Allen Iverson Talks Big3 League and Recalls the Night Biggie Died

It’s 2017 and Allen Iverson still generates the same commotion outside of a commercial store as a Supreme drop. Surprised? Well, you shouldn’t be. Throughout a career which spanned from 1996 to 2011, “The Answer” managed to collect numerous scoring titles, receive the NBA’s Most Valuable Player Award, lead the Philadelphia 76ers to the NBA Finals in 2001, be welcomed to an elite Hall of Fame family, and inspire a generation athletically and culturally. So what’s a fan favorite doing at the NBA Store years after his retirement? Giving back to those who helped made him who he is. Seemingly a perfect fit, Mitchell & Ness joined forces with Iverson to launch a special, permanent section within the NYC location.

He arrived donning a crisp white tee, blinding jewels, and a clean pair of Reebok Questions, in true Iverson fashion. Signing autographs before walking through the door, it was obvious that The Answer’s influence remains strong in today’s age if you ever doubted it. He continued to be escorted alongside friends and family through the space where a special section payed homage with different variations of his jersey, from his rookie year to the NBA Finals. Prior to the pandemonium along with his biggest fans, we were able to talk to the man of the hour, speaking about his favorite uniform, being beloved by fans of all ages, his memory of The Notorious B.I.G., and more.

How does it feel to arrive at events like this and still have such a strong following? Especially seeing the younger generation who may have never seen you play a game in person or on TV?

Man it’s a blessing. It makes you appreciate everybody that helped in the process. You dig what I’m saying? Obviously my family, my friends, my coaches, my teammates, my fans that ride for me. They show their loyalty to me and it’s just a humbling feeling. With me, I gave everything I had night in and night out on the court and I thought that I owed it to God for giving me the talent and I didn’t want to disappoint him. I played every game like it was my last because I’d think ‘maybe this is this one kid’s only time that he or she will be at an NBA game.’ That made it really easy for me to play every game like it was my last. It’s just a great feeling this many years later to know my fans are still loyal to me and that they give a damn.

What’s a go-to jersey in your personal collection?
Hands down Mike. He meant so much to me in my life. I honestly think if it wasn’t for him there wouldn’t be an Allen Iverson as the basketball player. I don’t know if I would’ve went on and did something else in my life positively, but I know once I seen him do what he was doing, I wanted to be that. Like I really wanted to be “Like Mike,” people really thought the commercial was a joke. For me as a lil’ man it was serious. I ain’t that tall, I ain’t that big and I ain’t that strong but I wanted to dominate like him.

Just like the lil’ dudes nowadays, they watch my YouTube videos and that goes back to what you asked me before with the younger guys who’ve never see me in person. I had to do the same thing with my son like ‘Aight you think all these dude now are good? Go to YouTube and pull up 23. Let me pull up Black Jesus and let you watch this.’ And he’ll tell me ‘Yeah dad, that man had the business.’ The same thing happens to me now. I’ll be in the airport and a 5-, 6-, or 7-year-old will come up to me like ‘you’re Allen Iverson!’ and I’ll say to myself ‘how in the hell you know anything about me?’ But it’s YouTube and the same thing goes for others like Dr. J, KJ, Tim Hardaway, Mark Price and others. I had to put these young dudes onto the real killers you know. It’s like Michael Jordan recognizing how Dr. J paved the way for him.

You currently have the Big 3 league on the horizon. Do you have your team yet?

Nah, so far I just have one of my players, DerMarr Johnson, I really wanted to rock with him and he’s my lil’ man too so I’m happy about that. My whole thing is that I don’t want to make the whole experience an Allen Iverson thing. I’m a coach, but I’m the coach-slash-player. So I don’t want everyone to assume that they’re going to see me out there every night getting down. I thought about if shit hits the fan, I’ll consider going in the “phone booth” and coming out and trying to do my thing, but I’m almost 42 years old man. I played the other day and my heart says ‘yeah,’ but my legs say ‘hell nah.’ It’s still fun though and it is what it is, it’s in my DNA; I’m a basketball player. For all the fans that are anticipating what’s going to happen, all I know is that it’s going to be fun and we’re going to put everything into it. [Ice] Cube is a smart dude and he knows what the fans want and we gon’ make it do what it do.

[March 9 was] the anniversary of The Notorious B.I.G.’s untimely death. During the earlier and mid-portion of your career, many may agree it was the prime time for rap beefs. Do you happen to have a favorite beef between two artists?

I never had a favorite rap beef. It’s like watching one of your homeboys beef with another one of your homeboys. Guys that I like, I hate to see them going through stuff like that. I love 50, I love Ja Rule. I love Game, I love Meek. I love Biggie, I love Pac. I love ‘em as fans and friends. I never had the opportunity to meet Pac but I was a big fan of him. Biggie is obviously my favorite of all time, but when you see stuff like that you hope that it’s just being competitive and that’s that. Me and Stephon Marbury used to go at it, but off the court we’re the best of friends and you just don’t want to see stuff get out of hand.

It’s crazy that you asked me that because I had just seen B.I.G. in LA around the time of his passing. Somebody was at the free-throw line and the crowd had mixed emotions of booing and cheering and I’m like ‘What the f**k is going on?’ I look up at the Jumbotron and I see him and I’m like ‘oh shit.’ I don’t know exactly how long ago it was but I know that Pac had just passed. So after the game he came up to me with Cease and D Roc sitting outside of the locker room. I came out and said ‘yo, what are you doing here?’ He tells me ‘I’ve been out here for a month, I’m looking for a crib.’ I couldn’t believe it. Then he continues to talk to me about The Question sneakers and how he had my mom sending some of my shoes to him. I went home and we were playing the Washington Bullets on the road. Now I’m from Virginia so my mom came and she was sleeping in the same room that I was in at the time and she woke me up around 5 o’clock in the morning and told me ‘baby, ya man’s gone.’ I woke up and heard the news, I saw the car and it was crazy. March 9 is always something to me. That was my man and he was the best. He was just incredible.

“With me, I gave everything I had night in and night out on the court and I thought that I owed it to God for giving me the talent and I didn’t want to disappoint him.”

The fanfare continued and you could almost hear a pin drop when word circled that the best pound-for-pound guard to ever play the game was in the elevator heading down to meet his fans. Next up, pandemonium. Cheers in various pitches from people of all shapes and sizes to welcome the man that influenced a generation. He waved to all as he took his position surrounded by a plethora of his own jerseys, which can comically be considered throwbacks now despite it feeling like yesterday as the world watched him hit Michael Jordan with his infamous crossover. After going face-to-face with a commemorative figurine, The Answer joked around with his support system while greeting young fans and signing a special edition Mitchell & Ness 2001 NBA Finals jersey creating an unforgettable memory for all in attendance.