76ers had to hide Allen Iverson’s jersey and shoes to keep him from playing hurt
By Kristen Wong
Allen Iverson’s winning mentality knows no bounds as this classic tale from his time with the Philadelphia 76ers confirms.
It’s a well-known fact: Allen Iverson will go down in NBA history for his illustrious Hall of Fame career.
Those who really knew the 11-time All-Star, however, will also remember his feisty persistence. At 6-feet and 160 pounds, Iverson relied on an ultra-aggressive game that made him one of the best shooters in the league but also contributed to one injury after another.
It was his resiliency that led to one of the all-time great stories revolving around Iverson’s time with the 76ers.
To sit or not to sit? Ex-Sixers player Allen Iverson has the “answer”
Iverson’s reluctance to sit on the bench while injured forced his team to take extreme measures. On The Audacy NBA Show with Ryan McDonough, former Philadelphia 76ers general manager Billy King explained how he used to protect their star player:
"“When he was injured and we knew he couldn’t play we used to hide his jersey. Because he would come to the locker room looking for his jersey, we’d lock it somewhere so he couldn’t get it…. One time, in New York, he found his jersey but didn’t have any shoes. He was trying to send the ball boy to the Foot Locker around the corner. He said ‘just give me a pair of their Reeboks. I can play in those.’ Then he pointed to an attendant, ‘what size are you, just give me those shoes,’ because he wanted to play so bad.”"
Despite the 76ers sly tactics, injuries still never phased Iverson.
As one of the fiercest competitors in the league, Iverson knew how to play through pain. These days, the NBA is seeing more players sit out for load management and resting for multiple games (like when Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry hurt his tailbone), but that notion would have been inconceivable to Iverson.
His mentality has always been to leave it all out on the court, in spite of the consequences, and Iverson wouldn’t have it any other way.
Next. Allen Iverson reflects on missing the 1996 NBA draft photo. dark