Perhaps birth class is not the decisive factor that affects a person's character and destiny, but for the destitute class like Iverson, they actually have only two choices-resistance or death.
His whole childhood memories are just sewage and his mother's smile
Like many African-Americans, Iverson comes from a single-parent family. His mother Anne gave birth to Iverson at the age of 15. Anne has never been married, which means Iverson and his two sisters have never been treated fairly in society from the beginning. Iverson's biological father has no meaning in Iverson's life. He lived in Connecticut before Iverson was born. He didn't pay a cent for Iverson's life until he was imprisoned for murdering his girlfriend this year. He only met Iverson three times.
Iverson's whole childhood memories may be just sewage and his mother's smile. Iverson lived in Hampton, Virginia, and the sewage pipe often burst, so that the Iverson family was completely submerged by the sewage in the whole city. After the sewage recedes, the stench can pervade his home for several weeks, which makes his two sisters often sick. Anne can't maintain the normal expenses of this family by working 18 hours a day. They are often cut off from water and electricity supply because of arrears, so Iverson's sick sister can never get reasonable treatment. Their family has to face not only food and clothing, but the most basic possibility of survival. But Anne always uses various methods to make this family full of happiness and friendship. Iverson commented on her mother many years later.
Anne's boyfriend, Michael Freeman, is Iverson's father in the real sense. He spent half his life in prison. Freeman lost his job in a car accident in 1991. In order to maintain this family that was close to collapse, Freeman, desperate, began to deal drugs. Until today, he is still being held in Newport Prison, Virginia. Iverson spent four months in this prison in 1993. No one thinks that drug trafficking can be forgiven, but Freeman's statement in court tells the living conditions of black people at the bottom of the United States. "I didn't buy Cadillac and diamonds, I just paid my due bill." This bill must include Iverson who hasn't started making money with basketball. Iverson has always been proud of his father who is serving his sentence. "He didn't rob anyone, he just tried his best to feed his family. You can never imagine how much he loves his home. If he comes out of prison and finds that he is alone in this family, he will kill himself at once. "
Iverson visited Freeman in prison in 1996. When he found that Freeman's clothes and shoes were in rags, Iverson immediately took off his basketball shoes and gave them to Freeman. On that day, the first thing Iverson did when he walked home barefoot was to hold his mother and cry.
Iverson recalled his childhood, saying, "When I came home, there was no electricity, no food, sometimes no water, sometimes there was water, but there was never hot water. The room always smells rotten, and the walls are damp and moldy, but I don't think it is hell. As long as I see my mother coming with a smile, I believe that heaven is nothing more. " Most NBA players are in a similar situation to Iverson. For them, the only chip to escape from the bottom is the basketball talent given to them by God.
Thank God, mother and Tony, who made Iverson the "answer"
Anne was definitely the first person to discover Iverson's basketball talent. She always said when Iverson tried to back down, "You have to give everything for basketball. This is the only chance to change your life." This sentence played a vital role in Iverson's later career. When Iverson faced all the strong men in the NBA, he told himself, "This guy tried to deprive me of everything I have now and throw me back into the house built on the sewage pipe." This always makes him fight with anger.
At the age of p>1, Iverson's favorite sport was American football. He even thought basketball was a bit "sissy" until one day when he came home from school, Anne gave him a pair of Jordan basketball shoes that she had exchanged for half a year's savings and told him, "You are going to play basketball today." At that time, Iverson felt that the world had collapsed, and he cried, but at his mother's insistence, he went to the basketball court, where he found his teammates on the American football team. Gradually, he began to learn to enjoy this new sport.
Iverson has never had an idol or role model except his mother and an older child named Tony Clark. Clark is seven years older than Iverson. He always encourages Iverson: "You can be a great person. You can beat any opponent on the basketball court." At that time, Iverson liked to skip class very much, and often sneaked to Clark's house to find him to wander around, but Clark always informed Anne to take Iverson back to school at the first time, so Iverson once cried and growled at him. "At that time, I felt that Tony was not a friend enough," Iverson later recalled. "But now I know that only he and his mother have been caring about me, and he always told me not to live up to the basketball talent God gave me. Thank God, I didn't let him.
When Iverson was 15 years old, Clark was murdered by his girlfriend-in Iverson's world at that time, murder, drugs, robbery and rape were a part of life.
go to jail! He is a victim of racial discrimination
Iverson's life has no stories of sunshine, especially in Virginia, which has a "fine tradition" of racial discrimination. Iverson's experience in prison in 1993 still affects the whole league's view of him and of course his view of the whole world.
It was Valentine's Eve in 1993. A large group of black children carried 17-year-old Iverson to Hampton Bowling Hall. Iverson was already a celebrity in the city. He had just led the American football team to win the Virginia High School championship as the quarterback of Holy Land High School, and he also led the school basketball team to win the same honor. As you can imagine, a group of black children from slums are proud of Iverson. They make a loud noise in the bowling alley. In the case that some white children have repeatedly dissuaded them, a war about race is inevitable.
A 17-year-old white girl first walked up to Iverson and said, "Nigger, what do you think of race?" Iverson's friends quickly caught the girl, and then a group of white children joined the melee, and more than 2 people were seriously injured in the fierce battle. The local court quickly made a judgment on the case: four people were sentenced to 15 years in prison-all four of them were black!
The court found that Iverson led the trouble and was sentenced to five years in prison. The prosecutor said in the complaint that Iverson hit a little girl on the head with a chair. But let's look at the truth: more than 2 white witnesses said they saw Iverson hit someone with a chair, but they described the chair as a murder weapon in 1 ways; There is no Iverson in the gang fight scene in the bowling alley video; Eight witnesses admitted that they only knew Iverson among the black children, and they thought all black people looked alike. The judge in charge of hearing the case is a close family friend of an injured white child; In the indictment, the prosecutor only described how rude the black child was, without mentioning the name of the "nigger".
Up to now, Iverson still insists that he is innocent. "I will hit a girl with a chair? They can be smarter. Of course I will hit people with a chair, but only those men I think should be hit. " At the appeal of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Iverson was released on parole after only four months in prison.
Now no one knows what happened on Valentine's Day night, but everyone thinks Iverson is guilty with a specious attitude, and no one has thought about whether a black man was treated unfairly in this case. Bob Williams, who coached Iverson in the basketball summer camp after his parole, said: "Iverson is just very proud, which makes many people uncomfortable." He is a man of great faith, and he can do anything for his own principles, but he is by no means a criminal. "
He had no choice except basketball.
Many years later, when Iverson recalled his prison life, what impressed him most was that for a black man from the bottom, resistance was the only chance to survive. Every newcomer to Xingang Prison has a special "joining ceremony"-a bunch of prisoners surround him and throw all kinds of feces at him. Iverson didn't scream or cry like many new prisoners. He didn't hesitate or cringe in his eyes. From then on, no matter how powerful Iverson faced, there was nothing but anger in his eyes.
Iverson's friends who met in the street helped his family selflessly during his prison term, which enabled Anne to spend the darkest days of her life smoothly, which is the fundamental reason why Iverson still keeps close contact with those people who are regarded as "social garbage" until now. "Look at them, I believe there is still loyalty and friendship in this world." Iverson, who is now a billionaire, always keeps $1, or $2, in his wallet to give to friends who reach out to him at any time. In fact, the nickname "answer" doesn't come from basketball at all. Iverson may be able to answer the answers on the basketball court, but the most he answers is the "questions" about his friends. Iverson's fame left him with little room to choose a university when he graduated from high school. Although Nike training camp valued him very much, to be honest, many famous schools never considered Iverson who had just come out of prison. Of course, there are also maverick people. After Iverson won the MVP of Nike Training Camp, Eddie Mays, assistant coach of Georgetown University, immediately said, "As long as Iverson is no longer in prison, we will definitely want him!" Mays chose alonzo mourning, who was one of the best centers in NBA before suffering from kidney disease.
I have to mention john thompson, the coach of Georgetown University, who treats Iverson like a father. When Anne took the initiative to find Thompson and asked him if he would give Iverson a chance, Thompson said, "OK! All I need is basketball. " At Georgetown University, Iverson's basketball belief was once shaken. He went up to Thompson and asked, "John, do you think I can become an American football star?" Thompson stared at Iverson like a madman and said nothing. Iverson later recalled: "I think he must have thought I was crazy. His eyes told me that I had no choice but basketball."
After spending two years in Georgetown University, Iverson can finally get rid of the class he came from. In the 1996 draft, 76 people chose Iverson in the first place. He is not as excited as many rookie champions. Maybe as early as 1 years or even earlier, he has made all the preparations. He believes that his life will not always be just drugs and cheap prostitutes. He has given everything for basketball. Now, it is time for basketball to repay him.