<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">After a week of “walking around like Fred Sanford,” according to wife Tawanna Iverson, Allen Iverson expects to miss at least one more game. Iverson said Thursday that he's unlikely to suit up tonight against the league-leading Pistons, but that he planned to fly with the team to Cleveland in hopes of playing Saturday night against the Cavaliers. In addition to a sprained left ankle he suffered from stepping on the foot of the Magic's Dwight Howard eight days ago, Iverson has a bone bruise in his right ankle, which is actually bothering him more than the sprain. In a rare post-practice interview, Iverson, who was named an Eastern Conference all-star starter for the seventh consecutive season, took an opportunity to blast his critics for their negativity. The latest barrage from Iverson came after the Sixers featured a more balanced attack in winning their first two games with him sidelined prior to Tuesday's 24-point home loss to the Suns, causing some folks to wonder if the Sixers would be better off without Iverson. “I go through trade talk every year here,” said Iverson, a 10th-year pro. “It's the same thing and that just makes it that much more easy for me to deal with every year. I know it's coming. If I get hurt and sit out a couple of games, I know people are going to say, "Get rid of him.' “All it is is controversy — just putting me against my team one second and then putting my team against me the next second, the fans and the whole thing. It's just something I'm glad I've had to deal with before. It makes it easier for me to deal with now. “It's not like it's coming from my teammates or from the loyal fans. It's just y'all. It's the newspapers, the media. The worst thing is just looking at a newspaper. You see terrorism on the front page and then you see all the deaths in Philadelphia on the local page and all that negativity. “Then, you get to the sports page. And when it's supposed to be something gratifying, you see even more negativity. You see the Donovan (McNabb) thing, you see the T.O. (thing) and you see the trade talks with me. So the whole paper is like a book, "Tales of the Dark Side' or something. That's just the way it is here. I realize it. I understand that it's going to be like that if I'm here next year, if I'm here the year after.” Iverson made it clear that he has no desire to play for any one of the NBA's other 29 teams. “I don't want to go,” Iverson said. “I don't want to go. Honestly, I'm glad I understand that it's going be like that for the rest of my career if I'm still here in Philadelphia. And if I end up somewhere else, I'll know how to deal with it. “And I swear I'd be lying to you if I said that it doesn't bother me, it doesn't hurt at all, because it does.” Iverson was again the leading vote-getter among guards for the Feb. 19 all-star game in Houston. He finished with 2,062,206 votes to finish ahead of starting backcourt mate Dwyane Wade (1,499,664). “You look forward to it,” said Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks. “There are only 12 players (in each conference) going to the all-star game, so it's a very special honor. I'm pretty sure he's excited about it. Whenever they chose me (four times), I was running there.” Iverson answered a question about his all-star selection by taking another shot at his detractors. “You appreciate it because of just having so many critics,” Iverson said. “When you're able to keep on doing it when they say you're getting worse as a player, or you're not getting any better, and they're saying maybe you're getting too old and you keep making the all-star team, that's just obviously them not knowing what you're talking about.” Note: Besides the dunk contest, Andre Iguodala has been picked for the rookie/sophomore game as part of all-star weekend. EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division W L Pct GB New Jersey 23 21 .523 - SIXERS 23 22 .511 1/2 Boston 18 28 .391 6 Toronto 16 30 .348 8 New York 14 30 .318 9</div> http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/100...006-607715.html
Allen needs to say this stuff some more, because he is motivated by adversity not popularity. A pissed off Iverson leads to a better team than an Iverson trying to appease people and a I-want-to-be-liked Iverson. He's just creating false enemies to get his competitiveness fired up. yeah the media are out to get him, it's all a conspiracy of negativity, that's ridiculous, but if you don't have an enemy, it's hard to suit up for battle.
