October 10, 2025 • 26 mins
🎙️ Breakfast Interview w/ Allen Iverson 🏀🍳
The Breakfast Club sat down with the legend himself Allen Iverson for a real, unfiltered convo. He talks life after the league, the legacy he left on the game, and the truth behind the headlines.
He's opening up about his new memoir, "Misunderstood," that dropped October 7, 2025 — giving fans an intimate look into his journey like never before. 🗣️ “I gave y’all my heart on the court… now I’m giving you my truth.” 📲 Don’t miss this exclusive interview.\
🎧 Follow the podcast now — only on WJLB Detroit’s Hip-Hop & R&B 🔊
The Breakfast Club sat down with the legend himself Allen Iverson for a real, unfiltered convo. He talks life after the league, the legacy he left on the game, and the truth behind the headlines.
He's opening up about his new memoir, "Misunderstood," that dropped October 7, 2025 — giving fans an intimate look into his journey like never before. 🗣️ “I gave y’all my heart on the court… now I’m giving you my truth.” 📲 Don’t miss this exclusive interview.\
🎧 Follow the podcast now — only on WJLB Detroit’s Hip-Hop & R&B 🔊
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, the new book Misunderstood is out right now. Obviously,
ladies and gentlemen, how you feeling, man?
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Good life? Life be life in the same fight, different
round for how much time?
Speaker 3 (00:11):
We got as much like me?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Because I don't know where it's gonna go. But look, man, friends,
all right, so I know you know what type of
I mean. I'm just mean, Jess, But you know, you
know how you get to know somebody from afar and
you can basically kind of tell what type of person
they are, you know what I mean. Obviously I've known
you since I was in high school and big fan
(00:35):
of you. Bro friendships. Man, it's hard because when you
think about your friends. Obviously, you know you can't choose
your family member, you know what I mean, You're born
into that. But your friends, you feel like y'all got
so much in common with each other and you have
so much love for them because you know they're kind
of like a basically a reflection of you or you
(00:57):
got the same type of things in common in whatever,
and you just grow to love them like family. They become,
you know, the guys become brothers and your homegirls become
your sisters. But it's rough, man, navigating through that, you
know what I mean. I know how much I love
my family, my friends. I got so much flack when
I first got into the league, you know what I mean.
(01:19):
It was the entourage, bringing homeboys from where you're from.
You trust them so much, you love them. You want
them to go on the ride with you. You want
them to take this journey, you know through it. It's
new to me. I've been a all my whole life,
and then snap of a finger, I'm rich and famous
and it's a lot, you know what I mean. So
(01:39):
you want to have so many people around you that
you love and you trust, you know what I mean.
And the money man just you know what I mean,
it's just you know what, and it's it's so different
from me, and it's so hard for me because with
my athletic ability that I was blessed with. I've been
(02:00):
like this since I was eight years old. Like I
always felt that I was rich when I was poor.
I always been famous, you know what I mean. When
I was eight years old, I go in the barbershop
and guys seventeen eighteen, twenty twenty five years old, guys like, oh,
there you go. You know that's the one right there,
that's him. So it's always been that for me. I
(02:20):
always had that attention, you know what I mean. I
always been like that. You know. Once I got some money,
it was no different from me. Obviously I could do
things with my family and my friends that I couldn't
do before. You know that goes without saying. Man, just
the painful lessons of friends not being who you think
(02:41):
they they are when you add the root of all
evil anything.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Something just recently happened.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Definitely, it happens all the time. But I feel a
pendulum swinging in another direction as far as how I
feel about it, like how it used to hurt me.
You know what I mean. You tell someone you want
to find out if somebody your friend, you tell them
no one, you know what I mean, And their reaction
(03:08):
what said all you know what I mean, chuck a man.
I got a business, you know, opportunity. I want to
start this. I want to start that. Man can give
me one hundred thousand, and you don't even have to
tell them no. You can say not right now. You
know later on. But these are the same people pay
their rent, pay that over the years, child support, you know,
(03:30):
pay your mom rent, you know this that every time
you go to a jewelry store, you're taking them, you know,
because the most awkward feeling is I don't want to
be shining and looking good and my homeboys not. So
when I go see Manny, you know what I mean,
they going, you know what I mean, When I get cars,
they get calls, you know what I mean, like and
(03:52):
it's just like when you tell them no, the way
they you know, they act. You know, somebody saying, say, yo, man,
what's up with your man? They are you know, what's
up with a man? Dang? You know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Like after reading your book, nobody's your question.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
You're loyal?
Speaker 3 (04:06):
You'll ever say not.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
The way you took what you've seen. But do you
regret that? Because I mean, Virginia, that's you everywhere.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
That's where I say, depending on your swinging, that's what.
That's why I say or feel that my maturation is
on a higher level now because back then, when something
uh traumatic will happen to me like that, I see
how they act. For me telling them no, I feel
myself not giving the damn anymore, like you know what
(04:39):
I mean.
Speaker 4 (04:39):
Even in the book, there's nobody that felt like that.
Was around you that didn't help you in some way,
shape or form, so you was repaying them. Like you
talk about how when you was in jail, they was
taking care of your mom and they were the ones
that would tell you, you know, you know, you're not gonna
be hustling, You're gonna be playing ball. So it wasn't
like you just had a bunch of leeches around you.
There was people that looked out for you. So you
look back out.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
You know what, if I look out for one of
my home boys, my home girls, I don't expect you
to get it back, you know what I mean. I
ain't never asked for nothing back, you know what I mean.
I just feel like me being ahead of the snake.
The perfect example is like me being on twenty one
team went to the finals. I'm the killer. Everybody know
(05:21):
that this is the guy gonna put the ball in
the basket. This is what he do. Now what we
do is compliment him. We do everything else. All his
deficiencies and things that he can't do on the defensive
end of the you know, of the court. You know
he's leading the league and stills year after year. But
you got to gamble and when he gambled. The Ken
(05:41):
Bay is there to make sure I'm good. The O
is there, the block shots make sure I'm good. They
could do all of the things that I couldn't do it,
and that's what that's what made Voltron, you know what
I mean. You put all those things together and it
was me and a bunch of dogs, you know what
I mean. And it's the same thing with my friendship. Yeah,
he's the guy. We'll look at him another way. So
(06:01):
I have a role, you know, I have to do this.
This is my part. This is what I have to do.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
Another thing too, and maybe this could be part of
what you're feeling right now.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
It seemed like the whole team had a dream.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
It wasn't supposed it wasn't you supposed to get on
in basketball. You're supposed to get on in basketball. And
everybody was supposed to make it a rap. Everybody was
supposed to be doing their own thing.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
I didn't have the I didn't have the Lebron James. True,
I didn't have that blueprint, you know what I mean.
I'm like, look, we're gonna get in when we fit in,
you know what I mean. Like I had one of
my homeboys tell me, like, I'm going to work every day,
working every day. Mass's supposed to be a superstar by now,
you know what I mean, I'm going to work. I'm like,
(06:38):
like I've had incidents like you know, I'm getting ready
to go on the road, and it was a casino.
I go to the bank, I get fifty thousand, they
got thirty thousand and large and twenty thousand and you know,
twenty and I'm getting on the plane. My man come,
I give him the twenty thousand. He looked at it
like it was something wrong with it because it was
(07:00):
all twenties, you know what I mean, Like, Yo, did this?
You know? Really just that really just happened, you know
what I mean. And it's like you can you're thinking
you're doing what's right, but you only you're not holding
people accountable. You being a crutch for It's like putting
a band aid on something, you know what I mean,
(07:20):
You're not stitching it up, you know what I mean,
not stapling it up, you know what I mean. And
they always feel like that, you know what I mean.
But like the hurtful part is the response of actually
saying no. Aaron Aaron Mke told me. He said Chuck.
Just you know what I mean when you when you
cutting your grass, you know what I mean, and you
(07:41):
getting them snakes out of there, let them ask you
for something and tell them no, you know what I mean.
And I think I'm doing a great job of cutting it.
But you still got a little small you know. The
snakes might be gone, but some worms in there, some
small you know.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
Right now it's Charles Buckley and a whole bunch of
people saying we was trying to tell him.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
This thirty like, it's just like the basketball aspect of everything.
I ain't never think that I will retire there early,
you know what I mean? Man, I ain't never had
no back up playing. Like growing up once my mom
told me I could be anything I wanted to be.
I wanted to be NBA basketball player, and that was it.
It was no it was no b C. D. It
(08:22):
was just that that one dream, you know. Coach Thompson
used to always tell me, you always listening to everybody else.
You're always listening to somebody that's never been to you know,
from A to Z telling you how to get there,
you know what I mean. And that's what I was.
I had everybody that wasn't me and never had the
experience telling me how to do it.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
We got more with the icon Living Alan. Obviously when
we come back, it's the World's Most Dangerous want to
show the Breakfast Club.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
I want to ask you about the title of the book.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Man.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
Do you think you were misunderstood that the title of
the book or did people outside of your circle just
not take the time.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
I don't understand you. You're a smart dude sometimes a lot.
This is one of my favorite shows, so I you know,
I see the good day is a bad day. I
watched Dame come up here. It's for real, get real.
(09:21):
I think they can answer it better. My perspective is
they were learning on the fly to It's like, you know,
with my documentary that's coming out, it was like three
hours long. I think I cried like two and a
half hours of I had to keep walking out of
the theater because you think, you know, when it comes
to people that love you, you think you know how
(09:43):
they feel about you know, turbulent times, you know what
I mean, And you think you know how your girl feel.
You think you know how your mom feel, your uncles,
your aunts, your homeboys, your homegirls. But then when they
actually tell you from their point of view, how they felt,
you know, and how they looked that thing, and how
I didn't see how I was, how they had to
(10:05):
try to address me with certain things, like you know,
you driving the car, we were riding shotgun. And it's
hard to tell somebody, you know, that's trying to live
their life what they should do and what they shouldn't do,
you know what I mean. Like I'm twenty one years old,
you know what I mean, when I got into the
league at that age, Like you couldn't you couldn't tell
(10:27):
me nothing, you know what I'm saying, Like I'm here,
you know what I mean. Like the dress code, I'm like,
I dressed like the dudes, the drug dealers from my neighborhood.
Like you know, I'm dressing like this because you know,
this is what the old he is from my neighbor
but this is how they dressed. You know what I mean.
I just couldn't afford it, you know what I mean.
(10:48):
My corn rolls. I got corn rolls because I was
tired of barber's messing my hair. I was like, damn,
if I just roll my hair, you know, I ain't
got to deal with that. You know, tattoos just got addictive.
I got one. I couldn't afford them. I would been
got a lot of My daddy was a hustler, you
know what I mean. He was in the streets, my
mom in the streets, like I didn't have no sit
(11:09):
you down and give you structure. How it wasn't no
coach Thompson then, you know what I mean. Wasn't those
people They weren't in my life yet. So all of
all of that was where he was, he was, but
it was it was he was there when I got
to the NBA. Being his phone calls was you know.
We never talked about basketball, all right, yeah I I
(11:31):
I'm just checking on your swamp, good out of kids,
you know what I mean? And that was it. He
was allowing me and thinking he was preparing me at
Georgetown for what was the inevitable me going to the league.
You can't prepare for that brow.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
How was that pressure though? Because the nicest player, right?
But you changed culture. But when you changed the culture,
the NBA pushed back against it. But you never broke.
You never folded. Even though they could have said, they
could have been.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
AI said, now we don't want you in our lean.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
But you never folded, never backed down, and you kept
it that way, which hurt you at times. Why was
that they profited off of two You know what I mean,
I would be on. One of the things that hurt
me is I was on a magazine. They wanted me
on a magazine because of my talent and who I was,
but they air brushed my tattoos off. You want me,
but you you know you want some of me.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
I took the ash whood before it. But the dress
code thing, like I actually was just you know what
I mean, I was twenty one. Where am I going
after the game? Going to the club, you know what
I mean? Like before that, they were used to dudes
wearing soups, and you know what I mean, I was like, damn,
Like I've never worn a soup growing up. I'm going
to church or to a few. The only time I
(12:44):
put on in the court room in the courtroom, definitely
in the court room. So I never wore a soup
to the to the gym, to play, to the to
the park sweatsuit, you know what I mean, or whatever?
You know what I'm saying. So I ain't think I
ain't think nothing of it. David Stern and rested in me.
(13:07):
It was like ah, because it was all right when
I was doing it, but then everybody else said, okay,
like he can do that, we can do this. So
then everybody, you know, you see Kobe coming in with
the diamond chains on and the baggy clothes, and you know,
everybody started doing it. Then the league was like, hold on,
we gotta do something about that. So it wasn't it
wasn't anything delicious like and that and that. That whole
(13:29):
situation showed me a lot and it proved a lot
to me at a young age about stereotyping people because
you know, when you seen John Gotti, John Gotty kept
on the two thousand dollars suit, but what was he
He get busy, you know what I mean. So it
ain't about you know, what you got on on the outside,
who you are.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
And they said that bother you the most when they
labeled you a thumb.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Yeah, I'll be cool with a street dude, cool with
that because that's what I am. I mean, that's where
I come from. That's all I've ever been around my life,
where I grew up around. But the thug, like, nah,
that's a that's a stretch.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
I was wondering, would you change things?
Speaker 4 (14:08):
And the reason I asked that because even in the book,
you understood you had to wear a suit the court,
but you didn't want to do it for press conferences.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
In the NBA, I was bad advice like I was.
You know, I was told to take a go to
trial and go off whatever the judge say, opposed to
having a jury. That was bad, you know what I mean.
Some of that I was getting advice from people that
never had been through it, you know what I mean.
I was told that if I wore a suit then
(14:36):
the would be leaning. I was. Yeah, I was extremely wrong.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
So you wish you to just water?
Speaker 2 (14:43):
I remember, I remember that same suit. I was in
a sale. It was one hundred degrees with no fans
in there, and the older sale. I was in an
old man cell with fifteen people, you know what I mean,
and that suit. When they came got me, I was
in the corner with my boxes on, you know what
(15:04):
I mean, soaking wet, and the suit was balled up
in the corner. When they came and got me out
of there, I had on my box, you know what
I mean. So I don't know what do you regret anything, nah,
because I wouldn't be you who I am now. I
wouldn't change anything man in my life, all of these experience,
even with the book. Man, it's like, I love like
(15:25):
my girl always talked to me about why do you
let like what I started talking about in the beginning,
why do you let that type of bother you? And
I'm like, practice press company, No, just just with my friends,
how people? You know what I mean, It's like why
and I don't know, you know what I mean? Like
I love the people that I love and it hurt
(15:45):
when they show you who they really are because I'm
thinking you somebody else, you know what I mean? And
she like, you know, why do you stress out over
stuff like that? And you different, you have a talent
and you you're blessed to be able to brush that
stuff off. Hard for me now, my talent obviously is
you know, legendary with who. But I think another blessed
(16:08):
blessing that I have is to be an open book,
to be someone. I'm embarrassed by practice rant I'm embarrassed about, uh,
not really embarrassed, but it wasn't smart for me to,
you know, because I remember, you know, people telling me Ai,
you cannot take care of everybody, and I used to
(16:28):
let it go on one air and write out the
other like, yo, you know what I mean. I'm gonna
be the exception to the rule. I'm gonna take care
of the people that I love. Like that's just me,
you know what I mean.
Speaker 5 (16:38):
And I think that's why I hurt you so bad,
because your heart isn't it You love these people? You know, Yeah,
yeah you're superman, but you still have a heart, you
know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (16:47):
And you like, but this is but this is my
this is my gift, Like this is my gift to
this book, this this documentary. My experience is the turbulent,
the ups and downs. Like uh, if one kid or
one adult whatever read this book and they can take
something from it. I had people come to me all
the time be like, yo, man, you inspired my life. Man,
(17:08):
I would have died if it was you. I would
have went to jail for the rest of my life.
You know what I mean, Like you changed my life,
and that that motivate me, you know what I mean,
Like I'm to give more, like to even when you embarrass,
you uncomfortable, you know, talk about it. Somebody might not
have to go through it. Somebody might. You might save
somebody's life, you know what I mean, Like talk about it. Man,
(17:29):
you was on top of the world. You had all
the money, you know what I mean, all you had
to do. It's easy for to tell Chuck what to
do with his It's easy for somebody to say what
I would have did? Man, that was him. I would
have did. You ain't me. You know what I mean.
You don't know how. I'm sorry you not me. You
know what I mean. I make mistakes. I'm human, just
(17:49):
like you.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
We got more with the icon living with the cultural icon.
Alan Iverson talking about his due memoir Misunderstood DJ Andvy.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
I've seen an interview you gave up drinking six months ago,
at that point.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Where you said this is enough. It was it was
I'll be lying if I would say it just just
stopped the brother. You know what I mean. It was
it was situations. You know what I mean. You know
where is You know what I mean? Like I know
I put it here, you know what I mean. It's
the same thing having certain guys around you. Everybody when
when when they your people, your people know when you're drunk,
(18:23):
you know, just chill man him two more glasses. Damn, man,
hey yo, man, stuff right now, Man, God, damn, I
need you to you know what I'm saying. Man, my
disk going on, that going on. Man, I need you
to get this in because let me just talk about
when I get nice, man, we'll get you to shut up.
(18:49):
I wanted to sleep glass nine twenty five thousand on me,
you know, but I got twelve hundred waiting to look
at what my sniggers I want. My man, you gave
such and such, your your your little sniggers. You gave
your sister, your your uh, your uh, your first coat.
(19:12):
You know what I mean, Like, I mean, that's just
that's just small compad to the real. You know what
I mean. Not feeling well? You know what I mean.
I mean, I did all this and I was having
fun last night. To wake up feeling like this, you
know what I mean. Then my responsibilities you you you
know what I mean. You're missing flights and you know
(19:33):
what I mean. I mean, just a it's a pluthor
of things. Man. You just drinking, you know what I'm saying,
Like I started to evaluate them, like what good does
it do for me? You understand? Like you I mean,
you can. You can have fun with your own boys,
your homegirls, you know what I mean without that. And
I talked to God about it. I asked them to
(19:55):
help me be strong. I ain't going to no a
or nothing like that. Like I I was like, Okay,
I'm not I'm not doing it. And that's what it wasn't.
The crazy thing about it is I've been with her
for fifteen, for thirty five years and since I was fifteen,
And this crazy part about it is she said when
I told her I was stopping that after that, she
(20:19):
prayed on it. And she said that was the only
time that she ever prayed on it, Like I said
it plenty times in the past, and she said that
was the only time that she prayed on it. And
I was authentic with it as a husband. What have
you discovered now, my boyfriend, boyfriend?
Speaker 4 (20:37):
I mean, we got the voce, so you married the
boys and y'all got right back together like six months later.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
I mean, I want to do I want this point
to be made because you think I'm who I am
and I was out of control. I was out of
control and this threat was there for years, for years
and years and years and years and years and it's
like the boy cried wolf, like whatever I heard that before,
(21:08):
you know what I mean. And then it was like
she got to the point where like, yo, I gotta
show this. I gotta do something to show him I'm serious.
And that's what happened. You in that courtroom. You're looking
over there and you've seen number one right there, and
you're looking down at that paper and them tears hitting
that paper and they don't say, you know, I've been
(21:31):
Georgetown versus Georgetown and it's been a scrimmage or sixes
versus sixers, and you're looking at the stat sheet whatever
I'm looking at Iverson versus Iverson, you know what I mean?
And like, Yo, it's real, you know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Like did you as.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Look I really was defiant then, you know what I mean?
Like you got me in here, you know what I mean? Like,
and I had a judge and judge was vicious, like
I couldn't do nothing right.
Speaker 5 (22:00):
Even in that moment, you were defined and I guess
upset even though you knew, because you said you knew
you were out of control. So like in that moment,
why are you defining upset if she's just doing what
she thinks is going to help, I guess, to get
you to a better spot for her.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
I was selfishly thinking about my Demid because I know
in my heart and in my mind that I can't
live with her. You know what I'm saying, Like I
know it, like I know it took. I took her
love for me for granted, you know what I mean,
Like as far as she loving me so much that
(22:35):
I felt like you know that she would never she
would never go nowhere like this is all I've known.
This is the only love that I've ever known, as
far as like, I never loved someone like this in
my life, you know what I mean? Then, A lot
of times, you know, all women would say, or even guys,
you know, anybody that's you know, logical about anything. How
(22:58):
you love her so much and you do things? And
I don't have an answer.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
We never do though, as men, we never do. We
don't know why we do the we do.
Speaker 5 (23:08):
So how has not drinking and you know it seems
like you're you know, your focus is different in this
time of your life. How has that made you guys
rediscover each other in a relationships?
Speaker 2 (23:16):
Yeah, I'm I'm Claire, I'm in Cliff I'm Cliff Huxtable now,
but I'm I'm I kind of get a feeling like
I'm the guy like I felt always felt like, you know,
I was the guy she always wanted, you know what
I mean, wanted to be, you know, wanted me to be.
But I really feel like that guy now, Like I
(23:38):
feel like it's not the hustibles around there, obviously, but
like she love you know this me, you know, because
you always getting this me. It's hard to take advantage
of somebody that can see clear as hell, you know
what I mean, opposed to being nonchalant about everything. You
know what I mean, Like it's you know, my homeboys say,
(24:00):
it's a different chuck now, you know what I mean.
I see, I see what's going on, you know what
I mean. All the stuff that I used to, you know,
not pay attention to, I'm paying attention to it now,
you know what I mean. And I just think, you know,
by me making this decision, it's so much better for
not just myself, everybody around men. I can help better.
(24:23):
My advice is better, you know what I mean. Like
I'm a better friend now, I'm a better family member,
you know, Clayer, you know what I'm saying like, I
promise you I'm the smartest man in the world because
I know him.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
Not saying you got to I do. Got one last question.
Speaker 4 (24:42):
Man, you changed the entire culture of basketball, but to me,
you change black culture. You also change hip hop culture
from your fashion to your attitude to just your authenticity.
When you see how the NBA in the world embraces individuality. Now,
do you feel celebrated or do you still feel misunderstood?
Speaker 2 (25:00):
It's I get the opportunity, Like this is opportunity for me,
you know what I mean, Like all of those years
you wanted to you know, you wanted this, Man, you
got me wrong. Talk about it to your family, your friends. Man,
I'm misunderstood. Man, they don't They ain't getting it, you
know what I mean. It ain't like that. And then
(25:20):
this platform and then all the other big platforms, and
you know, just you guys give me an opportunity to
come up here and ask me that I want to
answer that that I want the world to know. And
this book took years, you know what I mean. The
documentary took years to do. I'm just happy that I
get an opportunity to tell my story or write my
(25:41):
story and and help and help and help somebody. All
I want is for people to get out of it. Man.
It's all right to be you. It's all right, you
know what I mean. It's things that's going to happen
in your life and it's gonna be tough, you know
what I mean. But that's when you're gonna lean on
(26:03):
number one. You're gonna lean on him. You're gonna lean
on God. You don't you don't ask him, uh any
You don't question him at all? You know what I mean.
Whatever happened happened. I ain't never my grandma told me
when I went to jail, that bowling alley thing. I said, Now,
why are they doing this to me? If they know
I didn't do what they said? I did question, never
questioned God, and I've never done it since then. You
(26:25):
know what I mean. Whatever he do, you know what
I mean, I'm cool with it. You know what I mean.
He driving his car and I'm gonna just sitting there,
ride shotgun wherever he take me. That's where I'm going,
and I'm gonna live with the results. So that's that's
the only thing I want. I just think, man, live
and laugh. Love man, We love you. Brothers.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
This out right, now.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
I got.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning,
Well, the new book Misunderstood is out right now. Obviously,
ladies and gentlemen, how you feeling, man?
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Good life? Life be life in the same fight, different
round for how much time?
Speaker 3 (00:11):
We got as much like me?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Because I don't know where it's gonna go. But look, man, friends,
all right, so I know you know what type of
I mean. I'm just mean, Jess, But you know, you
know how you get to know somebody from afar and
you can basically kind of tell what type of person
they are, you know what I mean. Obviously I've known
you since I was in high school and big fan
(00:35):
of you. Bro friendships. Man, it's hard because when you
think about your friends. Obviously, you know you can't choose
your family member, you know what I mean, You're born
into that. But your friends, you feel like y'all got
so much in common with each other and you have
so much love for them because you know they're kind
of like a basically a reflection of you or you
(00:57):
got the same type of things in common in whatever,
and you just grow to love them like family. They become,
you know, the guys become brothers and your homegirls become
your sisters. But it's rough, man, navigating through that, you
know what I mean. I know how much I love
my family, my friends. I got so much flack when
I first got into the league, you know what I mean.
(01:19):
It was the entourage, bringing homeboys from where you're from.
You trust them so much, you love them. You want
them to go on the ride with you. You want
them to take this journey, you know through it. It's
new to me. I've been a all my whole life,
and then snap of a finger, I'm rich and famous
and it's a lot, you know what I mean. So
(01:39):
you want to have so many people around you that
you love and you trust, you know what I mean.
And the money man just you know what I mean,
it's just you know what, and it's it's so different
from me, and it's so hard for me because with
my athletic ability that I was blessed with. I've been
(02:00):
like this since I was eight years old. Like I
always felt that I was rich when I was poor.
I always been famous, you know what I mean. When
I was eight years old, I go in the barbershop
and guys seventeen eighteen, twenty twenty five years old, guys like, oh,
there you go. You know that's the one right there,
that's him. So it's always been that for me. I
(02:20):
always had that attention, you know what I mean. I
always been like that. You know. Once I got some money,
it was no different from me. Obviously I could do
things with my family and my friends that I couldn't
do before. You know that goes without saying. Man, just
the painful lessons of friends not being who you think
(02:41):
they they are when you add the root of all
evil anything.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Something just recently happened.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Definitely, it happens all the time. But I feel a
pendulum swinging in another direction as far as how I
feel about it, like how it used to hurt me.
You know what I mean. You tell someone you want
to find out if somebody your friend, you tell them
no one, you know what I mean, And their reaction
(03:08):
what said all you know what I mean, chuck a man.
I got a business, you know, opportunity. I want to
start this. I want to start that. Man can give
me one hundred thousand, and you don't even have to
tell them no. You can say not right now. You
know later on. But these are the same people pay
their rent, pay that over the years, child support, you know,
(03:30):
pay your mom rent, you know this that every time
you go to a jewelry store, you're taking them, you know,
because the most awkward feeling is I don't want to
be shining and looking good and my homeboys not. So
when I go see Manny, you know what I mean,
they going, you know what I mean, When I get cars,
they get calls, you know what I mean, like and
(03:52):
it's just like when you tell them no, the way
they you know, they act. You know, somebody saying, say, yo, man,
what's up with your man? They are you know, what's
up with a man? Dang? You know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Like after reading your book, nobody's your question.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
You're loyal?
Speaker 3 (04:06):
You'll ever say not.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
The way you took what you've seen. But do you
regret that? Because I mean, Virginia, that's you everywhere.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
That's where I say, depending on your swinging, that's what.
That's why I say or feel that my maturation is
on a higher level now because back then, when something
uh traumatic will happen to me like that, I see
how they act. For me telling them no, I feel
myself not giving the damn anymore, like you know what
(04:39):
I mean.
Speaker 4 (04:39):
Even in the book, there's nobody that felt like that.
Was around you that didn't help you in some way,
shape or form, so you was repaying them. Like you
talk about how when you was in jail, they was
taking care of your mom and they were the ones
that would tell you, you know, you know, you're not gonna
be hustling, You're gonna be playing ball. So it wasn't
like you just had a bunch of leeches around you.
There was people that looked out for you. So you
look back out.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
You know what, if I look out for one of
my home boys, my home girls, I don't expect you
to get it back, you know what I mean. I
ain't never asked for nothing back, you know what I mean.
I just feel like me being ahead of the snake.
The perfect example is like me being on twenty one
team went to the finals. I'm the killer. Everybody know
(05:21):
that this is the guy gonna put the ball in
the basket. This is what he do. Now what we
do is compliment him. We do everything else. All his
deficiencies and things that he can't do on the defensive
end of the you know, of the court. You know
he's leading the league and stills year after year. But
you got to gamble and when he gambled. The Ken
(05:41):
Bay is there to make sure I'm good. The O
is there, the block shots make sure I'm good. They
could do all of the things that I couldn't do it,
and that's what that's what made Voltron, you know what
I mean. You put all those things together and it
was me and a bunch of dogs, you know what
I mean. And it's the same thing with my friendship. Yeah,
he's the guy. We'll look at him another way. So
(06:01):
I have a role, you know, I have to do this.
This is my part. This is what I have to do.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
Another thing too, and maybe this could be part of
what you're feeling right now.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
It seemed like the whole team had a dream.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
It wasn't supposed it wasn't you supposed to get on
in basketball. You're supposed to get on in basketball. And
everybody was supposed to make it a rap. Everybody was
supposed to be doing their own thing.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
I didn't have the I didn't have the Lebron James. True,
I didn't have that blueprint, you know what I mean.
I'm like, look, we're gonna get in when we fit in,
you know what I mean. Like I had one of
my homeboys tell me, like, I'm going to work every day,
working every day. Mass's supposed to be a superstar by now,
you know what I mean, I'm going to work. I'm like,
(06:38):
like I've had incidents like you know, I'm getting ready
to go on the road, and it was a casino.
I go to the bank, I get fifty thousand, they
got thirty thousand and large and twenty thousand and you know,
twenty and I'm getting on the plane. My man come,
I give him the twenty thousand. He looked at it
like it was something wrong with it because it was
(07:00):
all twenties, you know what I mean, Like, Yo, did this?
You know? Really just that really just happened, you know
what I mean. And it's like you can you're thinking
you're doing what's right, but you only you're not holding
people accountable. You being a crutch for It's like putting
a band aid on something, you know what I mean,
(07:20):
You're not stitching it up, you know what I mean,
not stapling it up, you know what I mean. And
they always feel like that, you know what I mean.
But like the hurtful part is the response of actually
saying no. Aaron Aaron Mke told me. He said Chuck.
Just you know what I mean when you when you
cutting your grass, you know what I mean, and you
(07:41):
getting them snakes out of there, let them ask you
for something and tell them no, you know what I mean.
And I think I'm doing a great job of cutting it.
But you still got a little small you know. The
snakes might be gone, but some worms in there, some
small you know.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
Right now it's Charles Buckley and a whole bunch of
people saying we was trying to tell him.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
This thirty like, it's just like the basketball aspect of everything.
I ain't never think that I will retire there early,
you know what I mean? Man, I ain't never had
no back up playing. Like growing up once my mom
told me I could be anything I wanted to be.
I wanted to be NBA basketball player, and that was it.
It was no it was no b C. D. It
(08:22):
was just that that one dream, you know. Coach Thompson
used to always tell me, you always listening to everybody else.
You're always listening to somebody that's never been to you know,
from A to Z telling you how to get there,
you know what I mean. And that's what I was.
I had everybody that wasn't me and never had the
experience telling me how to do it.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
We got more with the icon Living Alan. Obviously when
we come back, it's the World's Most Dangerous want to
show the Breakfast Club.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
I want to ask you about the title of the book.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Man.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
Do you think you were misunderstood that the title of
the book or did people outside of your circle just
not take the time.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
I don't understand you. You're a smart dude sometimes a lot.
This is one of my favorite shows, so I you know,
I see the good day is a bad day. I
watched Dame come up here. It's for real, get real.
(09:21):
I think they can answer it better. My perspective is
they were learning on the fly to It's like, you know,
with my documentary that's coming out, it was like three
hours long. I think I cried like two and a
half hours of I had to keep walking out of
the theater because you think, you know, when it comes
to people that love you, you think you know how
(09:43):
they feel about you know, turbulent times, you know what
I mean, And you think you know how your girl feel.
You think you know how your mom feel, your uncles,
your aunts, your homeboys, your homegirls. But then when they
actually tell you from their point of view, how they felt,
you know, and how they looked that thing, and how
I didn't see how I was, how they had to
(10:05):
try to address me with certain things, like you know,
you driving the car, we were riding shotgun. And it's
hard to tell somebody, you know, that's trying to live
their life what they should do and what they shouldn't do,
you know what I mean. Like I'm twenty one years old,
you know what I mean, when I got into the
league at that age, Like you couldn't you couldn't tell
(10:27):
me nothing, you know what I'm saying, Like I'm here,
you know what I mean. Like the dress code, I'm like,
I dressed like the dudes, the drug dealers from my neighborhood.
Like you know, I'm dressing like this because you know,
this is what the old he is from my neighbor
but this is how they dressed. You know what I mean.
I just couldn't afford it, you know what I mean.
(10:48):
My corn rolls. I got corn rolls because I was
tired of barber's messing my hair. I was like, damn,
if I just roll my hair, you know, I ain't
got to deal with that. You know, tattoos just got addictive.
I got one. I couldn't afford them. I would been
got a lot of My daddy was a hustler, you
know what I mean. He was in the streets, my
mom in the streets, like I didn't have no sit
(11:09):
you down and give you structure. How it wasn't no
coach Thompson then, you know what I mean. Wasn't those
people They weren't in my life yet. So all of
all of that was where he was, he was, but
it was it was he was there when I got
to the NBA. Being his phone calls was you know.
We never talked about basketball, all right, yeah I I
(11:31):
I'm just checking on your swamp, good out of kids,
you know what I mean? And that was it. He
was allowing me and thinking he was preparing me at
Georgetown for what was the inevitable me going to the league.
You can't prepare for that brow.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
How was that pressure though? Because the nicest player, right?
But you changed culture. But when you changed the culture,
the NBA pushed back against it. But you never broke.
You never folded. Even though they could have said, they
could have been.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
AI said, now we don't want you in our lean.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
But you never folded, never backed down, and you kept
it that way, which hurt you at times. Why was
that they profited off of two You know what I mean,
I would be on. One of the things that hurt
me is I was on a magazine. They wanted me
on a magazine because of my talent and who I was,
but they air brushed my tattoos off. You want me,
but you you know you want some of me.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
I took the ash whood before it. But the dress
code thing, like I actually was just you know what
I mean, I was twenty one. Where am I going
after the game? Going to the club, you know what
I mean? Like before that, they were used to dudes
wearing soups, and you know what I mean, I was like, damn,
Like I've never worn a soup growing up. I'm going
to church or to a few. The only time I
(12:44):
put on in the court room in the courtroom, definitely
in the court room. So I never wore a soup
to the to the gym, to play, to the to
the park sweatsuit, you know what I mean, or whatever?
You know what I'm saying. So I ain't think I
ain't think nothing of it. David Stern and rested in me.
(13:07):
It was like ah, because it was all right when
I was doing it, but then everybody else said, okay,
like he can do that, we can do this. So
then everybody, you know, you see Kobe coming in with
the diamond chains on and the baggy clothes, and you know,
everybody started doing it. Then the league was like, hold on,
we gotta do something about that. So it wasn't it
wasn't anything delicious like and that and that. That whole
(13:29):
situation showed me a lot and it proved a lot
to me at a young age about stereotyping people because
you know, when you seen John Gotti, John Gotty kept
on the two thousand dollars suit, but what was he
He get busy, you know what I mean. So it
ain't about you know, what you got on on the outside,
who you are.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
And they said that bother you the most when they
labeled you a thumb.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Yeah, I'll be cool with a street dude, cool with
that because that's what I am. I mean, that's where
I come from. That's all I've ever been around my life,
where I grew up around. But the thug, like, nah,
that's a that's a stretch.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
I was wondering, would you change things?
Speaker 4 (14:08):
And the reason I asked that because even in the book,
you understood you had to wear a suit the court,
but you didn't want to do it for press conferences.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
In the NBA, I was bad advice like I was.
You know, I was told to take a go to
trial and go off whatever the judge say, opposed to
having a jury. That was bad, you know what I mean.
Some of that I was getting advice from people that
never had been through it, you know what I mean.
I was told that if I wore a suit then
(14:36):
the would be leaning. I was. Yeah, I was extremely wrong.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
So you wish you to just water?
Speaker 2 (14:43):
I remember, I remember that same suit. I was in
a sale. It was one hundred degrees with no fans
in there, and the older sale. I was in an
old man cell with fifteen people, you know what I mean,
and that suit. When they came got me, I was
in the corner with my boxes on, you know what
(15:04):
I mean, soaking wet, and the suit was balled up
in the corner. When they came and got me out
of there, I had on my box, you know what
I mean. So I don't know what do you regret anything, nah,
because I wouldn't be you who I am now. I
wouldn't change anything man in my life, all of these experience,
even with the book. Man, it's like, I love like
(15:25):
my girl always talked to me about why do you
let like what I started talking about in the beginning,
why do you let that type of bother you? And
I'm like, practice press company, No, just just with my friends,
how people? You know what I mean, It's like why
and I don't know, you know what I mean? Like
I love the people that I love and it hurt
(15:45):
when they show you who they really are because I'm
thinking you somebody else, you know what I mean? And
she like, you know, why do you stress out over
stuff like that? And you different, you have a talent
and you you're blessed to be able to brush that
stuff off. Hard for me now, my talent obviously is
you know, legendary with who. But I think another blessed
(16:08):
blessing that I have is to be an open book,
to be someone. I'm embarrassed by practice rant I'm embarrassed about, uh,
not really embarrassed, but it wasn't smart for me to,
you know, because I remember, you know, people telling me Ai,
you cannot take care of everybody, and I used to
(16:28):
let it go on one air and write out the
other like, yo, you know what I mean. I'm gonna
be the exception to the rule. I'm gonna take care
of the people that I love. Like that's just me,
you know what I mean.
Speaker 5 (16:38):
And I think that's why I hurt you so bad,
because your heart isn't it You love these people? You know, Yeah,
yeah you're superman, but you still have a heart, you
know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (16:47):
And you like, but this is but this is my
this is my gift, Like this is my gift to
this book, this this documentary. My experience is the turbulent,
the ups and downs. Like uh, if one kid or
one adult whatever read this book and they can take
something from it. I had people come to me all
the time be like, yo, man, you inspired my life. Man,
(17:08):
I would have died if it was you. I would
have went to jail for the rest of my life.
You know what I mean, Like you changed my life,
and that that motivate me, you know what I mean,
Like I'm to give more, like to even when you embarrass,
you uncomfortable, you know, talk about it. Somebody might not
have to go through it. Somebody might. You might save
somebody's life, you know what I mean, Like talk about it. Man,
(17:29):
you was on top of the world. You had all
the money, you know what I mean, all you had
to do. It's easy for to tell Chuck what to
do with his It's easy for somebody to say what
I would have did? Man, that was him. I would
have did. You ain't me. You know what I mean.
You don't know how. I'm sorry you not me. You
know what I mean. I make mistakes. I'm human, just
(17:49):
like you.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
We got more with the icon living with the cultural icon.
Alan Iverson talking about his due memoir Misunderstood DJ Andvy.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
I've seen an interview you gave up drinking six months ago,
at that point.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Where you said this is enough. It was it was
I'll be lying if I would say it just just
stopped the brother. You know what I mean. It was
it was situations. You know what I mean. You know
where is You know what I mean? Like I know
I put it here, you know what I mean. It's
the same thing having certain guys around you. Everybody when
when when they your people, your people know when you're drunk,
(18:23):
you know, just chill man him two more glasses. Damn, man,
hey yo, man, stuff right now, Man, God, damn, I
need you to you know what I'm saying. Man, my
disk going on, that going on. Man, I need you
to get this in because let me just talk about
when I get nice, man, we'll get you to shut up.
(18:49):
I wanted to sleep glass nine twenty five thousand on me,
you know, but I got twelve hundred waiting to look
at what my sniggers I want. My man, you gave
such and such, your your your little sniggers. You gave
your sister, your your uh, your uh, your first coat.
(19:12):
You know what I mean, Like, I mean, that's just
that's just small compad to the real. You know what
I mean. Not feeling well? You know what I mean.
I mean, I did all this and I was having
fun last night. To wake up feeling like this, you
know what I mean. Then my responsibilities you you you
know what I mean. You're missing flights and you know
(19:33):
what I mean. I mean, just a it's a pluthor
of things. Man. You just drinking, you know what I'm saying,
Like I started to evaluate them, like what good does
it do for me? You understand? Like you I mean,
you can. You can have fun with your own boys,
your homegirls, you know what I mean without that. And
I talked to God about it. I asked them to
(19:55):
help me be strong. I ain't going to no a
or nothing like that. Like I I was like, Okay,
I'm not I'm not doing it. And that's what it wasn't.
The crazy thing about it is I've been with her
for fifteen, for thirty five years and since I was fifteen,
And this crazy part about it is she said when
I told her I was stopping that after that, she
(20:19):
prayed on it. And she said that was the only
time that she ever prayed on it, Like I said
it plenty times in the past, and she said that
was the only time that she prayed on it. And
I was authentic with it as a husband. What have
you discovered now, my boyfriend, boyfriend?
Speaker 4 (20:37):
I mean, we got the voce, so you married the
boys and y'all got right back together like six months later.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
I mean, I want to do I want this point
to be made because you think I'm who I am
and I was out of control. I was out of
control and this threat was there for years, for years
and years and years and years and years and it's
like the boy cried wolf, like whatever I heard that before,
(21:08):
you know what I mean. And then it was like
she got to the point where like, yo, I gotta
show this. I gotta do something to show him I'm serious.
And that's what happened. You in that courtroom. You're looking
over there and you've seen number one right there, and
you're looking down at that paper and them tears hitting
that paper and they don't say, you know, I've been
(21:31):
Georgetown versus Georgetown and it's been a scrimmage or sixes
versus sixers, and you're looking at the stat sheet whatever
I'm looking at Iverson versus Iverson, you know what I mean?
And like, Yo, it's real, you know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Like did you as.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Look I really was defiant then, you know what I mean?
Like you got me in here, you know what I mean? Like,
and I had a judge and judge was vicious, like
I couldn't do nothing right.
Speaker 5 (22:00):
Even in that moment, you were defined and I guess
upset even though you knew, because you said you knew
you were out of control. So like in that moment,
why are you defining upset if she's just doing what
she thinks is going to help, I guess, to get
you to a better spot for her.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
I was selfishly thinking about my Demid because I know
in my heart and in my mind that I can't
live with her. You know what I'm saying, Like I
know it, like I know it took. I took her
love for me for granted, you know what I mean,
Like as far as she loving me so much that
(22:35):
I felt like you know that she would never she
would never go nowhere like this is all I've known.
This is the only love that I've ever known, as
far as like, I never loved someone like this in
my life, you know what I mean? Then, A lot
of times, you know, all women would say, or even guys,
you know, anybody that's you know, logical about anything. How
(22:58):
you love her so much and you do things? And
I don't have an answer.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
We never do though, as men, we never do. We
don't know why we do the we do.
Speaker 5 (23:08):
So how has not drinking and you know it seems
like you're you know, your focus is different in this
time of your life. How has that made you guys
rediscover each other in a relationships?
Speaker 2 (23:16):
Yeah, I'm I'm Claire, I'm in Cliff I'm Cliff Huxtable now,
but I'm I'm I kind of get a feeling like
I'm the guy like I felt always felt like, you know,
I was the guy she always wanted, you know what
I mean, wanted to be, you know, wanted me to be.
But I really feel like that guy now, Like I
(23:38):
feel like it's not the hustibles around there, obviously, but
like she love you know this me, you know, because
you always getting this me. It's hard to take advantage
of somebody that can see clear as hell, you know
what I mean, opposed to being nonchalant about everything. You
know what I mean, Like it's you know, my homeboys say,
(24:00):
it's a different chuck now, you know what I mean.
I see, I see what's going on, you know what
I mean. All the stuff that I used to, you know,
not pay attention to, I'm paying attention to it now,
you know what I mean. And I just think, you know,
by me making this decision, it's so much better for
not just myself, everybody around men. I can help better.
(24:23):
My advice is better, you know what I mean. Like
I'm a better friend now, I'm a better family member,
you know, Clayer, you know what I'm saying like, I
promise you I'm the smartest man in the world because
I know him.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
Not saying you got to I do. Got one last question.
Speaker 4 (24:42):
Man, you changed the entire culture of basketball, but to me,
you change black culture. You also change hip hop culture
from your fashion to your attitude to just your authenticity.
When you see how the NBA in the world embraces individuality. Now,
do you feel celebrated or do you still feel misunderstood?
Speaker 2 (25:00):
It's I get the opportunity, Like this is opportunity for me,
you know what I mean, Like all of those years
you wanted to you know, you wanted this, Man, you
got me wrong. Talk about it to your family, your friends. Man,
I'm misunderstood. Man, they don't They ain't getting it, you
know what I mean. It ain't like that. And then
(25:20):
this platform and then all the other big platforms, and
you know, just you guys give me an opportunity to
come up here and ask me that I want to
answer that that I want the world to know. And
this book took years, you know what I mean. The
documentary took years to do. I'm just happy that I
get an opportunity to tell my story or write my
(25:41):
story and and help and help and help somebody. All
I want is for people to get out of it. Man.
It's all right to be you. It's all right, you
know what I mean. It's things that's going to happen
in your life and it's gonna be tough, you know
what I mean. But that's when you're gonna lean on
(26:03):
number one. You're gonna lean on him. You're gonna lean
on God. You don't you don't ask him, uh any
You don't question him at all? You know what I mean.
Whatever happened happened. I ain't never my grandma told me
when I went to jail, that bowling alley thing. I said, Now,
why are they doing this to me? If they know
I didn't do what they said? I did question, never
questioned God, and I've never done it since then. You
(26:25):
know what I mean. Whatever he do, you know what
I mean, I'm cool with it. You know what I mean.
He driving his car and I'm gonna just sitting there,
ride shotgun wherever he take me. That's where I'm going,
and I'm gonna live with the results. So that's that's
the only thing I want. I just think, man, live
and laugh. Love man, We love you. Brothers.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
This out right, now.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
I got.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning,
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