it’s even inspired some people like Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson. Last Saturday Jackson missed a mandatory team meeting that was held for a preparation for Sunday’s matchup against the Arizona Cardinals. Rumors said that he missed it because he overslept, but no one knows for sure as on Monday during a press conference Jackson didn’t answer the question.

As a result to missing the meeting Jackson unlike Iverson received a much harsher penalty as he would be held out of Sunday’s game. Though he didn’t raise his voice and repeat his words in response to missing the meeting, instead he just said that it wasn’t a “chronic issue.”

See now Jackson really just doesn’t think; he misses a mandatory team meeting, then as a result gets benched, and then during the press conference he states that it’s not a “chronic issue?” really? That’s all you have to say? Who’s going to repeat that for years and years to come? No one. Man, Jackson had the perfect opportunity to turn this bad incident into a better one by shining some light on the whole incident with some funny comments or an Allen Iverson practice speech variation of his own. But instead Jackson felt that the silent treatment was more necessary.

As of right now there are no further plans for punishment of Jackson as he’s scheduled to play on Sunday night against the New York Giants and return to his starting wide receiver role. However I do think that Jackson needs some help and he needs it from Allen Iverson, because after hearing Jacksons response to the whole thing it’s just obvious that he needs some practice, and what better person to help than Allen Iverson; the practice master.