Original subtitles

[Allen] I asked my grandmama, "Why is God letting this happen?"

And she said, "Never question God."

And I never did again.

[crowd cheering]

[announcer] The Bruins have done it!

[reporter] Allen, what a job defensively you guys did!

[Allen] We did a great job.

Look, I'm tired, man. Well, we played hard.

We wanted this, man. First one. Feels good. Two states in a row.

I'm the number one player in the country in both sports.

You know what I mean? I'm recruited by

every college in the land.

Division one, two and three.

And in the blink of an eye...

it was all taken away from me.

[interviewer] You have a special relationship with your mom?

[Allen] Definitely.

[interviewer] Talk about that.

[scoffs]

I don't know if I could...

I don't know if I could say it in any words. I mean,

how much I feel about her.

We basically grew up together. She had me when she was like 15.

So we came up together. I've seen everything with her.

I've seen so many things happen. I've seen what she had to go through

to make sure I got to where I'm at right now.

[crowd cheers]

She struggled so much in her life. More than me, I'm only 21.

I struggled for 21 years, but my mom struggled for 35,

so I owe everything to my mom. Everything.

[Ann] I grew up in the hood in Hartford, Connecticut.

You know, I grew up in this area called Stone Village, and...

I got good memories, I got bad memories.

The good memories is 'cause the Iversons stayed across the street

and by me being the first Iverson girl in three generations of guys,

all that meant a lot to me.

It meant that I was well-loved.

Love was our number-one key in our family.

My youngest brother lived three days and died.

And my mother died a few months after him.

She was 29.

My mom told me I had to stay in the house when the ambulance came to get her,

and held my hand so tight

and she said, "You gotta look out for Luby, Greggie, and Stevie.

Promise me, promise me."

And I promised her.

But I never knew that we wouldn't see her again.

I had hostility in my heart, so I fought all the time,

because I was mad with God.

My sister...

'Cause he took my mom.

She could knock a man out. She was a fighter. She still is.

You know, she watched our backs.

[Ann] Do a little karate, flip...

- If anybody put us down... - They'd lose the fights 'cause...

- our sister take care of it. - [Ann] I knew how to fight.

[Greg] She was with gangs...

She was an outstanding baller in junior high, high school.

- [Ann] I did not know... - She became much stronger...

- that my life was gonna be like this. - By helping my grandma raise us.

I got pregnant on my 15th birthday.

Allen Broughton.

He was my best friend.

Fifteen, sixteen.

When I got pregnant with Allen,

he bought Allen some paper, then he went back home.

So he never was around Allen.

Out of sight, out of mind.

He was a child hisself.

When I went into high school I was four months pregnant,

I got in a fight.

My grandmother said, "What are you gonna do with this baby?

You gonna keep him or are you gonna give him away?"

So I said, "I'm keeping my baby."

And my grandmother moved us from Hartford to Hampton, Virginia.

And when I had Allen,

from that point on, I fought.

Because I didn't want nothing to happen to him.

I ain't play that. I ain't play that.

Next thing you know, I'm fighting to get my baby out of jail.

I gave marches...

[reporter] The case of Iverson and three other Black teenagers

ignited anger.

I gave boycotts.

[reporter] Thousands are being asked to boycott in support of Allen Iverson

and his co-defendants.

[Michael] Everyone really was rallying around him.

[Brandy] So many people got involved.

Hallelujah!

This old little Black lady would help or whoever wanted to help me.

[reporter] Several ministers and civic groups

have started a legal defense fund

called SWIS, an acronym using the last names

of Melvin Stephens, Samuel Wynn, Allen Iverson and Michael Simmons.

What happened to Allen Iverson is not right!

[Ann] That was one of the times where the community really came together in Hampton.

Black and white.

He had a promising future and they screwed him out of it,

in my opinion.

It was crazy because Virginia was divided because of me.

It was tough, seeing it on the news everyday. The chaos of it all.

[reporter] James Ellenson and Allen Iverson's mom

hope the circuit court of appeals will release the star athlete on bond.

I think he just needs to get home so he can finish his education.

The only defendants that are not given a bond are capital murderers.

The next generation are being incarcerated in unprecedented numbers.

The plantation of the 21st century is the penitentiary.

[Allen] I couldn't fucking believe it.

What I want to be in life

and to be able to take care of my family.

[Darby] City Farm is like a work camp.

When you go to City Farm, you ain't got nothing violent,

you ain't crazy.

They're gonna put you out there cutting grass and shit around the city.

You know, one of them places.

I was the first person he seen when they brought him into jail.

I got fired from my job in the laundry

because I tell him his two homeboys crying.

And he looking, he shaking his head,

and I said, "Man, don't you do that shit. You gonna be all right."

But he young, he's 17.

I know he was fucked up in the head,

'cause, god dammit, he was just the baddest motherfucker in the world.

And now you, god dammit, sounding like your life is over with.

That's the first thing he thought about. What the kids gonna think about me?

He said, "They're gonna think I'm a jailbird."

And I was like, "Don't worry about them kids,

All I need you to do is keep your grades up."

I had this one dude... Man, this dude used to fuck with me so bad

all the time. He just would not stop.

Tawanna would come up to me, and, you know, she would come see me,

and me and her would be talking or whatever and he'd get between us.

We'd be holding hands and he'd separate our hands, push us back.

Him being in prison was hard because we were inseparable before that.

I was there every visiting day.

Whenever he'd call, I was there to answer.

I actually spoke and read a poem at one of those events.

[Allen] And then they used to have this scarecrow

outside the jail with my jersey on, hanging from a noose.

The mail that came in for me every day was hate mail,

and then I had death threats every single day.

I think they can be rehabilitated in jail also.

I mean, there are programs available.

There's a GED program, there Iverson could finish his education.

They have recreational facilities. I don't think he'd be any worse off.

[Allen] I worked in the kitchen. I was the motherfucker that gave out the food

in the line during lunchtime,

and I used to give my homeboys extra shit,

motherfuckers from the neighborhood.

You know he made me a cake for my birthday

inside the jailhouse?

[Allen] One of my friends came to visit me

and my lawyers at that time was telling me,

"You getting out tomorrow, all right? You're getting out the next day."

And he came up there and he was like, "Look, man, you're not going nowhere,

so sit in here, and do your time,

and when you get out, get back to doing what you love doing."

Tonight, we have the story of what has happened to a young man

who was headed for a million-dollar future,

but now he's in jail.

Now, by me being in here,

I just had, you know, so much time to think.

And I just want, you know, a second chance in life.

When a respected person like Tom comes down

and says, "Hey, we need to look into this,"

that carries a lot of weight.

And I think that was the first wave of things changing for him.

[Ann] Boo Williams had me write down the coaches' names that called.

Bub would come home with boxes and boxes and boxes of letters

from different colleges everywhere.

[Allen] Gone. Not one. Not even...

No schools. At all. Period.

[Ann] I called Boo, I went to the library, I seen two coaches.

There was a coach named Jarvis in Washington, D.C.,

and there's a coach named Coach Thompson in Georgetown.

Regardless of how much we emphasize winning and losing,

the most significant thing for any young person is to be himself.

[Ann] I went to John Thompson.

He said, "Well, I'm not gonna take Allen 'cause I'm not recruiting Allen."

I find it interesting that people confront college coaches

and say, "Are you still gonna recruit Allen Iverson?"

The thing that this child has to be concerned about

is not his recruitment, it's just basic employment.

[Allen] The pitch wasn't right for him.

It was basically like a cockiness or arrogance,

but my mom came with something totally different.

And I just broke down. I broke down.

I said, "If you don't take him, somebody's gonna hurt him,

because he lives in an environment that is not good."

I was scared. I asked him to put my son under his wings.

And he did say... He hugged me and said, "I got you, baby girl."

He said, "I got you."

He said, "'Cause you the only Black mama that ever came up in here

and said what they said about their son. And I got him.

If he get out of jail, I'll take him."

[Brandy] The national attention was getting so high

that it was starting to reach Governor Wilder.

Joyce was petitioning,

even the singer Bruce Hornsby was petitioning to let Allen out.

For the first time during this whole process, we were hopeful.

My mom's hard work was really paying off.

[Tom] You have a very strong mother.

Very defensive about you. Right?

I've never been in trouble before in my life.

You know, and I owe that all to my mom.

[Ann] If you get out of here, will you play basketball?

He said, "Mama,

you get me out of here, I'll go wherever the fuck you want me to go."

So that's why I worked so hard to get him out of jail.

[indistinct] didn't know all these people.

He's a convicted felon

and a nationally-recognized high school athlete.

But today, Allen Iverson was granted clemency

by Virginia Governor Douglas Wilder.

[Tawanna] I was ecstatic when Governor Wilder pardoned him.

The Iverson family should all be thanking him

because all of our lives changed from him.

[family members cheering]

[Ann] He walked through the door, they was like, "Bubba!"

I got my baby freed.

My nephew and them ate the cake.

Yeah, three months.

That show you how hood my family is.

[Allen] The day I came home, I had a decision to make.

You know, am I gonna give up right here?

Or am I gonna go forward?

I knew that if I was ever given a second chance,

I was gonna take advantage of it,

because I felt I owed that to myself and my family.

I said, "Okay, you here,

you're gonna take your hind parts

and you're gonna go to Miss Lambiotte classes."

[Allen] Miss Lambiotte. One of the greatest people in the world.

I wasn't allowed to come out and graduate,

I wasn't allowed to play sports.

She was who I went to, to try to graduate.

It just broke my heart because of his tremendous potential,

academically as well as athletically.

Miss Lambiotte calls me.

And she said Allen isn't in school.

I didn't say nothing to him the first day,

'cause, you know, he's just getting out.

Lambiotte called me again.

Allen didn't go to school.

You know, and I flipped.

He's still talking shit, and I'm face to face with him, right?

And I just hauled off.

And I'm like... on his face.

Thirty-three times.

Thirty-four didn't happen

'cause he grabbed me by my shoulders, he sit my ass on the bed.

And I was like, "Well, I'll tell you what,

you ain't gonna be around here

and thinking that you ain't gonna go to school

'cause you gonna be in jail."

So then he left out the house.

[Allen] For my clemency, if I didn't go to school, I was gonna go back to jail,

so there was times where I would come late,

Miss Lambiotte be at the door crying,

asking me, do I wanna throw my life away?

[Ann] You know, if the judge give you a curfew,

you gotta make that curfew.

You ain't regular fried rice, kid.

So he walked through the door and he apologized.

He said, "Mama, I'm sorry."

He leaned on me and he shed some tears.

And we fell in love with Miss Lambiotte, and he did too.

Richard Milburn High School. I have a 3.5 grade point average.

No, that was my... old school.

[Ann] So, he graduated. We got him through that.

[teacher] This diploma is the culmination of all your hard work

and all your hard effort.

[applause]

[Allen] I was valedictorian.

[chuckles]

I was in there by myself, so I was the head of the class.

After all this,

all the things that have happened to me,

when I get my second chance,

I wanted to prove to myself, mainly, that I can do this.

It was tough. She loved the hell out of me.

Resilience is me.

A hundred percent.

Just knowing that whatever I put my mind to,

I could accomplish it.

What may be John Thompson's most ambitious reclamation project,

the Allen Iverson era is about to begin at Georgetown.

[J.A.] So, I was hired in 1994

to come to the Washington Post,

and my first assignment was covering Georgetown University.

There was this Allen Iverson guy that I'd heard about,

but we really hadn't seen him

and that summer,

Iverson had made an appearance and played at a Kenner League game.

I get a phone call from Michael Wilbon at the Washington Post

and he says, "You don't know what you've signed up for

because Iverson apparently just set the place on fire,

had everybody talking.

Packed in the gym. He just put on a show."

So now, the buzz level was heightened.

I can't believe we're going over this shit again.

I never had any college experience,

so it was a big change.

[boy filming] The animal the night before showtime.

[Allen] I changed my name.

Check out my big-ass shift.

When I left, I didn't cry because I was gonna miss Virginia,

it was just my family. It was the way I was leaving my family.

The situation at home was terrible, there was no money,

and I was in Georgetown and I'm getting three meals a day.

Let me get two meals. A large order of buffalo wings...

And somewhere warm to sleep. Somewhere comfortable.

Knowing my family's back at home and was living nothing like that,

and that's the only thing that hurt me from being away.

[guy filming] What are these, CD covers on the wall?

Yo, that's so sick.

We be hollering.

And going home!

[Michael] There's only a few coaches that could've given Allen

the kind of tutelage that he needed to go to the next level.

When you think of the big names in college basketball,

you can't go too far before the name John Thompson pops up.

[reporter] John Thompson has won nearly 500 games.

He has taken his basketball team to 19 post-season tournaments,

and won the national championship.

[reporter] John Thompson became the first Black head coach

to win a national championship.

[reporter] Thompson is one of basketball's most admired men,

not just for his victories, but for his principles.

Principles which he passed on to his players.

I think it's extremely important that the kids have someone

who they're familiar with

who they can openly express the things that they're uncomfortable with.

John Thompson's meant so much to the city of Washington

and to the African American community.

[Michael] And so it was a real blessing that Coach Thompson was able to be

in his corner when he was. It was just perfect timing.

[Allen] The first year I was kind of like a fish out of water.

You know, obviously I missed that whole year.

I felt like I needed to learn.

[J.A.] The debut was at this exhibition game.

Iverson didn't start the game, but John Thompson sent him in,

and just immediately starts dazzling.

Fastest guy on the court. No one can keep up with him.

Tom Boswell says it's the most impressive debut

since he saw Lew Alcindor at Power Memorial High School

way back when.

There was still all this expectation and hype,

but we hadn't seen anything.

[commentator] The Big East season about to begin in earnest tonight,

and that means that everybody who hasn't seen him in the Big East

will starting tonight. His name is Allen Iverson.

[announcer] Number three, Allen Iverson!

[Allen] I had it rough my first year

from the fans in other arenas.

[announcer] And here comes Allen Iverson.

[commentator] Clearly, the people from Philadelphia don't like him.

[Allen] Shut the fuck up!

You know what I mean? Every time I went to shoot a free throw,

they're screaming, "Jailbird, jailbird."

[crowd chanting "Jailbird! Jailbird!"]

[Allen] I remember we was playing Villanova.

There were four guys with orange jumpsuits on,

they had chains on.

Coach took us off the floor and said we not gonna play

if you don't get them out of here.

[John] You see several signs. Not one.

Several signs like that. On Sunday.

You know, it just doesn't work for me, and I'm not gonna ever sit there

and tell him that he's got to accept that.

[Allen] He protected me. I didn't talk to the media.

He didn't let people attack me like they wanted to.

He taught me everything.

He would call me throughout my career and we never would talk basketball.

We always talked about life.

At first, you think it's kind of strict.

But then again, it's just because they care about you

and they're trying to look out for you and prepare you.

My man Jerry Nichols, my teammate, was in the bathroom.

That's where Coach and the assistant coaches used to rap about the game,

and they didn't know he was in there, he was shitting.

We had just played Seton Hall and I had 40 against Danny Hurley.

And Jerry told me that Coach said, "That little motherfucker is bad as hell."

The times he's received direction are the times he's done well.

But he has never run around and act like a great big idol with a golden head,

that I'm your shining star, and I respect him for that.

[Allen] It was a monumental moment in my life as an athlete.

I got the stamp of approval from my guy, the greatest ever.

[commentator] You talk about super quick, he is so quick, the little guy!

Tonight is my night.

[commentator] Iverson left... First step is unbelievable.

[commentator] Are you serious?

How are you gonna check it one-on-one on a wing?

Explosive! You can't teach that, Brad!

I'll take over this shit. You know I'm getting down tonight.

♪ Watch these rap niggas get all up in your guts ♪

♪ French-vanilla, butter-pecan, chocolate-deluxe ♪

♪ Even caramel sundaes is gettin' touched ♪

♪ And scooped in my ice cream truck, Wu tears it up ♪

♪ Yo honey-dips, summertime, fine Jheri drippin' ♪

[commentator] Allen Iverson around his back.

♪ I catch shootin' strong notes as we got close ♪

♪ She rocked rope, honey throat smellin' like Impulse ♪

[Michael] When I was in prison, the guys from D.C., they was like,

"Man, this young guy we got, man...

Every time they came on TV,

that's what the TV is gonna be on or else there's gonna be a riot.

What about Allen Iverson? You like his quickness?

He's good. He's really good. He's got it.

♪ Ghettos, them is your hometown, we can go the whole round ♪

♪ After that, I'm shootin' downtown ♪

♪ I'm rockin' hats and your wig is all intact ♪

♪ Who's that queen bee chick, eyes curly black ♪

[Allen] The middle of the second year, I was saying to myself,

I gotta do all I can on this hardwood so I can make it better for my family.

First opportunity I got to make it better for them,

I took it.

[Tawanna] When I had Tiaura, it was basketball season.

So he couldn't come back for her birth.

He saw her when she was a week old.

I think it came natural to him because I feel like when we were 16,

Iiesha was six months at the time.

I loved how he was attached to her. It was like it was natural.

[cooing sounds]

[Allen] To have a child that was mine, you know what I mean,

that I brought in this world,

you know, it gave me a different type of love

that I hadn't had before.

And I wanted to do my part

in raising her in a better situation than I was in.

[Ann] My sister has epilepsy.

If you have state care, it wasn't the best during those times.

And there was things that she could be put on,

that was better than what she was given.

[Allen] I knew that I was gonna be able to take care of her

like she needed to be taken care.

I remember my mom, when I was at school, calling,

crying about certain things.

"They evicted me, I don't have nothing," and that.

You know what I mean? I remember those days, you know what I mean?

And I just felt like I was gonna do something about it.

[Ann] He called me and he said, "Mom, I'm leaving Georgetown."

And my heart, like, fell to the floor almost.

'Cause, why you leaving, you know? He's like, "Man, look how you live!"

[indistinct footage audio]

He said, "Look at my sister. My sister needs help."

And he had his little girl, too.

- [Ann] "I love you, Mommy." - [Allen] Mm-hmm.

And on the back it says...

[Allen] "To Mommy, from your son, Allen Iverson."

[Allen] Coach Thompson was right on my side.

He said, "Man, go ahead, take care of your family."

Just like that. I was like whoa!

If a lot of kids leave school, they're making a tremendous mistake.

Allen is different because Allen has the physical ability to play in the NBA.

[Allen] After carefully weighing my options with Coach Thompson

and my family, I decided to enter the NBA Draft.

My immediate family requires me to leave Georgetown,

but I will always be a part of the Georgetown family.

Thank you.

[interviewer] Why Reebok and not the other guys?

I think Reebok showed me a lot more love

than Nike did.

You know, I...

- I don't know why I said Nike. - [woman] You said Nike.

[interviewer] All right, you said you...

What made you decide to go with Reebok and not Nike?

Zeros.

[chuckles]

[Todd] In '94, '95, Allen, he started to just be on my radar

just being a basketball fan, and I was like,

"Yo, if we could ever get this kid at Reebok."

[commentator] Allen Iverson is expected to be the number-one pick overall.

[Todd] You know, obviously we have Shaquille and we have a few others,

but we're looking for a young kind of guard.

We're looking for a guy that plays off the dribble.

[Kwame] Last year, Nike and Reebok each

sold more than a billion dollars' worth of sneakers.

[Allen] Coach was on the board of directors at Nike.

And what we did was get involved with all these coaches

to be representatives of Nike.

[Allen] My whole thing was I wore Nikes all through college,

high school, man, even I wore Jordans in rec league,

so I know I'm gonna have my own shoe with Nike.

Nah, this is 17. Shaquille's shoe is bigger than this.

[Todd] You know, there was a lot against us.

The rumor was they had a shoe called "Bubba Chuck."

[reporter] It's a fierce battle over a $7 billion market.

[Que] Me, Todd and Scott Hewett, it was our job to figure out

how could we go after Allen Iverson?

The past era represented air.

Everybody was playing above the rim.

And I said, this new generation is gonna represent playing below the rim.

Allen made the game around ground and relatability and community

and was able to open it up to a much broader demographic

because of that.

[Todd] There was this famous meeting.

The chairman, he was like, "Listen, we're gonna still go for him,

but if the money gets a little too high, there will be another Allen Iverson."

That was the moment where Que and I, like, without rehearsing,

both stood up in unison, like put our hand on the table, and were like,

"No. There won't be another Allen Iverson. There won't."

He's small, and he's so relatable, like, I mean, off the court...

He's gonna transform things.

[Ann] I told Bubba Chuck he can make Reebok a name.

[Que] He was very focused on wanting to have his own shoe.

And we don't think Nike is gonna give him his own shoe right away.

He's gonna have to earn it.

So the angle we pitched to him was like,

you can be a big fish in a small pond,

and more importantly, you can have your own shoe right away.

[Allen] When I went to talk to Coach,

this is what Nike offered me, this is what Reebok offered me,

and, I mean, the language was so foul,

'cause he was like, "Are you fucking stupid?

Like, that's a no-brainer, son.

Look at the numbers."

[Que] In the beginning we called it The Question,

'cause there were so many questions around

whether of not he was really gonna be able to do what he did in college

at the next level. People just had questions about him.

[Allen] And I signed with Reebok.

[Reebok announcer] Ladies and gentlemen, Allen Iverson.

[cheering]

[Allen] And the relationship was...

Man, I mean, incredible in the sense of they never wanted me to change

who I was.

There were like, this is how we're gonna run with this.

This is an exciting time for me. It's my birthday.

The draft is a couple weeks away,

I just joined the Reebok family.

[cheering]

[Allen] I think I can do a lot of things for Reebok.

And they can do a lot of things for me as well.

[cheering]

[Allen] That was one of my biggest dreams,

to have my own shoe.

Nothing could top that.

Man, is this same tree here, man?

This is where we used to play basketball at, right here.

It was another, um...

It was another, like...

Like, where this joint broke off.

You know what I mean? Like, when you would shoot a joint,

there was a little space in here between another,

another big-ass brach like this.

And we used to shoot in this joint right here.

[producer] You use a basketball for that?

Like, it was like a small... It was about this big.

One of the miniature joints.

But you can see right here where the shit broke off.

When I was like, what, eight? Some shit like that?

[reporter] Allen, big day's coming near.

[reporter] Do you feel added pressure, with the number 1 pick?

I don't feel no pressure. I feel I've dealt with pressure all my life.

I've been through things that deal with more pressure than this.

Believe it or not.

[Ann] When Allen was still a baby,

all I can remember is... 'Cause I used to talk to him

and I used to always tell him, "You gonna be my basketball player.

You gonna be my basketball player."

His hands was past his kneecaps.

I was happy, happy, happy, happy, happy.

Allen Iverson is definitely all about his family.

He's had to be the man in the family for a number of years.

His growing up life was pretty rough. He never had it made.

[Ann] As far as sports go, I knew he was good playing sports

'cause I heard about it.

He said, "Mama, you don't come to none of my games."

But you gotta understand that I gotta work.

[Allen] I really wanted to get myself and my family out of there.

[Ann] We ain't rich people. We ain't even middle-class people.

She's concentrated on more on my responsibilities.

'Cause raising a child, I don't care what nobody says, it ain't easy.

I don't know, I think that had a lot to do with me being successful.

Especially when you're raising a boy to try to be a man.

When Allen Iverson walks on the court,

it's like seeing a bird released from a cage.

He's free to do what God gave him the talent to do.

[Ann] You gonna be my basketball player.

[Allen] I think it made me be a man.

[Ann] I knew how I was gonna shape him. I loved him too much.

[announcer] And tonight, you've arrived at a place

where childhood dreams will come true.

It is the 1996 NBA Draft!

Hey, how ya doing? Now we're getting down to my size. It's good to see you guys.

Allen Iverson. How you doing? Nice to meet you.

[Allen] That's the greatest class ever.

Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Ray Allen. This is legendary.

This is gonna go down in history.

[David] The first pick will be made by the Philadelphia 76ers

who have five minutes to make their selection.

[Pat] I had the first-round pick.

And I couldn't mess this up. The city would tar and feather me.

He had a checkered background.

[David] With the first pick in the 1996 NBA Draft,

the Philadelphia 76ers select

Allen Iverson from Georgetown University.

[crowd cheering]

[Allen] It all comes out and you around the people,

you get to see all these people that love you

and the people that's proud of you, and just like, it's hard to stop crying

and you even have moments where you like, "Shit, I can't believe this, man."

[Ann] I already spoke that into existing before it even happened.

It's something I prayed to God for.

[Allen] It was like all you been through,

tough and resilient, you believe in your God,

you know what them people tried to do to me,

God wouldn't let 'em get away with it.

What's the use of dwelling on it ever again?

'Cause you made it out unscathed.

[Linwood] It was almost like he had been voted president.

It was that kind of elation.

A lot of people's dreams come true.

What's up, Pop? What's up, man?

Uh-huh. That's right, I told you.

You knew that.

All right, love you, man.

Hey, I gotta do an interview.

All I wanted is to be an NBA basketball player.

And my dream's come true, and it's been better than I thought it would be.

[photographer] Nice smile. One, two, three.

[Larry] In the early 90's,

the NBA reached the pinnacle of international corporatization.

The commodity culture era.

Michael Jordan was the one who made fans buy.

Where you had to accommodate your personal style

to commercial taste.

[Shaq] When I first came into the league,

I said, "Okay, I have to remain me."

Even though we wanna play in the NBA, we trying to get to the money.

Sometimes you gotta play that game,

but then you don't feel good because that's not you.

They always say that we're a product of our environment

though '79 was more drugs.

A shockingly high percentage use cocaine.

[Shaq] When David Stern took over...

[reporter] Once a high-priced Manhattan lawyer,

he became the NBA's first in-house council in 1978.

[Shaq] His job was to clean up the league.

I'm Julius Irving and we're all teaming up to...

say no to drugs!

[Shaq] It's a whole new batch of superstars.

You start seeing guys in suits.

They were really, really focused on being corporate.

We're going to compete effectively on a global scale.

[Larry] Hip hop rose almost in a reaction to that.

[Shaq] I did it when I had permission.

I'm in a rap video throwing a chain.

Because they were still stuck in the Magic and the Bird and those guys,

but when I was in the NBA there was only one guy that did that.

[interviewer] What do you think of Philly so far?

I really haven't had a chance to, um, get to know Philly yet.

[Allen] I spent as much time as I could with my family before I came to camp,

so I didn't have that much time to get to know this place.

[Greg] He was a 19-year-old kid. I said, "I'm with you now.

What you think, I'm gonna let you go out there by yourself?"

So when he came up here to Philly, it was me and him.

Name's Greg Iverson. I'm Allen Iverson's uncle.

I can see the weather is gonna be somewhat similar to the weather at home

'cause it's cold here. I don't think I'll have any problems adjusting.

And he moved me and my three kids here.

He took care of us very well.

This is his favorite dish. Lasagna. I'm blessed to be part of his life.

He don't eat nobody lasagna but mine.

[Greg] He's in this big ol' house, didn't know what to do,

young, full of cash...

[Ann] I'm enjoying life right now, I really am.

Coming from the ghetto and now, you know, I don't have to worry about

water, Devco gas, you know what I'm saying?

You know, it's great.

It's getting ready to turn '97.

And I just don't want my mom driving in a '96 car.

It was it, you know? It was it.

We just started running Philly.

I asked you yesterday if you were gonna be nervous today,

and you said, "No, not really. What about now?

I mean, we've got about an hour to game time.

I'm still not nervous. I'm probably more excited,

but I'm not nervous.

Talk about what you're gonna do for the fans tonight.

What are they gonna see in Allen Iverson tonight?

[Allen] They're gonna see, I mean, basically the same Allen Iverson's game

that they've been seeing.

I'm not gonna try to come in here and do nothing spectacular.

I'm just gonna play my game

and get up and down the court like I always do.

But that feeling of watching him play on the court,

I haven't gotten that yet. I'm waiting for that.

Tonight is the night for that.

[announcer] And finally, a six-foot guard from Georgetown,

number three, Allen Iverson!

[Larry] The Philly fan base is really rabid.

Certain players can't play here because of the pressure.

[announcer] What a move by Iverson!

He's The Question, The Answer, and The Unknown, as far as I'm concerned.

He's Philadelphia.

[Aaron] Allen was that perfect storm front.

He was just that perfect guy.

He fit the Philadelphia culture.

He fit the Philadelphia fabric.

Come out, roll your sleeves up, get after it, get down and dirty.

[announcer] Allen Iverson with just the right English.

[Stephen] 1996, I was named the backup beat writer

for the Philadelphia 76ers for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

It was Allen Iverson's rookie year.

You know, all I ever tried to do in terms of earning his trust

was let him know, "Look, I'm gonna do everything that I can

to be protective of you and your personal business

but in return, I'm gonna be merciless

when it comes to what you do on the court."

[announcer] The rookie, Allen Iverson, 40+ points

from the NBA's player of the week.

[Allen] Once I got into the league, how they gonna stop me?

Can't run a zone, no two-three, no boxing one...

[announcer] Iverson dazzling against Nash to the glass for two!

[Allen] In the NBA, they gotta play me straight up, one on one.

[announcer] Iverson for the record, yes! And there it is!

Allen Iverson, four straight with 40 or more,

breaking the Wilt Chamberlain standard that had stood for 37 years!

[interviewer] Talk about that crossover on MJ, like what were you thinking about?

[Allen] Everybody knew how I feel about Jordan.

Like, that's my hero, Jack.

It's time to get down.

I told my homeboys that I was gonna try my move on the best.

When he looked at Michael Jordan, he said, "He ain't real."

[reporter] Jordan gave Iverson his vote for rookie of the year

after what he saw last night.

[Allen] If MJ's on the court, yeah, everybody know him.

But tonight you gonna know who number three is.

[commentator] Bulls led by two at halftime. Third quarter.

Allen Iverson, it doesn't happen often, but watch him break down Michael.

Take a look at the crossover. Mike said no, Allen said yes!

And the crowd loves it!

But he still almost blocked it.

That's how dope he was. That's how great he was.

[reporter] Tell me about the little guy's crossover.

[Michael] He's small and he's certainly closer to the ground than I am.

[commentator] When you think of the word "crossover,"

you think of Allen Iverson.

[announcer] Shifty move by Iverson.

[Allen] I learned the crossover at Georgetown.

[announcer] He'll go for it. Oh, there he goes.

I learned it from my teammate, Dean Berry. He taught me the crossover.

[Dean] The first time the crossover came, you know, it came in stages.

I think seeing John Stockton, I would drop it.

Seeing, you know, Kenny Anderson, I would give it a little shoulder action

and change direction.

He and Tim Hardaway, I realized I needed to get a little lower to the ground.

[announcer] The killer crossover! Oh, brother!

[Allen] I had to guard him at practice. He was a walk-on player.

He was doing to me what I ultimately end up doing to everybody else.

And that's not a great feeling.

At some point, the move was so vicious,

I had to put my pride aside and ask him to teach me how to do it.

[announcer] Iverson crosses over, gets two!

And they ooh and ahh here!

[Allen] If he's Mr. Miyagi, I'm Daniel-san.

[Stephen] Listen, how could you be a Black man,

and not root for Allen Iverson?

When he entered the NBA,

he'd been through so much.

He wasn't gonna be perfect. He never said he was.

[Allen] I was 21 years old. Rich. Never had nothing before in my life.

And I came into the world of hyenas.

They saw some renegade that don't wanna conform.

[reporter] He's what I call a thug-lite lifestyle.

[Larry] So, what I witnessed was mostly

middle-aged white sports writers judging him.

That media pack can't relate to his riches at the moment

nor can they relate to the deprivation when he was younger.

[man] Marijuana charge…

[man 2] The haven might get caught up in a gang fight…

[man 3] …a $100 million lawsuit.

He talking from his heart. His ups, his downs, everything.

Leave him alone. Let him grow.

[Allen] I was thrown in to that fire.

Man, I'm the face of the franchise, and I'm 21 years old.

Everything was new to me.

[Larry] The 1997 NBA All-Star game, it's the 50th anniversary of the league.

A lot of the weekend was spent bashing Allen Iverson.

Of all the stuff that happen now,

making the rookies not as humble as I think they should be.

[man] The backlash really started around the All-Star break

when he debuted corn rows.

The New York Times had a story about

rookies aren't supposed to make fashion statements at All-Star weekend.

[commentator] And the MVP of the Schick rookie game is Allen Iverson.

[Allen] They booed the hell out of me when I got it

and I think they wanted Kobe to win it,

but, you know, they lost the game.

[Charles] Now if you come into the league, they got the jerseys,

you got a commercial, you got your own shoe?

[commentator] Karl Malone wasn't impressed, saying,

"It's a mockery of the game. Oh-and-five and you scored 40? So what?

Entire companies are now basing their entire marketing strategy

upon young NBA players.

[Shaq] I think a lot of players criticize Allen Iverson for the way he came in,

because probably a lot of jealousy and a lot of resentment

for him being able to do it his way.

And he was playing on a high level,

so you really couldn't say much.

We would say, "Fuck them and what they think."

No matter who it is. You on that stage to do one thing.

Off the court, if you not breaking no laws, not doing no drugs,

no none of that, it's nothing to talk about.

It's your private life. It's just that.

It was a dance that I had to dance

'cause on one hand, I'm a professional journalist

that has an obligation to do my job.

On the other hand, I'm a Black man that can't even fathom

the kind of position this young Black man is in.

[Allen] My first year, I come in, and all I took was abuse.

And I just don't think it was fair.

[reporter] Some, including law enforcement sources,

still question the character of some of Iverson's friends.

[reporter] Has this organization been contacted

by the NBA office with regard to the associations

- that Allen has off the floor? - Never.

But every time I see him, or hear something,

he's got these five or six guys with him

who are like bad guys.

[Stephen] I personally know of several friends

that Allen Iverson lied for

and acted like he did stuff they did,

just to cover for them.

Allen will tell you, I'm not fond of too many of his friends.

They came in my house as if they were Allen.

I told him, I said, man, don't do that.

You don't need four, five people to be you.

You need to be you yourself.

I'm gonna hang around who I choose to hang around.

You know, didn't nobody care about who I hung around before I got to the NBA,

shouldn't nobody care who I hang around now.

Them the guys I love and care about,

and them the guys that I'm gonna be around.

I'm not changing my friends cause I just get to the NBA.

[Yomashei] So, Bub...

[Allen] So Bub what?

I'm telling the truth about how I met you outside? And we was...

[Allen] Everything, man. Don't hold back nothing.

This documentary, this is what it is.

What the fuck we going to do? Lie?

We can be who the fuck we are.

[Yomashei] We met basically in the streets.

Both wylin, doing things that we didn't have any business doing outside.

Just trying to figure out life. Growing up.

I was going into the 9th grade, and I was fucking up bad.

He was heading in the exact opposite direction at one point.

A lot of people would've given him a snowball's chance in Hades

to be where he is now.

[Yomashei] At that time, he was homeless.

[Ann] There was a pink note under my door.

"We're giving you till the end of this month."

Bam. Where am I supposed to go?

Neither one of the kids' fathers are gonna help me out,

so what am I supposed to do?

I said, I'm going to this place called a H.E.L.P. house.

[reporter] Some parents feel that asking for help

is an admission that they are bad parents,

when, in fact, they are showing they care about their children.

[Ann] Allen's pride would not let him go.

[Linwood] Ann taught Allen a lot about

the street world. There's a lot of education in how to handle yourself

when you're out there having to survive.

- Her honey man. - Honey man.

I remember when Bub would come home and he would have money,

he'd be like, "Here, Brandy."

And I'd be like, "Where'd you get that money from?"

[Yomashei] I was a cheerleader when he was playing football.

That would be our daytime in a way,

and then, once the lights went out, it was time to get money.

[Allen] We were in the streets. We was in the streets heavy.

You know, they gave me work.

They give me like a hundred dollars' worth of work.

[Jessie] That was around us. A lot of drugs, mostly cocaine.

[Allen] And I had to bring 'em back $70, so I couldn't take no shorts.

[Yomashei chuckles] You just get beat.

Yeah. I mean, shit, they gave it to me.

[Yomashei] And it became where I kind of would watch over him.

His main thing was just to take care of his sister, Brandy.

So he had a lot of responsibility on his shoulders.

There is no sacrifice this young man wouldn't make for his family.

[Brandy] I was reaping the benefits,

so I didn't know it was as bad as it was,

but I was just happy that he could do for me.

[Yomashei] They had theme cars,

you know, where you can give them drugs and get their car,

so we would ride around all day long,

you know, from neighborhood to neighborhood, basically,

from this hood to that hood.

Every day was risking your life.

We lost friends at 13, 14 years old to the streets,

so we formed like our own little family in the neighborhood,

which was Cru Thik.

[man] That crew, Cru Thik, man, they be flowing.

Yeah, man, regular, man.

[Yomashei] You know, if you were OG,

you would make sure the little homies in the neighborhood were okay.

[Allen] My brother, Rahsaan Langford.

You know what I'm saying?

[overlapping chatter]

[Jabar] He was the protector. Anybody doing anything with Chuck,

he's the first one to have Chuck's back.

He was a wrestler. Two-time city champ in New York.

[Sherri] He was, what, Muslim when I first met him.

He ain't eat no pork.

Older brother that I never had.

He was a protector, he was loyal, he was honest.

He was a street guy.

[overlapping voices saying "Street"]

[Allen] He was tough. Wasn't scared of nothing. Had no fear.

[Rahsaan] How hard is hard?

[Allen] And we just got tight.

[Sherri] Rahsaan be like a big brother to Chuck.

He was the illicit one.

He did think a lot like what was going on in the world,

show him the right way, talking to him.

[Allen] And I just remember he came to my football game

'cause I was bragging, telling him, "I can play, I can play."

Like, "Man, you can't play, man." You know what I mean?

Just, "I'm gonna come to the game and see what you got."

[announcer] Touchdown! That's the ballgame!

[Allen] Yeah, I would never forget this moment after the game.

And he was like, "Oh, shit, you a bad motherfucker. I ain't know you!"

You know what I mean? Like, just giving it up.

Like, "I can't believe this, I can't believe this."

That was my partner. That was my man.

[Yomashei] And then he was missing school and my mom didn't know.

Some of the older guys that we came up with,

they made it clear that, "No, Bub, we're not gonna let you do this to yourself."

So it was made clear that, look, we'll do, you know, the dirty work,

sell the drugs, taking the gun, beating the people up,

you just do what you need to do on the court.

You just do what you need to do on the field.

And he respected that, amazingly,

'cause, you know, he always did what he wanted to do, to be honest.

[Allen] And I remember my mom came out there one day

'cause I was staying with my dad.

She was like, "I know what you're out here doing.

I ain't gonna get in your ass, but give me your word

that you'll stop doing what you doing."

[Ann] And I said that I'm gonna help him do

or be whatever he need to be by no means necessary,

so, um, I...

hustled. Straight up.

And hustled. I'm talking 'bout hustled.

I'm talking about... this was like, sad.

But I made it through it.

And I got my money right.

And I got my money right, and I went to somebody to purchase a house.

[Allen] We lived in a million neighborhoods.

We lived everywhere to survive.

[Que] I remember when I first initially met him,

he had like forty people on payroll,

and I tried to support them in every way I could.

I tried to give them game,

I tried to help them with different things that they were working on.

I knew that they were his brothers.

[Stephen] He needed them. You understood their presence in his life,

'cause when you are wrongfully accused and convicted,

and you suffered the way he suffered...

See, all we all were thinking about, he got out of jail,

he only served X amount of time.

Fuck that.

Just imagine, you might've done two years.

But imagine two years earlier, you get sentenced to 15.

Hey, for two years, you gotta live with the notion that you gonna do 15.

That's not easy.

And the damage that can do to you psychologically…

it breeds distrust.

And so, you gravitate to people you can trust.

Allen obviously felt pressure to take care of his friends,

to the point where I felt that they came before Tiaura and I.

That wasn't something that I could understand.

It caused issues with us because I felt that

he was more loyal to people than they were to him.

And there's some other people, like his boy Rah,

you talk about somebody that loved AI.

That was that brother.

[Que] Rah was really the glue to me of Cru Thik.

Like, Rah knew when to turn up,

he knew when to turn down.

You know what I'm sayin'? Cru Thik, that's the greatest, know what I'm sayin'?

We gonna run that. We gonna come out, we gonna do our thing.

You know what I'm saying? Cru Thik wrecks it, baby.

Rah was just one of the friends that, you know, showed me respect.

When he came in the room, he just was excited to see me,

and he gave me that energy, that he just…

You know what? I just loved it.

[indistinct chatter]

'Sup? 'Sup, baby?

[indistinct chatter]

[Allen] I'm so grateful for my support system.

The people that surround me, the people that help me.

The people that tell me the things that I need to hear.

Man, fuck him.

[Allen] As opposed to the shit that I wanna hear.

I had a lot of great people surrounding me to help me give.

That's why I owe a lot to my family and friends.

I wanna thank my mom because...

I mean, without her, none of this would never happen.

And I wouldn't be up here today.

I don't even think I would be in the NBA

or nowhere near the NBA if it wasn't for my mom.

Y'all were the best friends in the world to me.

Y'all were the greatest, I mean...

Man, I never shit on y'all for what y'all did for me.

'Cause I couldn't do nothing without y'all.

My maturation process of growing up,

and being who I ultimately became,

everything y'all helped me, y'all taught me how to survive.

Y'all taught me how to survive everywhere else in the world.

I'm Bubba Chuck. I'm Chuck. I'm Allen Iverson.

I can do it anywhere.

You can act like they ain't that,

but that support system that I got is a monster.

[reporter] Kind of chaotic in Philadelphia right now.

[reporter] Not one of many days...

[reporter] Eight-game losing skid.

[Allen] We won 22 games.

[reporter] Winning just 22 games...

[reporter] Stackhouse is thinking about leaving.

[reporter] Philadelphia people and the fans, they're crazy people.

[man] Yeah, crazy train.

[reporter] Johnny Davis, whether deserved or not,

is gonna take the fall for all that.

[crew person] Larry Brown.

[interviewer] Can you talk about when you first arrived in Philly in '97,

and what it was like coaching him early on?

[Pat] I feel great in introducing to you

the head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, Larry Brown. Yeah!

[Larry] You know, I grew up playing for Dean Smith and Frank McGuire,

John McLendon, Mr. Iba,

and it was all about one through thirteen. It was all about the team.

[Pat] You have to realize that Larry Brown

is probably one of the best basketball coaches on Planet Earth.

But it's done his way.

So he knows what it takes to win.

[Larry] And then all of a sudden, I get to Philly.

[announcer] Oh, no! Allen Iverson!

- [Larry] His talent's off the charts. - [Pat] Larry's with the basics:

- [Pat] Discipline. With organization. - His heart took up most of his body.

[Pat] The foundation.

Allen's isn't that same way.

I know the right way to play, and I'm not afraid

to tell the players to do that.

[Stephen] When you look at Larry Brown, he was not a man

that wanted to win by any means necessary.

We gotta get some stops up the floor.

Get on the break, guys, we're in goddamn swing.

We've lost the ball five times dribbling and just throwing up to the shit.

And Allen Iverson didn't give a damn about that.

[announcer] Iverson, extra three. Yes! And he's fouled!

[Stephen] Although Allen Iverson was a challenge,

he was the perfect guy to deal with that challenge.

[Allen] We butted heads.

- We're not waiting. - I was not trying to wait.

I was not waiting.

[Larry] It just was a constant fight.

[Stephen] It was going to be oil and water

because Larry Brown wanted you to listen.

Allen Iverson didn't wanna listen.

[announcer] Allen Iverson is being marketed as The Answer.

And now we know what the question is. Where have you been, pal?

[Allen] I'm just going. I'm just going to enjoy myself,

I'm just gonna have fun.

[Aaron] He would take Allen out first quarter,

and you could just see his body language. "Fuck.

Motherfuck. What are you taking me out the game for?"

I've never been sad... I mean, y'all know me,

I get upset when you take me out of the game two minutes.

[Ann] Coach Brown is cool as hell.

That's a good guy, Bubba, just listen to him.

Coach Thompson ain't here for you to listen to him.

You're not playing for Coach no more.

[Stephen] He was a dude that was from the streets of New York.

He was somebody that was liberal in his thinking,

who believed in the kind of things that benefited and uplifted

minority communities in this country. That was Larry Brown.

- [Allen] I was immature. - [Larry] I expected him to be on time.

- Somewhat high-strung. - I expected him to show up to practice.

[Allen] Didn't see the big picture.

[Larry] I wasn't prepared to be the coach and mentor that he really needed.

[Allen] Crazy.

Iverson missed Sixers' practice yesterday,

and he has been suspended for one game by that team.

The Answer on the bench tonight as the 'Sixers took on the Celtics.

He called me that night late at night…

"I want Larry Brown fired."

People made it seem like I didn't even come to practice.

Larry Brown calls me...

I wonder what your relationship would be with any employee that you might have

who doesn't choose to come to work.

"You trade him tomorrow. I want him traded within 48 hour... Get rid of him."