In a career full of exhilarating plays and did-you-see-that moments, Allen Iverson's legacy includes one very important off-the-court moment.
In this unforgettable 2002 rant, Iverson blasts everyone who criticized him for missing practice:
As it turns out, sports fans may indirectly have Gary Payton to thank for this wonderful moment.
On Fox Sports Live Payton recounted the story of how he told Iverson one offseason that he was held out of some practices during the season. The NBA season is a grind and Payton's then-coach on the Seattle SuperSonics, George Karl, held him out so as to prevent overworking his star.
But when he heard Iverson's rant, Payton remembers thinking that was not what the two had discussed:
"'Oh, no, not this. Don’t say it like that Allen. Don’t do it like that,'" Payton thought. “But when he said it, I said, ‘No, that was not our conversation.'"
Here's Payton's entire backstory:
While we question how much of Iverson's thinking was actually tied to Payton, the talk must have had a serious impact on The Answer because his coach, Larry Brown, ended up pulling Payton aside after a game and said he "created something."
