Gary Payton Says He’s The Reason Behind Allen Iverson’s “We Talkin’ ‘Bout Practice” Rant

Allen Iverson is officially announcing his retirement in the next couple days, and we’ll tell you when he does — actually — retire. But in the meantime, we thought we’d bring you this excellent AI ancedote from one of the new hosts of the Fox Sports 1 crew, Gary Payton.

As Payton tells it, the two dynamo point guards had “a little bit too many” beverages while they were out enjoying their summer. Iverson asked Payton how he stayed fit enough to keep playing night after night since Payton isn’t the biggest guard, though still bigger than Iverson.

It seems Payton’s coach in Seattle, George Karl, had basically told the Glove to take practice off in order to stay fresh for the games. That’s right, Payton didn’t really practice. After Payton relayed this information to Allen, the practice rant came the next season.

Payton went on to say that Iverson’s coach in Philadelphia at the time, taskmaster former point guard Larry Brown, pulled him aside and told him he’d created a monster by telling Iverson of his deal with Karl in Seattle.

Now all the casual basketball fans who endlessly repeat “we talkin’ ’bout practice” like they’re breaking new comedy ground, owe a debt of gratitude to Gary Payton. Thanks GP for providing all unfunny sports bros with the not-at-all-overdone rendition of Iverson’s rant.

Do you think Payton’s advice really led to AI’s rant?

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