Allen Iverson has officially retired. And he’s positive this time.
The 1996 No. 1 overall draft pick held a press conference in Philadelphia where he announced he is done with the game and will always be a Sixer “until the day I die.”
“I gave everything I had to basketball,” Iverson said. “The passion is still there but the desire to play is not. It was a great ride.”
Iverson hasn’t played in an NBA game since 2010, and has no regrets about anything that occurred during his illustrious career, including his infamous “Practice” rant.
“It wasn’t just about that I didn’t like practice or care about practice or anything like that,” Iverson said. “If I could go back and do it all over again, I would never have done the interview. As far as how I expressed practice, practice, practice over and over again, I wouldn’t take that back.”
Despite reports of Iverson financial and family issues, Iverson didn’t address much of that but will focus on his family and other endeavors during his time away from the sport.
Miami Heat star, LeBron James had some kind words for the former shooting guard, referring to him as the best “pound-for-pound” player ever.
Iverson described Wednesday’s announcement as a “happy day.”
The shoo-in Hall of Famer averaged 26.7 points in his 13-year career, and will go down as one the best little men in NBA history. Despite this, he failed to garner any interests from NBA teams since 2010, resulting to playing in Turkey for a year.
Good luck to Allen Iverson with his retirement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT10IpjrpDs
-Chika Dunu
