"Wait -- y'all do realize that Iverson's image was a hoax, right? " Tue Oct-22-13 04:49 PM by Orbit_Established
I thought this was common knowledge
I wasn't mad at him for it, but there's a reason he was a pretty clean cut dude at Georgetown and then got progressively more thuggish (Big John too, but not entirely)
He did it to sell sneakers....and it worked
The "NBA Fanbase (if you catch my drift)" was much more enamored with him acting the way he did
Its why Kyrie Irving's game is just as urban/hood as Iverson's, but Irving won't ever sell as many sneakers...not appealing enough of a personality to hipsters
Its not authentic like Artest who started cooning a bit after the Malice in the Palace, but not before...Artest was just a bread and butter feisty nigga on the court prior to the Malice....waaay more authentic a hood nigga than AI in reality though
So Iverson's whole thing was mostly fake
That wasn't him "expressing himself" or "representing his culture," no shit like that
Other niggas from the Hampton Roads area (The Vicks, Meangelo, Ronald Curry, etc) weren't really acting like that (Vick rocked the braids, but was never really thugging like that)
Most of them are on some strong black man shit, but not really on that thuggish type shit
AI is actually a well spoken, intelligent dude who knew better
Just thought I'd drop that marketing gem on y'all
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O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"
-DJ R-Tistic- Member since Nov 06th 2008 51986 posts
Tue Oct-22-13 05:22 PM
3. "I figured you were trolling, and still kinda do, but......eh? I think it..." In response to Reply # 0
result of the times. The Post Jodeci and Post Pac era did make thugs a whole lot more appealing than "Pretty boys" who owned the world and all the girls before hand.
One thing I always say is that Iverson MADE corn rows. Like, he invented them. Before him, you only saw hood dudes in supporting-the-supporting-actor type roles rocking them. And then he started getting designs, which was a typically 90's way of making something thug that used to be seen as feminine.
But his whole vibe and personality was for sure more "thug" than a Kyrie. Even with Kobe being arrogant or whatever, he didn't seem to have AI's edge, and AI's edge didn't seem to be fake to me. He felt like he could have grown up anywhere Black, whether it was Baldwin Hills, Yonkers, Cabrini Green, or PG County....he would have either been seen as the rough dude with edge in a nice area, or the smart sharp dude who grew up in the hood.
4. "word, heard the prison stint his high school senior year was a hoax too" In response to Reply # 0
It was actually a nudge-nudge/wink-wink deal between AI, Reebok & Governor Wilder in which they hoodwinked Tom Brokaw to lay the groundwork for a years-in-the-making-street-cred campaign featuring Jadakiss in the late 90s/early-aughts.
True Story: Ann Iverson behind closed doors actually speaks more like the first Aunt Viv from Fresh Prince when she's doing Shakespeare In The Park.
5. "I know people clown Kobe for the Chris Childs 2-piece, he and Reggie..." In response to Reply # 0
kinda went at it that one time, but did Iverson ever come close to getting in in fight in his career? I know he and Kobe "had words" during the Finals but that was just woofing...
17. "Iverson never fought because he's a nice guy, not a trouble maker. " In response to Reply # 5
The thug tattoos and sold sneakers.
Note how all of the white posters in this discussion didn't even know he was granted clemency, have been thinking he actually did that crime all these years
Hilarious
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O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"
-DJ R-Tistic- Member since Nov 06th 2008 51986 posts
Tue Oct-22-13 08:52 PM
37. "Magic did that too, gettin dimes picked out the crowd" In response to Reply # 24
>and forever in full-on guerrilla mode ... as small as he was >is it not surprising that NOT ONCE in his career was he ever >really disrespected??? > >Its no secret that 'dem boys would protect him and that they >gave no flucks about consequences or television or celebrity. > >AI was their friend, their bank and damn near father figure >... he had NO worries from his peers. > >BTW, they also ran game on dimes in attendance ... got #s for >him as he picked them out from the court, true story and I >don't need confirmation ... > >"Thats all I have to say about that" (c) Forrest Gump > >Challenger-
71. "the picking up girls things was true " In response to Reply # 24
it was in quest's story post in GD, said AI's crew would roam the crowd wait for you to go to the bathroom or concessions, would roll up on your girl (if she was a dime) drop her a card with a number that would send her a ride to where ever the after party was at.
--------------------------------- <----DAMN! Straddling the Line Between Genius and Insanity
6. "bwahahahahahahahahahahaha smh - I'm convinced either Iverson didn't" In response to Reply # 0 Tue Oct-22-13 05:48 PM by vee-lover
sign one of those therapeutice Iverson elbow sleeves you purchased back in the day and you've never forgiven him for it or he let your girl in one of his *pool parties* w/o you - because you're obsessed w/making us all know who the "real Iverson" really was underneath those braids and neck tattoos lol
20. "word, when he witnessed that first murder at 8 they told him it was CGI" In response to Reply # 15 Tue Oct-22-13 07:21 PM by Bombastic
and that freshman year of high school when the neighborhood mentor who kept him out of trouble was shot & killed the same year his pseudo-stepfather got locked up for drugs, Ann let him know they were just away on business but would be back someday.
The proliferation of tattoos & rows was not just a result of being a 20-year-old millionaire who could now afford tattoos & a personal traveling hairstylist, it was a David Falk/Reebok-built-sneaker ruse even if David Falk ended up fired & Stern air-brushed the All-Star-Game photos.
You have really tapped into the core of things with this post.
Appreciate you laying this all out so thoroughly and (dare I say) thugnificently.
25. "I don't see OKS saying that but I can say the crowd at DuPont Pavillion" In response to Reply # 21 Tue Oct-22-13 07:53 PM by Bombastic
the first time I saw AI play in person his freshman year at GTown (dudes were dressed in jailhouse uniforms and chanted 'Convict! Convict!' every time he touched the basketball) certainly considered him guilty.
I never bought into it from the first time I heard about the case back in high school, especially considering that he wasn't on the tape and nobody else did his level of time but he was the only 'name' present.
Back in '95 I figured those fans were just being their usual racist/oblivious/upper-crust-Main-Line/Spoiled-Villanova-Student/Asshole/Douchebag selves.
I had been witnessing variations of the 'that's alright, that's okay, you will work for us some day' smarmy student sections they had dating back to when I was in the bleachers of Nova/Temple games in the Palestra as a young kid.
These were the people that loved/elevated/helped-produce Kobe Bryant, not Allen Iverson.
32. "RE: OK. And btw, I'm not actually mad at Iverson for what I'm saying" In response to Reply # 29
Not real sure how someone raised in abject poverty with drugs/violence/imprisonment/early-death claiming every male role model he ever had in his formative years was ever 'playing thug' then or later.
By getting tatted-up, wearing cornrows or listening/participating in hardcore hip-hop music?
The first two just are fashion choices made by a dude who grew up & got money so he can now afford those things.
The latter doesn't make him any different than any number of people who enjoy that music & has a group of friends.
As far as I can tell, AI's the same dude he always was, which is part of why he was able to log 14 years in the league at an elite level despite being 5'11 & a buck-sixty-five.
Not sure what's supposedly so thuggish about him really or what acts that followed supposedly showed that change.
Now 2Pac, who you mention in this post, now *there's* a fake thug.
He was such a great actor & did it so well it ended up getting him killed while at the same time turning him into this mythic thug-angel immortal figure.
AI never chose that path despite the fact that he grew up in it much more than Pac did.
He's just a super-talented athletic-warrior who elevated family/friends with his talent, who's now just trying to live his life quietly not be bothered with being in the public eye all the time now that he no longer cashes checks for doing so.
And he's already outlived a fake-thug like Pac by 10 years going on 40/50.
36. "I'm not sure where you're getting this from" In response to Reply # 0
re-reading the replies in here, all references to the fight are in regards to his image, not actual thuggishness.
Even though Iverson was innocent in the brawl and was granted clemency, his image was tainted by it, as referenced by Bomb talking about the convict chants in his first college game(s).
It's difficult to reconcile the statement that his thuggish image was manufactured by him and his shoe company to sell shoes, when his thuggish image was created by the media fallout over a (false) conviction before he ever played a single college game.
Even though Iverson may have been a good kid in college, the public perception was that he was a thug, because of the brawl.
If you're making the argument that he took that public perception and exaggerated it further so as to use it for his benefit to sell shoes, that makes a little more sense as an argument.
*Jews you*
"this is okp tho, reading is completely optional" (c) desus
16. "I never really saw him as a 'thug' anyway" In response to Reply # 0
As O_E mentioned in passing, Big John wasn't having that shit to begin with. Remember, he got in Zo's shit for being around Rayful. You think Allen stood a chance?
Post G-Town, he still wasn't thuggin' either. He did have a crew/entourage/hangers on of ne're-do-wells that definitely perpetrated that image, but I can't say Allen was fully about that life. Even embracing the clothes and hair and craptacular attitude that polarized fans and media (and drew real thugs that looked the same, and kids that wanted to imitate that same style), that really wasn't AI's lane. He did nothing to discourage it, that's for sure.
I just want to know who convinced him that 40 Barz was a good idea...
<-- Dave Thomas knows what's up... __________________________
Jay: Look here homie, any nigga can get a hit record. This here is about respect. Game: Like Gladys Knight. Jay: Aretha Franklin. Game: Word, I like her too. Jay: Nigga...
19. "Don't know if he had to 'fake thug' to sell 'em anyway" In response to Reply # 18
If memory serves the 1st gen Iverson's were number 2 right behind Jordan's. That was based more on his play and attitude on the court (off court antics didn't really ramp up until year 2, but the bowling alley incident was still pretty fresh in mind, as was him getting in trouble for the gun in the car that was one of his boys...)
<-- Dave Thomas knows what's up... __________________________
Jay: Look here homie, any nigga can get a hit record. This here is about respect. Game: Like Gladys Knight. Jay: Aretha Franklin. Game: Word, I like her too. Jay: Nigga...
23. "not any different than your board image here" In response to Reply # 0
In AI's case, he got paid for this alleged image, but who's paying you though??
I mean, your whole schtick around this parts is a tough typing, "militant" authority on blackness, that you hide behind a msg bord login. Can anyone here confirm your identity??
Now I expect u to ask me why I'm mad, doggie or any variant of that.. lol
27. "I'm 5'0, white and live with my mother. " In response to Reply # 23
>In AI's case, he got paid for this alleged image, but who's >paying you though?? > > >I mean, your whole schtick around this parts is a tough >typing, "militant" authority on blackness, that you hide >behind a msg bord login. Can anyone here confirm your >identity?? > >Now I expect u to ask me why I'm mad, doggie or any variant of >that.. lol
Nah, I've had threats on my life from Okayplayers, back when I was more antagonistic (not recently, thankfully)
I'm actually ashamed of just about everything in my life
I haven't met anyone
I hired a sexy black man and a hooker to watch pretentious_username's comedy show and go up to him after, say it was me.
28. "RE: I'm 5'0, white and live with my mother. " In response to Reply # 27
> >I haven't met anyone > >I hired a sexy black man and a hooker to watch >pretentious_username's >comedy show and go up to him after, say it was me. > > >
33. "he was a knucklehead who rolled with actual thugs" In response to Reply # 0
He wasn't malicious, but "good kid" is a bit of a stretch. He was a regular hood nigga with a sense of entitlement, a chip on his shoulder and bad friends. This is per my wife who went to HS with him.
35. "I'm willing to be disproven here, thanks for that nugget. " In response to Reply # 33 Tue Oct-22-13 08:49 PM by Orbit_Established
>He wasn't malicious, but "good kid" is a bit of a stretch. He >was a regular hood nigga with a sense of entitlement, a chip >on his shoulder and bad friends. This is per my wife who went >to HS with him.
And thanks for not being mad
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O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"
40. "nothing to be mad about" In response to Reply # 35
he came out of a bad place with a dope-fiend mom to become one of the 50 best and 10 most influential people to ever ply his trade. I enjoyed watching him, and will defend him against any basketball-related slander or race-based character assassination. That said, I wouldn't have been happy about him marrying into my family.
34. "so do philly niggas breath smile like onions or not?" In response to Reply # 0
-The Knicks’ coaching search still includes a lone frontrunner, Kurt Rambis, whose qualifications for the position include a strong relationship with Jackson and a willingness to take the job.
48. "what was so thuggish about his image?" In response to Reply # 0
the only ppl who called him a thug were the white folks who hated him. the kids (as you refer to as "hipsters" for some reason) who loved him didnt see a "thug", they saw an exciting basketball player at an obtainable height who dressed how they dressed (or wanted to), had cool hair and rapped. the "thug" label put on him by people who hated him, caused him nothing but trouble and LOST him money.
------------------------- “Floyd Mayweather should be taking fights up to 157 or 160 pounds...His frame can hold the weight..it's not even a lot of weight....Go to the gym and lift weights man..lol.”-- Warren Coolidge
IceburgSmurf Member since May 17th 2008 4724 posts
Wed Oct-23-13 03:52 PM
53. "Golly this was a stunning piece of agenda-ing" In response to Reply # 50
I've not been complimentary of some of your posts of late but this is classic work. The subtleties of making folk having to defend the niggerish nature of their hero to protect agendas is just lovely stuff....just lovely work O_E!
57. "Yeah, this is some of my finer work" In response to Reply # 53
>I've not been complimentary of some of your posts of late but >this is classic work. The subtleties of making folk having to >defend the niggerish nature of their hero to protect agendas >is just lovely stuff....just lovely work O_E!
You nailed it-
I have Iverson fans literally telling me that he actually did commit the crime in high school and actually is a destructive, negative person, while I defend his character and good name
There's just not many in the game that can do the things that I can do
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O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"
58. "but like Sam explained in #36, that never actually happened in here" In response to Reply # 57
>>I've not been complimentary of some of your posts of late >but >>this is classic work. The subtleties of making folk having >to >>defend the niggerish nature of their hero to protect agendas >>is just lovely stuff....just lovely work O_E! > >You nailed it- > >I have Iverson fans literally telling me that he actually >did commit the crime in high school and actually is a >destructive, >negative person, while I defend his character and good name >
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