Notorious NBA trash talker Gary Payton is admitting he may have played a role in Allen Iverson’s famed “we talking about practice” rant of years ago.
With reports Iverson soon plans to formally announce his NBA retirement heating up, all sort of odes to the man many consider to be the “best little big man to ever play the game” are emerging.
Payton told reporters he and Iverson were out one summer, “having a good time and drinking,” when Iverson asked him how he managed to stay in such good shape and health. Payton said he answered that coach George Karl often allowed him to skip practice to preserve his body.
“That was it; I told him you have to stop practicing,” he said.
Not long thereafter, Iverson launched his tirade, emphatically reasoning: “I supposed to be the franchise player, and we in here talking about practice. I mean, listen, we talking about practice. Not a game. Not a game. Not a game. We talking about practice…We talking about practice, man. I mean how silly is that?”
A.I. later added “when you come into the arena, and you see me play, you see me play, don’t you? You see me give everything I got, right? But we talking about practice right now.”
Payton said word of the advice he gave Iverson later got back to then coach Larry Brown, who ultimately confronted him about creating a “situation” with his star player.
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