"Coach Thompson saved my life." Allen Iverson. Rest easy Coach Thompson.

Rip John true legend

John gave him a chance when no one else would. He literally saved the kids life and he should always be remembered for that

this guy will never be forgotten when it comes to game of basketball!!!! one of the greatest of all time!!!!

RIP John Thompson - this was the first interview i thought of!

RIP to one of the greatest coaches in NCAA history

Damn Rest up to a true Legend! Prayers up to his family and A.i 🙏🏾

I saw an interview where he explained the whole practice thing, it was completley blown out of proportion

Damn Rest In Peace coach! 😫😫

Watching this I feel like I can tell Coach Thompson is so proud of AI and knows him so well that none of these questions he's asking are of any true concern to him. He's already made up his mind of him lonnnnnng before this.

Allen Iverson is one of the greatest players of all-time, plain and simple. Thanks for posting this..!!!

When the league punishes you for unspoken reasons that you’re 100% sure of but the media portrays it based on your reputation! 🤦🏾‍♂️ We love you Chuck!!!

Sad that Philly gave up on him. He should have been a Sixer for life. Still one of the most impactful, inspiring players of all time.

Last I checked hair and ink didn't cause ANY harm!

Iverson And Jordan are My Favorite Players Of All Time.

A.I. got more respect than dudes with several rings

Rest in Power Coach John Thompson 🙏🏾 💙 😢 💪🏾

Love this interview

AI got that Melo treatment where everyone claimed he didn't want to accept a lesser role.

RIP! What a legend, huge loss for basketball

I give mad props to AI he has the game the skill and he will. It wasnt entirely his fault with what went wrong in memphis the communication between the coach and AI was no where to be found. Im just glad that not just a player but a man of AI's caliber is back in the world of first class professional basketball.

thank you

i still believe that he ll come back to NBA. he deserves a ring. he is the best lil man.

One of the best guards ever in the world!He's the reason I never stopped playing b'ball!God bless you A.I !!!

That's his old college coach

I really wish A.I.'s second stint in Philly would have work out, I was really looking forward to seeing him play a lot more that season. He is my biggest influence in sports and it really hurts my heart to see him in the situation he's in. No hall of famer should be dealing with what he's dealin with hopfully someone will make the call for us true Iverson fans who know the game has not been the same without him.

i don't know when i looked at him in Memphis he could still move like the old Iverson. It wasn't until he played for the Sixers at the end where he already seemed like he lost his step. The year before in the Pistons though it did not work out he was still swift and capable of putting up 30 to 40 points.

Lmao "the cornrows the tattoos..." Then wtf the MBA think of bird man with his Mohawk and tatts? He's a human coloring book! But he doesn't get scrutiny!

is there gonna be a part 2?

RIP COACH THOMPSON 🙏🏀😢

AI is a legend and I'm glad that he returned to his roots. Hope he'll stay there until the end of his career.

AI is amazing and is still one of the best players in the nba sure he may not have been as good as he used to be but everyone eventually goes through this, just because he doesn't meet the high standards we generally have for him doesnt mean he s a bad player. He definetly deserved to be a starter and i hope he is treated with more respect now that he is in the 76ers

John Thompson (VISIONARY)

cant wait for monday

Looked like he was about to cry at the end, thats passion for the game right there.

He was a great man

RIP Legend 😢😢😢

@EagleWonder THANK GOD FOR ALLEN IVERSON FANS LIKE YOU AND ME , PEOPLE ARE SO NARROW MINDED

Favority player. My idol right there. Their just fucking wit a.i cuz hes a real nigga. Couldn't take how good he was so they do everything in their power to get him out the nba

this is truly a blessin AI back in philly.!! thats wat im talkin about. IVERSON IS THE BEST BASKETBALL PLAYER EVER.!! MY FAVORITE BASKETBALL PLAYER SINCE DAY ONE.!

He needs to come back. we miss you AI

i hope he does well. i loved watching AI when he was with 76ers

im a really big fan of AI #3 since he came to the league but he's been saying the same thing to every team... "Just give me an assignment and I'll do it" i hope he will make a great comeback in the 2010-2011 season

R.I.P. Coach Thompson

Allen Iverson has one of the best resumes for an NBA player! He has soo many achivements under his belt. MVP, Allstar MVP, NBA's Leading Scorer, and one of the best Sixer of all time! Damn I hate when people bull shit this guy! This guy is still going to be a freak of nature!

why do the media talk bad about someone who loves the game he just wants his ring he deserves it he is a great player maybe a legend at one point him and Kobe was compared to each other...so why cant he just live and play basketball....I wish the lakers would of picked him up for a year or so to get a ring and to also solidify his greatness on the court as a player and a warrior

i love A.I. hes a great player

he has heart and love for the game. no denying he sacrifices his body and can still compete in the nba. furthermore he does use some of his money to benefit others. he will be happy if he scored 5 points and the team is winning. it is when his team is losing and he only plays 15 minutes is when he gets upset.

A.I. has heart. Thats why he cares so much.

@CanvassBlack When did AI abandon his team because he disagreed with a decision? Last time I checked, Detroit's Coach and Manager told him he would be a starter before he signed the contract, then when he got there, he found out that wasn't true. Hence, they did not hold up their end of the bargain. That is disrespectful and a breach of the contract. You can't make someone rely on a material fact being true, and then not uphold that truth. In any context, that creates an invalid contract. Also, to my knowledge, when AI left Detroit, Memphis, and even Philly, the contract in each case had been terminated and both parties (AI and the team) mutually agreed. Thus, there is no abandonment there and AI technically terminated the contract with each team professionally (according to the standards of any profession in this country). Also, when he left Philly for the last time, it was to attend to his daughter who had been incredibly ill for months to the point where they had to send her to a hospital in NY. I'm sorry, but being a Dad is more important than any job. Any loving father would make sacrifices in his career for his child. Maybe this is just my lawyer brain talking, but I don't see your argument. There simply was no abandonment, legally speaking or logically. To be honest, I think AI gets a lot more crap than he deserves for his "conduct." He rarely ever (almost never) fought in an NBA game (the only time I can remember was with Dennis Rodman who started it), he was very respectful of his teammates, he never criticized other players (like Lebron James does), he was eager and enthusiastic to play for Team USA in the Olympics despite other players giving lame excuses not to, he admitted his faults and his mistakes, he genuinely tried to be better, and the worst crime he's been convicted of is possession of a couple of joints of Marijuana in his car (I believe a couple of joints were in his pocket or something and he was not driving the vehicle). Keep in mind that other alleged charges against him were thrown out for lack of evidence and conflicting testimony against him and his high school conviction was reversed/overturned by the Virginia Court of Appeals for lack of evidence - and having read that case on WestLaw and seen the documentary about it, I agree with the Court's decision. Also, given AI's difficult upbringing (which I would argue was even tougher than the other NBA players who had a touch upbringing given what I know about AI's background, exposure to brutality and violence at a young age leading to his closes friends being murdered in front of him, deplorable - third-world country like living conditions, incredibly sick sister, negligent mother, lack of guidance, and lock-up as a teenager) I think he's doing pretty damn good for himself! His contributions to the game of basketball are also often disrespected I've noticed. This man is a first ballot hall-of-famer plain and simple. Ball hog? He averaged over 6 assists for his career as a shooting guard - much of the time with teammates who couldn't even shoot! He played his little heart out! Sorry, end of rant! I just respect the guy a lot and don't think he deserves the terrible rep that he's got by some people.

the greatest of all time

that was a great philly team I remember that team. How many of those guys are still playing?

he IS a legendary point guard

iverson is so good ..

that is great for my fantasy team

when you're down and out, try returning to the place that gave u memories of ur prime. AI's back to the Sixers.

good luck allen

he got such a nice shirt in the interview

Really a damn shame the NBA blackballed him.A.I.'s my favorite player of all time,he inspired me greatly as a kid,and still does to this day.Was he one of the efficient scorers in history?No.But was he one of the best prolific scorers in history?Hell Yeah!!He deserves a statue in Philly,when he took that '01 team to the Finals,that was a pure miracle,only another great player did thsi so without decent help(LBJ). He deserves to be in the HOF,i aspect him to be there within 10yrs.Iverson 4LYFE!!!

where's part 2?

That speech was made because it was during the playoffs and his team got eliminated and some reporter just asked a random "practice question" even his former teammate Chris Webber said Ai is a hard worker during practice.

HE is still the best, no one at his position can guard him, PERIOD

It says part 1, is there a part 2??

THIS IS MY FAVORITE GUY , AND IT'S SAD TO WATCH THIS INTERVIEW CAUSE HE LOOKS SUPER SAD BRO , HE LOOKS HURT . .

Iverson started it all

People see him for all that bad stuff he has done and not as a basketball player. They see that if they brought him back into the league that there would be a bad look for the NBA to have someone be who he really is. NBA Has become so glamorized and you don't see anyone be as real as they used to be. He can compete with some of the greats and is arguably one of the deadliest isolation players. I hope to either see him play in the NBA again or become a Hall of Famer.

So that I may gain knowledge & understanding.What do you mean by change the mind & hearts of the people--what people? and to do what?

Damn that coach just makes me want to listen 💀

if anyone deserves to be a starter, then it's iverson. he never gave less than 100% in a game

Rest In Peace John Thompson

damn he signed a different name . i was a big fan of his too

He took 20,000 is because no one else ever did anything. And the whole practice thin, people made a HUGE deal because he missed a practice due to a contract meeting, and everyone blew it all out of proportion. I saw an interview where he explained the whole practice thing. Also, I looked at his stats and compared them and they actually match up to some of the best.

you tell him buddy!

To all the negative comments that are being posted...I will say. WAIT and watch GREATNESS. There are many players, GREAT players that did not get a championship. That does not measure greatness. Those teams that they asked Allen to come of the bench behind, not ONE of those players were better than Allen and if you look at the Grizzlies and Detroit...they are not better off...they are still at the bottom. Denver is the only team on the upside. Allen "The Answer" Iverson. The BEST!!

he should be a starter hes still a good player and i think he should have been the starting PG for memphis 2.

true

I don't car how old he is I still want him on my team!

second best PG to ever play

gametime is saturday april 10th in memphis @ 7 P.M. lol damn i gotta go to that game but idk if buying grizzly tickets is worth my good money though

Sixers did the right thing signing Iverson. A.I. did so much for that organization. He put them on the map. Iverson should retire as a sixer. He will be my favorite player of all time.

no it's not bullshit. yes they came out of the same draft class but not everyone ages at the same pace either. he's had so many injuries and surgeries over his years, his body is a good 3-4 years "older" than the rest. plus, in the NBA, it's skill and rotations that determine who starts, not tenure.

Everyone in the league now has tattoos and wild hairstyles in the league because of Allen iverson. He had more of an impact on the game than any other player in history that's why the hate on the small giant

the thing is starting conley over iverson thats ridiculous hes worked for this he has one of the best resumes in the league hes one of the most skillful players in the league its ridiculous that teams didnt/dont want him

come on iverson 相信你在回76人之後會可以做的更好 i want to see you playing basketball again YOU ARE THE ANSWER

Thats why enjoy your fucken players today! Like Kobe whose 34 and Even Lebron james... Apreciate them and dont hate

3:04 - AI, i cant tell you what to do, use your underrated passing ability, every one knows you can score, but ive seen ur rookie tapes and you have made magic johnson-esk passes that blew me away, look at chris paul, great passing, turned a shitty team into a title contender in 2008, take notice, and make your team better, and when the time calls for it, break out the slasher scoring

He saved A.i’s life and his career. Period. No A.i if it wasn’t for coach Johnson.

There is no part 2 :s

i think he's the MASTER

Sixers back into the playoff picture!

his second stint was pretty good be

i feel really bad for him. I grew up watching him idolizing him he don't deserve to be treated like thid.

" Child abuse I gave you" Miss the old Ball Coach

6 feet in shoes too.

A.I was so friggin sick back in the day

He is the smartest man out there.

i'm so frickin excited to see AI in his comfort zone...that's all he needs to be the beast he used to be. i don't think he's lost a step or anything he just needs an opportunity that fits him and he's got it agian. iverson will average a solid 22-24 and make philly break .500

A I is the man ! we love still love u A I

AI is the truth. the real truth. love this dude.

I would like to hear his reasons on being against practicing with teammates. If he wanna convince people, he gotta have good reasons- besides thinking he's too good for it.