Playboy Interview: Allen Inverson

a candid conversation with the nha's dervish mvp about life in the hood, his tattoo addiction, his battles with the press and learning to love larry brown

When Allen Iverson was named most valuable player of the National Basketball Association last season and subsequently led the Philadelphia 76ers to the NBA Finals against the mighty Los Angeles Lakers, his turbulent career suddenly took on an air of redemption. Five years earlier, the six-foot guard had exploded onto the NBA scene, just three years removed from a jail sentence on a "maiming by mob" charge that would later be overturned. He was viewed as a threat to the establishment--an establishment that had embraced the nonthreatening image of Michael Jordan.

Iverson was the anti-Jordan. He quickly sparked two in-your-face style trends that transcended the insular world, of professional sports: He began to adorn himself with tattoos, and he wore his hair in cornrows, one of the first athletes to adopt a style already fashionable among rappers. While a prodigy on the basketball court, his breath-takingly quick game was overshadowed by a series of off-court controversies. There were his friends from back home who were arrested for drug dealing while driving his car. There was the night in 1997 when he was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and possession of marijuana. There were the rebellious run-ins with his traditionalist coach, Larry Brown, and a controversy sparked by the promotion of a rap CD he'd cut. His lyrics offended gay and women's groups, and he subsequently shelved the CD's release.

After the CD imbroglio in the fall of 2000, a Philadelphia columnist went so far as to call Iverson "nothing but a thug with money." But then something happened. His tempestuous relationship with Brown achieved a sort of détente, and his team jumped out to a 10-0 start and went on to post the best record in the NBA's Eastern Conference. Suddenly, Iverson was being seen for what he was on the court: the littlest player with the biggest heart, a fiery competitor who willed a perpetually undermanned team to victory after victory. Those who had criticized him embraced him and began to see past the macho pose and swaggering street persona. For his part, Iverson didn't view his story as one of redemption so much as vindication of his hip-hop-inspired creed to "keep it real."

Iverson was born on June 7, 1975 in Hampton, Virginia to his single 15-year-old mother, Ann. His biological father, with whom he has no contact, is in jail. The man who raised him, Michael Freeman, has spent much of the past 10 years in and out of correctional facilities. These days, Ann can be seen courtside at Sixers games, wearing an Iverson jersey and holding aloft a sign that reads That's my Boy! Growing up, Iverson says, Ann was his one and only role model, someone who "did what she had to do to put food on the table."

It was on the playgrounds of Hampton that Iverson's famed crossover dribble had its roots. The basketball court and football field (Iverson was an all-state high school quarterback) were escapes from a perilous world where chalk outlines and yellow police tape were a common sight, and from a home that often would have no plumbing or electricity. As a senior in high school, Iverson was charged with taking part in a racially motivated brawl. Despite having no record, he was tried as an adult and sentenced to five years in jail. Former Virginia governor Douglas Wilder granted him clemency and the conviction was later overturned for lack of evidence, but Iverson still feels the effects of four months of incarceration. "It made him harder," says his mother. It was she who approached then Georgetown coach John Thompson and implored him to help her son.

Once Iverson was released, he starred for two seasons under Thompson, who was demanding off the court and indulgent on it. Thompson was known for a predictable and heavily choreographed offense, but he let Iverson run wild. "Think about what's happened in that child's life," Thompson said at the time, in response to those who were surprised by his tolerance of Iverson's freewheeling style of play. "The last thing he needs is structure. He needs to be free as a bird. He needs to fly."

In two seasons under Thompson, Iverson averaged more than 20 points per game and started to develop his crossover dribble, an in-your-face move that has done for ballhandling what Jordan and Julius Erving did for the slam dunk: turn it into a weapon of intimidation. Iverson led Georgetown to within a game of the Final Four as a sophomore, just before making himself eligible for the 1996 NBA draft. The 76ers chose him with the first overall pick, and Iverson went on to average over 23 points per game and earned Rookie of the Year honors.

But Iverson's entry into the pro ranks was stormy. On the court, his selflessness was questioned after he scored an NBA record 40 or more points in five consecutive games--and his team lost each and every one. Off the court, his friends were widely dismissed as his "posse," and he seemed to become sullen and uncommunicative. Even today, Iverson is distrustful of those outside his inner circle, and he rarely grants in-depth interviews.

Playboy sent Larry Platt, editor-at-large at Philadelphia Magazine and the author of 1999's Keepin' It Real: A Turbulent Season at the Crossroads With the NBA, on the road with Iverson for a series of conversations. He found a defiant yet introspective superstar still intent on remaining true to those who have been true to him. Platt reports: "People don't live their lives by moral codes anymore--but Iverson does. He has his code branded on his neck, where he wears a tattoo of the Chinese symbol for loyalty.

"I found a newly wedded Iverson still grieving over the October murder of one of his best friends. Rashan "Rah" Langeford died after being shot seven times following an argument in his hometown of Newport News, Virginia. Iverson, who has seen more than his share of death on the streets of his youth, kept returning to the subject of the lost friend, getting choked up at one point. Our conversation began with Iverson's decision to emblazon on his skin his form of self-definition."

[Q] Playboy: People are curious about you, maybe because you've been so inaccessible to the media. When we're asked what you're like, what should we tell them?

[A] Iverson: Tell them not to believe what they read or hear. Tell them to read my body. I wear my story every day, man.

[Q] Playboy: What do your tattoos mean?

[A] Iverson: I got 21 of them. I got Cru Thik in four places--that's my crew, that's what we call ourselves, me and the guys I grew up with, the guys I'm loyal to. I got my kids' names, Tiaura and Deuce [Allen II], 'cause they're everything to me. They make me want to make better decisions every day. I got my wife's name, Tawanna, on my stomach. A set of praying hands between my grandma's initials--she died when I was real young--and my mom's initials, Ethel Ann Iverson. I put shit on my body that means something to me. Here, on my left shoulder, I got a cross of daggers knitted together that says Only the Strong Survive, because that's the one true thing I've learned in this life. On the other arm, I got a soldier's head. I feel like my life has been a war and I'm a soldier in it. Here, on my left forearm, it says NBN--for "Newport Bad News." That's what we call our hometown of Newport News, Virginia, because a lot of bad shit happens there. On the other arm, I got the Chinese symbol for respect, because I feel that where I come from deserves respect--being from there, surviving from there and staying true to everybody back there. I got one that says Fear No One, a screaming skull with a red line through it--'cause you'll never catch me looking scared. This one here, on my right forearm, used to be a grim reaper holding a basketball, 'cause that's who I am to other guards in this league. But I changed it to a panther after my friends teased me and said it looked like a damned flying monkey.

[Q] Playboy: When you first came into the NBA, you had only two tattoos, The Answer, your nickname, and a rendering of a bulldog, the Georgetown mascot. Then, during your rookie year, you got more tattoos and started braiding your hair. Was that in response to all the negative publicity you got that year, all the speculation that you were a thug and a hood?

[A] Iverson: Once I got my first tattoo I was addicted. It was stuff I really meant and really felt, and I just put it on my body. And then the NBA airbrushed my tattoos off the cover of some magazine, and that upset me. I have my mom's name on my body, my kids', my grandmother's who passed away. Things that mean something to me. And for that to happen, it was kind of tough. But they didn't look at the meaning of my tattoos--they just saw that they were tattoos, and they airbrushed them off. But they're a part of me.

[Q] Playboy: Was that the kind of thing you were talking about at your MVP press conference last season, when you looked right at your boys standing in the back and said, "I did this my way." Did you mean you resisted the advice to, as you see it, sell out by consciously trying to "cross over"?

[A] Iverson: Exactly. People used to always tell me to wear a suit, look this way, look that way, cut my hair, stuff like that. But those things don't make you the person you are--the person inside does. I've never been any bad type of person--it's just that people didn't want to even try to understand me. They looked at the tattoos, the baggy clothes and the jewelry and judged me on all that. But, I mean, I was 20, 21, 22 years old, going through a phase in my life. I wanted to grow as a person, but having this talent, they expected me to act like I was 30 or 35 years old. I was in this learning process, and they were rushing me. I had to grow up fast, and when I made mistakes people acted like it was such a big thing. But I was young and I made mistakes. I still make mistakes. When I said I did it my way, I meant I was just being real to myself. I hadn't changed the type of person I am, I just got smarter. I made smarter decisions and tried to do what was right for Allen Iverson and his family.

[Q] Playboy: The media take on you by the end of last season, though, was that you'd changed, you'd matured--

[A] Iverson: Nah, I'm just getting older. I mean, when you're 26 you're not the same as when you were 21. People find that hard to believe, and I don't know why. It happens automatically. You were probably in college at 21 and then five years later you're working at your news paper and going to bed earlier.

[Q] Playboy: Hell, we were frantically trying to stay in school so we'd have an excuse to still be immature--

[A] Iverson:[Laughs] Bet nobody was writing about how immature you were. It's funny, no one's saying they were wrong about me back then. They're saying I've changed. I ain't no saint all of a sudden. The saddest part is that it took winning for those people to even try to understand who I am.

[Q] Playboy: So the next storyline is "He's changed, he's grown up"?

[A] Iverson: Yeah, yeah. It's like, "Let's write about that so we can sell some more papers," even though they don't know if I've changed, because they never tried to understand me five years ago.

[Q] Playboy: Another example of that took place at the beginning of last season, with the promotional release of a single from your rap CD, which you've now decided not to release. On the first day of training camp, you told reporters you wouldn't talk about it, because you knew they weren't there to honestly try to understand rap music.

[A] Iverson: Man, they were there to judge me. I've gone through it with the media since I was 17, when I got thrown in jail. I'll never be able to understand the media, but I think I can put up with them, I can deal with them, I can accept anything they say about me or write about me, because they've said so many things. I've just got used to it and I try not to give them anything negative to write about me.

[Q] Playboy: In last season's playoff series against Toronto, you dropped the first game at home and were in a tight game two. The whole season was basically on the line, and you came up with 54 points, including your team's final 19 points in the game's last eight minutes. Afterward you were asked where such a performance came from and you said just two words: "Life. Poverty." Can you elaborate on that?

[A] Iverson: It came from struggle. I struggled all my life. Even when things were good, they weren't that good. That all made me harder. And now I look at this as just a game. That's what it is, just a game. There are a lot more serious things going on in the world than basketball. But basketball has always been a time when I can get my mind off everything that's going on around me and concentrate for two hours on just this.

[Q] Playboy: So basketball is actually a release for you?

[A] Iverson: Exactly. You just put that in perspective and know it's just a game. Win or lose, it's a game. Yeah, you want to win, so you play as hard as you can and try to win, but if you lose, you know when you look in the mirror that you gave the effort.

[Q] Playboy: Was basketball always an escape for you?

[A] Iverson: Growing up was hard, man. We had busted plumbing, so there was sewage shit floating around our floors. Sometimes we had no lights, because it was a question of food or the light bill, and my mom wasn't about to let us go hungry. So I'd hit the playground morning, noon and night.

[Q] Playboy: What about now? Your friend Rah was murdered in October, just after you had elbow surgery. Did not being able to play make that tougher to deal with?

[A] Iverson: That was the hardest thing. I couldn't even get on the court to try to take my mind off it for a couple of hours. It just stayed on my mind, and it still does, except when I'm on the court. I think about the good times we had, the things we went through. Most of all, I keep telling myself that he did his job with helping somebody--me. He helped me so much just by being a real friend and always telling me when he thought I was wrong. When he thought I was right, he stuck up for me. And I needed that in a friend, instead of a bunch of people telling me everything I want to hear. That's not going to help. But losing Rah has helped me realize a lot of other things that I wouldn't have paid attention to, so I use that as a positive.

[Q] Playboy: What other things?

[A] Iverson: A lot of things dealing with my life and how I live. How I go through life. The responsibility. Rah had three kids, you know? And now I have to take care of those kids. So when I leave this place and God calls me, I want my wife and my kids and my mother and my sisters to be taken care of. I want there to be enough there for all those kids to go to college and do something with their lives. That's what I'm concentrating on every day. How to be the best father, best husband, best teammate, best son, best cousin, best brother I can.

[Q] Playboy: You really looked up to Rah as a rapper, didn't you?

[A] Iverson: Him and E [Iverson's friend Eric Jackson], they were the best I ever heard. Now it's important for E to do his rap thing, because we know Rah would have wanted him to go ahead. It was hard for me not to do the rap thing, because I know how much Rah wanted it. We used to talk about it when we were younger, how if one of us got the opportunity to get enough money, we'd start our own record company. So once I could do it for them, I didn't want them going out there in the music world and getting jerked around. I was like, "Let's do this ourselves." But once I had a deal and everything went down, the controversy was just too much. People took it the wrong way. It's like when you see Bruce Willis or Samuel L. Jackson in a movie and they got guns and they're shooting people. It's just an art form. I'm not that guy rapping. I'm just talking smack. It's like a movie. You know Bruce Willis don't do the things he do in the movies, right? It's just a movie. Everyone took it all out of proportion and I got so much flak about it, and I don't think I would have if I wasn't a basketball player.

[Q] Playboy: Your raps were tame compared with, say, Eminem's.

[A] Iverson: I don't knock Eminem. I mean, he's trying to feed himself and his family and he's expressing himself. You don't know what that guy's been through in his life, and that's a talent he was given. God gave him that talent. And he's just using it to the best of his ability. I don't think he's out there shooting anybody or provoking violence or anything like that. He's trying to sell records. My hat's off to anybody trying to do something positive with their life instead of being out there getting in trouble. But it was tough not being able to do that rap thing.

[Q] Playboy: You can revisit it at some point, though, right?

[A] Iverson: Nah, I want to leave that chapter in my life because the people in the media took the fun out of it. It used to be fun. I remember doing it when I was in high school, elementary school, just standing on the corner, rapping. Talking trash, you know. I just wanted to give my friends the opportunity to realize their dream. But it didn't fit right with people--all these people were getting a negative vibe from it--so then it didn't fit right with me. I didn't want people drilling into kids' heads that I was some negative bad guy who walks around looking for trouble. So rather than paint that picture of me, I'll leave it alone and won't do it again. I never wanted to do it for money, I just wanted to do it because it was special to me.

[Q] Playboy: Actually, your aborted rap CD would not have been the first time you laid down some tracks. You appeared on Mase's Pay Per View. By the way, Mase gave up the rap game to become a preacher. Is that conversion for real?

[A] Iverson:[Smiling] Must be, he don't go to titty bars no more.

[Q] Playboy: Mase was quite a high school ballplayer in New York, too.

[A] Iverson: Yeah, he talked that shit. I played against him one time. He was just running his mouth a whole lot. I played him one-on-one for $10,000. I told him we were going to play to 20, I'd give him 19 and the ball five times in a row. Then I was gonna score 20 unanswered. So we started playing, and once I stopped him five times in a row, he started beating me up, fouling me every time. I tied it at 19 and he knew he was in trouble, because I shot a jumper and missed and he grabbed the rebound and put it back in. He didn't take it back or nothing. And then he ran off the court, jumping around like he won. Hell if I was about to pay him [laughing].

[Q] Playboy: Rappers like Master P, Dr. Dre and Puffy are not only the product, they're also the entrepreneur behind the product. A couple of years ago you fired David Falk as your agent, saying you "felt like the prey." Was that act influenced by the examples of hip-hoppers who were calling the shots in their own careers?

[A] Iverson: Definitely--I just wanted to be in charge of my own shit. I didn't need an agent anymore, with the new NBA rules and everything. I felt all I needed was a lawyer. I would never say anything bad about David Falk, I would never assassinate his character. Anything we went through was because I put myself in that predicament. I was young and came out of college early into a world of hyenas. I didn't know as much about the business as I know now, or as much as I will know, but I'm learning. I always played like a professional on the basketball court, but I didn't handle myself like a professional. And I'm not going to be tough on myself and feel like I should have been able to do that. I was so young. I had to learn, and I'm happy with my progress and where I'm at right now as a person.

[Q] Playboy: We were talking earlier about your struggles growing up. Is it true that when you were 16, eight of your friends were murdered?

[A] Iverson: Yeah, that was the summer I met Rah. I mean, they were guys in the neighborhood. I call them friends, because I saw them every day. I had dealings with them, at the playground, whatever. It was wild, that summer. Tony Clark was one of them. He was my best friend. He was a real cool guy, about six years older than me, who looked out for me on the streets. He taught me a lot of things about how to survive. And his girlfriend killed him. Stabbed him.

There were a lot of other guys dying that summer in the neighborhood. So my mom said once the school season started, she didn't want me back out in that part of Newport News. My father was living out there. So that's why I was out there, staying with him. She got herself back on her feet and I went and stayed with Gary Moore, who was my football coach when I was a kid. Now he's my personal assistant.

[Q] Playboy: Were you scared growing up in that environment?

[A] Iverson: It was just life, man. You didn't have time to be scared. It's hard to think when you're scared. I'd rather be smart. I've never been scared of anything, being where I'm from, the things I've seen and been through.

[Q] Playboy: So that's why there's no pressure in a basketball game?

[A] Iverson: After all the shit I've seen, you think I'll feel pressure from a game? Seeing how life can end at any second makes me play so hard. I know to play every play like it's my last. Who knows if you'll be around for the next play--you know what I'm saying?

[Q] Playboy: You once said God was with you in that jail cell and that you always had faith you'd get out and get back on the road to realizing your hoops dream. Where did you get that faith?

[A] Iverson: It comes from my grandmom and my mom. They were churchgoing people. Even now, before games, my mom sprinkles holy water on my face and blesses me. They helped me realize it was all because of God that anything positive was happening to me. And the negative things as well. But I never thought He'd put anything on me I couldn't handle. I always just trust in Him and believe in Him. I know there's somebody that wakes me up every morning, I know there's somebody that gave me this talent. A lot of guys around here play basketball, but none of them play it at this level and none of them get a chance to see what I've seen in my life. That's what makes me feel good about the friendship I had with Rah. He saw things he might have never seen, he been to places and he experienced things. I know he had fun, because he was a happy-go-lucky guy. And in one night, all that ended. But I know I'll see him again. We'll have fun like we always had. I just miss laughing with him. I even miss arguing with him, and me and him used to argue damn near every day. That's because we cared about each other.

[Q] Playboy: Michael Jordan was cut from his high school team. Julius Erving once said that the first time he picked up a basketball he "couldn't play worth a lick." Was it the same for you, or were you a prodigy from day one?

[A] Iverson: I remember coming home one day when I was eight years old, and my mom said, "Get ready, you going to basketball practice." And I said, "What? Basketball?" I was crying, saying, "I don't want to play basketball. Basketball's for punks. I don't play basketball, I'm a football player." And she was like, "Well, you're getting out of here and you're going to practice." Man, I cried all the way out the door. And then when I got there, I seen so many people from my football team. I caught on fast, just watching other guys. I seen what a layup was, what a jumper was. And, man, ever since that day, I've been playing basketball. I fell in love with it. Every team I played on, I was the best player, from that day on.

[Q] Playboy: How do you explain that?

[A] Iverson: That's God, man--there's no question about it. And I was strictly a football player before that day. I thought basketball was soft.

[Q] Playboy: Do you still think that?

[A] Iverson: Hell, no! [Laughs] Hell, no. Look at me, man [pointing to bulky wrap around his surgically repaired elbow].

[Q] Playboy: Jordan is like a craftsman, known for his work ethic. But your talent seems more creatively inspired. Do you consider yourself more of an artist than a laborer?

[A] Iverson: Yeah, I'm always creating something. If I'm not creating on the court, I'm coming up with lyrics or I'm drawing cartoons. I'm a caricaturist. I draw and draw and draw, so when my basketball career is over I'll have all this artwork and I'll do something with it. I spend a lot of my time drawing caricatures of my teammates and my family. See, when I play my last game, that's it, I'm done. There will be no comebacks for me. If my daughter or son want to play the game, I'll help them out. After I leave the game, that's when I'm going to concentrate on developing myself as an artist.

[Q] Playboy: What's life like at the Iverson household these days?

[A] Iverson: Man, I got the greatest household. I got the greatest wife, Tawanna. I love her. She's helped me so much, more than you can imagine. Just helping me become the person I am--and the player. Being there for me all the time. She's a great mother, she's a great wife. Words can't even explain how I feel about her. I've been with her 10 years. I met her in high school, 10th grade.

[Q] Playboy: What's a typical night like?

[A] Iverson: Just watching VCR movies.

[Q] Playboy: Kids climbing all over you?

[A] Iverson: Nah, it's, "Y'all gotta get out of here. Go in your own room, we're watching a movie right now." I ain't going to lie to you, there's a whole lot of noise in my house. All these kids do is run around, make noise, tear up the house. Tiaura puts Tawanna through hell when I'm not around. I don't even have to say nothing to her. I just look at her--she knows the look I give her, the "you better calm your ass down" look. But that's the best part of this life, my wife and kids. Like right now, I'm on a long road trip, eight days. To go back home to my family makes me feel good, regardless. If we're playing out in Los Angeles and lose, we have to take that long flight back to Philly, but once you get there, it's all over. You don't even think about the game no more. The game is secondary.

[Q] Playboy: As recenty as the summer of 2000, it looked like you and coach Larry Brown couldn't co-exist. Your team tried to trade you. In fact, they did, but your then-teammate Matt Geiger nixed the deal by refusing to waive some contract provisions. How did that affect you?

[A] Iverson: That was a tough learning experience. It showed that people on teams always talk about being family, but this is really a business and they can give up on you. I been through hell in this organization, coming from winning only 22 games, then 31 games, and the way the media treated me and my friends at first. And then gradually I became better and better, and we started to win. I felt, after all that, this was how I was going to be treated? You gonna send me to a worse situation than this one? I'm winning now, and now you're sending me to a loser? I felt bad about that, but I had to look at myself, too. That was the maturing I had done, understanding that many of the things that were going on I had a lot of control over. And I wasn't doing my part.

[Q] Playboy: What do you mean?

[A] Iverson: I had to make some changes, but that didn't mean I had to sell out who I am--basically, I just had to get to practice on time. That was the big problem. You never could question anything about my basketball skills. But Coach and myself, we just didn't communicate. We would have a meeting and we would talk and it would be like, "OK, all right, cool." And then the shit would keep on happening. We didn't try to understand each other.

I knew he wanted to win and I knew he knew I wanted to win, but we didn't try to build that best-player-and-best-coach-in-the-world relationship, like Magic had with Pat Riley and Michael had with Phil Jackson. Now I tell him that's the kind of relationship I want with him. Now I look at him and I know he's the best coach in the world. I watch things other coaches do and I've been in wars with this guy and this guy's taken us from the bottom to the top. I know what type of guy he is.

[Q] Playboy: Growing up, did you think you'd ever get so close to a 61-year-old Jewish white man?

[A] Iverson: Aw, man, you kidding? I understand him so much now. I know who he is and vice versa. I don't have nothing to hide from him and he don't have nothing to hide from me. We can talk to each other now. Before, it was like he'd talk to me and I could just tell that he thought I was like, "Man, get out of my face," when I was really paying attention to him. He'd be like, "Why are you looking like that?" I'd be like, "What are you talking about? I'm listening to you. I'm right here with you. I don't want to fight you today." We just had to get to know each other on a better level. Once that happened, the sky was the limit. Honestly, I got a lot of respect for the guy. I love that guy. I love who he is and what he stands for. I can't believe we used to bump heads like we did, but if it got us to where we're at right now, I'm glad we went through all of it.

[Q] Playboy: We want to ask you about your game. How do you do it?

[A] Iverson:[Pounds chest] This is all I got. All heart.

[Q] Playboy: How do you not get your shot blocked? You're barely six feet tall.

[A] Iverson: I know how short I am. And I know when I go up against a guy, I have to put it up higher than a regular-sized guy. But I try not to think about what I do out there. I just do it, you know what I'm saying?

[Q] Playboy: After all you've been through, do you have a tough time trusting people?

[A] Iverson: It's hard, man. I don't trust too many people. Just from experience, from going through different things. Just from getting my heart broken. Like different reporters. I'm looking at you and I'm thinking, Here's the coolest reporter in the world. Because you seem that way. You're not talking about the same thing, you've got different questions. It's interesting to me. And then the next day, the article comes out and it's a bunch of bullshit. I just look at it like everybody's trying to make some money, everybody has to try and sell--and negativity sells. It was tough, seeing that a guy would sit down and talk to me and we'd have a great talk, and then the article would be terrible.

And you know, guys come around because they want to hang out with me and just be around me, or they got their eye out for whatever being around me can bring. It's tough. I'd rather just be around the people I know love me and I care about and try and keep it like that. As far as everybody else, wassup, wassup--you know?

[Q] Playboy: Do you sense that a lot of the people who say they care about you wouldn't if you weren't a ballplayer?

[A] Iverson: That's just real life, man. This lifestyle is so unbelievably hard. People think it's all peaches and cream, but it's not. It's not fair when you can't go to a restaurant with your kids and eat without being bothered. It's not right for people to chase your car down, trying to get an autograph.

[Q] Playboy: And unlike a lot of other guys, you don't seem that into the whole celebrity thing. You don't do a lot of endorsements, for example. Is it just that you'd rather play ball, hang out with your friends and be left alone?

[A] Iverson: Yeah, that's all I ever wanted to do, just hang out. But that part of my life has disappeared, because you see where it's headed. A lot of times, I'll go out, and at the end of the night somebody will be fighting, somebody can get shot.

[Q] Playboy: Is this what you meant when you said you've learned some things from Rah's death? That going out can get dangerous?

[A] Iverson: Yeah, and I'm not even talking about myself getting in fights, or whatever. I'm talking about just being around my peers. It's getting old, going out and all that. I'd rather be in a room with my teammates, playing cards. Or at home with my wife, watching a movie. This life is so hard, and I never knew it was going to be. Everybody is watching every move you make. As soon as you make that one mistake, boom! People look at you like you ain't even human, like you need to be caged up or something. In actuality it's a mistake you've probably made a dozen times, or someone in your family has probably made. But you don't hear about those people making mistakes. You just hear about us. The media talk so good about us, and then once they get a chance to talk bad about us, that's when they take those shots.

I always think God is going to look out for me, but I also think he's going to look out for the people who throw dirt. I don't wish nothing bad on anybody at all. I ain't never been a guy to assassinate anybody's character. How can I feel bad about somebody doing it to me if I run around doing the same thing? I'd rather die the way I am, like this, being true to people. I don't want to go around assassinating people's character, because then I'm the media.

[Q] Playboy: For your MVP press conference, you wore a black T-shirt that said Newport News Hood Check and listed on the back the toughest neighborhoods from back home. You said you wanted the guys back there to see you were thinking of them. How important is it to you to represent your hometown?

[A] Iverson: It's everything, man. I like paying props to where I come from. I ain't going to forget where I came from. I dress like the people of my time. I'm a skinny guy, so I like baggy clothes. And I like Timberlands. I like jewelry. That's what helps kids, where I'm from and from all over the world. They see that I'm older than them, but I'm just like them. I come from where they come from. I'm living proof that you can do something positive with your life. Whatever you want to be, anything. You want to be a doctor? A lawyer? An athlete? You can do anything you want to do. But it's gonna take something. You have to give something to get something.

People always used to tell Gary Moore, "Man, AI's got it easy." And he always used to tell them, "Do you know that guy has to wake up every morning and run up and down that court for three hours? You think that's easy?" Yeah, I love to play basketball, but I don't like getting up every morning and running around and going to this place and that place. I mean, I don't want to do that all the time. But I do have a job. My job is hard because I have to be focused and play as hard as I can, with the whole world watching me.

[Q] Playboy: That reminds us: You've been walking around singing that Tupac Shakur song, All Eyez on Me.

[A] Iverson: Yeah, it's always like that, all eyes on me. But I accept it and I know who I am and I know God put me on this earth to do something special--and I'm not talking about playing basketball. I'm going to do something special that will help a lot of people. I want to build a hospital. I told my mom when I was little, that's what I wanted to do. A hospital for my people. If not that, I'll do something to help young inner-city kids--and that's besides the Softball charity game I do back home. I want to do something to help other people not as fortunate as I am.

[Q] Playboy: Yet, whenever you have done something charitable, you've always insisted it not be publicized. Why?

[A] Iverson: I'm not shouting, trying to show people I do things with kids. I'd be happy if every time I went to a hospital to visit the kids, there'd be no media there. It makes it look like the only reason I'm doing this is for the media. Me and my teammates care about kids, seeing sick kids who will probably never be able to come to a ball game. But I don't need media attention for that. I don't think it's fair to go see a sick kid and then the kid has to look into the cameras and have that whole circus around him.

[Q] Playboy: You are always telling kids, "Be strong." What message are you trying to get across to them?

[A] Iverson: To fight, man. This life is hard, and you just have to fight for everything. That's what I did. I even got incarcerated. Then I got out of jail and kept fighting. I was able to get back to where I wanted to be. And I was incarcerated for something I didn't do. I could have easily been bitter and stayed out of Hampton and never did anything for that community. But I didn't. I was the bigger man in that situation, and it meant something to me to do that. For what y'all did to me, I'm coming right back to the same place and I'm going to raise some money for the boys' and girls' clubs. I'm going to do something for these kids and this community, whether you like it or not.

[Q] Playboy: [Former Georgetown] Coach John Thompson said that he never once heard you complain about your time in prison. By all accounts, you were a victim. How was it that you didn't act like one, that you didn't complain?

[A] Iverson: Complain for what? The minister at Rah's funeral said to look at your life as a book and stop wasting pages complaining, worrying and gossiping. That's some deep shit right there.

[Q] Playboy: But you knew this at 17?

[A] Iverson: Man, I knew how to survive, that's it. I had a whole lot of faults, and I did some things wrong, but I tried to never make the same mistake twice. And I just tried to get better. Man, I'm human. That's what makes me feel good about myself. I realize that I'm not any better than you. It's hard enough, man. There are people flying into buildings. That right there shows you how hard it is in this life. Them innocent people that died. I'm not going to complain about anything.

[Q] Playboy: Where were you on the morning of September 11?

[A] Iverson: I was in bed, in my house in Philly. And my wife came in and said, "I cannot believe what just happened." We turned the TV on and I got up and went, "Oh, my God." I just had this empty feeling, man. It was a bad feeling. For something like that to happen, that means anything can happen. All those innocent people who woke up that morning just like me and went to work like any other day, for them to just die like that? I didn't know anybody in there, but it hurt so bad thinking about those people's families. After I seen both buildings go down, I couldn't watch it anymore. It was so sad, man. And now that this has happened with my man Rah, I really know how those families feel. You know, because it's just like that [snaps fingers], and you never see him again. It's crazy, man. I cherish life, I'm just glad to be alive. I don't want no negative pictures painted about me, because my kids are getting to the age where they hear stuff like that. So I'm thrilled about the way people look at me now. I just wish they would have looked at me like that all along.

It's because of the winning, but all you have to do is listen to somebody. If you're a smart person, you can tell if somebody is sincere. I just let my actions do the talking. Watch me on the court, and you tell me if that guy is good or bad. I think you can tell who I am. I think you can tell I'm trying to get better as a person, that I'm trying to be better as a person than I am as a basketball player. Believe that. Because I want to go to heaven. When I die, I want to go see Rah, man. I know he's in heaven, and before I die I want to know that's where I'm going. I don't want to have to guess. I want to know that's where I'm going.

I've struggled all my life. Even when things were good, they weren't that good. That all made me harder.

I know God put me on this earth to do something special--and I'm not talking about playing basketball.