On the latest episode of the podcast All the Smoke, hosted by former NBA stars Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Allen Iverson had some choice words for an undisclosed adversary.
As Barnes and Jackson clowned media personalities who speak on sports they can’t play themselves, The Answer looked up at the camera and emptied the clip.
“It’s one guy, I know you know who I’m talking to,” Iverson said. “I know you hate me and trust me, I don’t hate nobody. Yes, I do. I hate you […] The way you hate me, motherfucker, I hate you too.”
Damn. But he wasn’t done there.
“I’m not mentioning your name because I don’t want the whole world to know I gave you that type of love,” he continued. “You and your daddy. The both of you.”
As Barnes looked on with a devilish grin, the internet immediately assumed that Iverson’s ire was directed at Mr. I Hide Pickles Under My Tongue himself, Jason Whitlock—who’s gone to great lengths over the course of his career to disparage the 11-time NBA All-Star ad nauseam.
Others pointed the finger at Skip Bayless, who’s ruffled plenty of feathers himself throughout the years. But Iverson made it a point to eliminate Bayless as a suspect while speaking with Barnes and Jackson.
“I got love for Skip,” he said. “I know people think it’s Skip. It’s not you.”
One important detail that many glossed over when Iverson called out his target is that he mentioned their father too. ESPN personality Dan Le Batard, who hosts Highly Questionable, frequently has his father play a prominent role on the popular show. So does that mean...
For his part, Le Batard believes he’s in the clear.
“I ain’t never had any beef with Allen Iverson,” he tweeted. “Leave me out of this. However, I don’t speak for my father.”
Then who else could it be? Iverson had a great relationship with Screamin’ A. Smith during his playing days, but they had a pretty public falling out after Smith wrote about Iverson’s struggles in his personal life. There were also rumors that Iverson threatened to kill Smith if he ever saw him again, and according to Smith, Iverson didn’t want that smoke and squashed the beef when Smith took a flight to Miami to confront him.
So while I can’t provide confirmation, all fingers seem to point to Whitlock—who took to Twitter on Friday to plead his innocence.
“I have no real connection to Allen Iverson. Dude probably doesn’t even know I exist,” Whitlock tweeted. “He talks about someone’s ‘daddy.’ [Jeremy] Schaap and Le Batard have prominent fathers. I have no clue who Iverson is talking about. Don’t care. But move past your Whitlock Derangement.”
Hmmm. Jeremy Schaap? Nah, can’t be him.
Iverson could put all the speculation to rest by just putting a name on it, but based upon his demeanor in that interview, he’s probably too preoccupied with conspiring to beat that person’s ass.
DISCUSSION
I mean Whitlock has brought it on himself. There isn’t one prominent black athlete of the last twenty years he hasn’t taken a shot at. Kobe, Bron, Serena, AI, Griffey Jr, TO, Moss & McNabb to name a few. He kisses Tom Brady’s ass so much he can tell you what his shit smells like. Drag him AI. I hope you see his ass in the streets.