Club Shay Shay - Allen Iverson: “I would’ve been a better NFL player than NBA player”

Episode Date: September 26, 2022

In this special rewind episode of Club Shay Shay, revisit some of Shannon's favorite segments from the show so far.00:00 Allen Iverson: “I would’ve been a better NFL player than NBA player”4:16 Iverson predicts how many points Jordan would average in today’s nBA6:12 Iverson on being stereotyped for his cornrows, baggy jeans, and shooting sleeveListen & follow more FOX Sports podcasts: http://sprtspod.fox/applepodcasts#DoSomethinB4TwoSomethin & Follow Club Shay Shay:                                                                 https://www.instagram.com/clubshayshayhttps://twitter.com/clubshayshayhttps://www.facebook.com/clubshayshayhttps://www.youtube.com/c/clubshayshay Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news and the best analysis delivered by the time you get your coffee. The show hits every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone. So I'm bringing in all the big guns from NFL media like Colleen Wolf. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everyone. This is Jimmy O'Brien from Jamboy Media.

I want to quickly tell you about my podcast. It's called Jimmy's Three Things. Episodes come out every Tuesday, and for 30 minutes, I dive into three stories in Major League Baseball that I want to talk about. Or I do a stat deep dive. Sometimes I create my own stats. It gets weird. It's now your go-to podcast for staying up to date and in the weeds with Major League Baseball.

No topic is off limits or too small. Bad umpires, great pitcher-catcher duos, new rules, old rules, three things that I want to talk about. Listen to Jimmy's Three Things on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, Club Che Che listeners. We'll be back soon with weekly episodes featuring brand-new interviews with exciting roster of guests. Until then, enjoy this special rewind episode

with one of my favorite moments from club shea shea so far all my life been grinding all my life sacrifice hustle paid the price want a slice got the roll of dice that's why all my life i've been grinding all my life hey i you had you did it all you were mr basketball mr football at in newport right you from newport am i right? You from Newport. Am I correct? Yeah, you from Newport. Newport. Newport. Yeah. Michael, Michael, Vic, Sweet Pea,

all y'all from down in that area. Right. Let me ask you this. Had you not chosen basketball, do you think you could have been as good an NFL player as you were an NBA player? Shannon, and this is like a, this is a bucket list moment for me

because Shannon Sharp is asking me a question about football. So right there, I'm already, when I go home and I see the guys I grew up with,

I'm going to brag about this situation right here. But not being cocky, not being arrogant. I think, no, I know that I would have been a better player in football than I was in basketball. And that's not disrespecting basketball guys. That's not disrespecting the game that's done so much for me. I mean, I'm a household name. I'm a Hall of Famer in that in that sport, but football was my first love and at the same time Shannon, you know, if I would have had

to get on the gridiron, then I wouldn't never stop lifting weights after high school. You know, you would see a whole totally different physique. I might be looking like you or something. Hey, but I would have had to. I would have had to. I would have had a short career, you know what I mean?

Basketball, I just didn't like weights because I just thought they was too heavy. Football, I know I would too happy. Football. I know I would have had to out had to live and then you can you can ask anybody from Virginia and and they will tell you Shannon that you know, hands

down. I was I would have been better and football. So that was my first love. So you would have been a Russell Wilson Kyla Murray, Lamar Jackson, Michael Vick. You use Michael Vick before Michael Vick. All you got to do is ask Mike and then and then was was was

wild about what you saying and that that that lets me know about definitely what I've been know about your sports IQ, but you know, that's how I was as a basketball player. You know what I mean? I wanted to add some of Michael Jordan game, add some of magic, be fast like Isaiah rebound, like Barkley be dominant, like Shaq, you know what I mean? Do it all on the court. Like, you know, you know, the guys that do everything, not just one particular thing on the basketball. I didn't want to have no weaknesses out on the court.

So I tried to implicate all of those guys' game in the minds. And that's what I would have did in football. You know what I mean? I would have wanted to be accurate like Aaron Rodgers and have the arm like Aaron Rodgers. But I definitely would want to run like Russell. I definitely would want to run like Lamar Jackson or Mike Vick. You know what I mean?

I just wanted, in basketball, I didn't want the opponent to feel like they could do just one thing to shut me down. I wanted to have a variety of things that I could counteract with, you know what I mean? When they try to take something away from me, and it would have been the same thing in football. Like, I mean, just the way you changed the game at tight end. You know, tight end was not playing the game.

Nope. Like, you know, you played the game. You know what I mean? It was like a wide receiver playing tight end. You know what I mean? And that's how you change the game. And that's what I would have tried to add to my football game was different parts of greats and try to put it in one

game and be out of that. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week you'll get all the latest news, previews, recaps and analysis delivered straight to your podcast feed

by the time you get your coffee. No dumb hot takes here, just smart hot takes. We'll talk every single game, every single week, but I can't do it alone, so I'm bringing in the big guns from NFL media. That's Patrick Claibon, Steve Weiss, Nick Shook, Jordan Rodrigue from The Athletic, and of course, Colleen Wolfe. This is their window right now. This is their Super Bowl window. Why would they trade him away because he

would be a pivotal part of them winning that super bowl i don't know why colleen catch the podcast the nfl daily with greg rosenthal every day subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends and who doesn't want that listen now on the iHeartRadio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast how many points because there's a lot of people say he averaged 40 he averaged 50 average 60 how many points do you think Jordan could average in today's NBA what's the most he ever averaged 37 uh 37 one all right so 40 easy. 40 easy. 40 40 easy.

Yeah, 40 easy. Like like 40 is easy. 40 will be easy for black Jesus. Cuz hard. I think hard and hardened a couple years ago. Average 36. So you go so you right. So you figure Jordan could average 40 with no problem. I'm man Shannon like So you go, so you figure Jordan could average 40 with no problem. Man, Shannon, like, when I talk about him, it's different, man.

And a lot of times he's biased. A lot of times he's biased because I love him so much. Like, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have had the vision. I wouldn't be the Allen Iverson, the basketball player today if it wasn't for him. Right. You know what I mean? So I feel and plus he was the best to me. Yeah.

You know what I mean? I think I definitely think he was the best and I don't put LeBron in the conversation cuz I love him so much as a person and as a basketball as a basketball player, you know, I mean, it's real real personal when I'm being Michael Jordan don't have the personal relationship like me and LeBron LeBron, right? But those three LeBron Mike and Kobe.

I never seen nothing better. I never seen. I never seen a player better than those three. I'm going to ask both of you guys. And you add to that, when he averaged 37, he was doing it with twos. They weren't even shooting three-pointers like how they shoot now. You know what I'm saying? Just imagine if Michael decided to shoot six, seven threes a game like they do now.

Like 40 would have been easy. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news, previews, recaps, and analysis delivered straight to your podcast feed by the time you get your coffee. No dumb hot takes here, just smart hot takes. We'll talk every single game, every single week,

but I can't do it alone, so I'm bringing in the big guns from NFL media. That's Patrick Claiborne, Steve Weiss, Nick Shook, Jordan Rodrigue from The Athletic, and of course, Colleen Wolfe. This is their window right now. This is their Super Bowl window. Why would they trade him away? Because he would be a pivotal part

of them winning that Super Bowl. I don't know why, Colleen. Catch the podcast, the NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal every day. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. And who doesn't want that? Listen now on the iHeart you also changed the rules because you had everybody coming. If they were 150 pounds, they were wearing a t-shirt that was fit shot. They were wearing jeans that were for calm alone. You started that. You started the cornrows.

Nobody was had cornrows. Nobody was tatted tired. My teammates hated me for that. They were going to big and small and I would get there before them and buy up all of the stuff. So they can stand all the big things. I would buy all the stuff from from from big and tall and I was just I didn't never think that I was doing nothing wrong. I was dressing like the guys from my neighborhood. Right?

It was just it was just just, at some point, it turned from Levi's to Jabo's and Guess and all, you know what I mean? Because I couldn't afford it. Right. You know what I mean? And I was getting beat down a lot. And I think it's kind of bittersweet

because if you look at today's game in every sport, you know, you see guys dressing and looking the way they want to look. You know, some people can disrespect it, and it might not be their look, but people are comfortable. They're supposed to be able to come to work comfortable. Right. And like for me, I never went to the basketball court when I was growing up in a suit.

You know what I'm saying? I wear them now because, you know, my lady like when I wear suits. But back then, I didn't mean anything bad or anything like that. I was being me. Right. And I felt like that. What's wrong with being you and everybody else taking up? So when the commissioner changed the rule,

even though he didn't say it was the Allen Iverson rule, you gotta wear sport coat and things of that nature. No oversized t-shirt, no FUBU jeans size 50 when you're size 32. What went through your mind? God bless them. May he rest in peace. I love him to death cuz we became real good friends towards the end of my career. And I just remember going in there to meet him about that dress code situation. Shannon, man, and I had on all baseball and baseball gear.

You know what I mean? And he said something. I think I had on Indian stuff. And he was like, what's all this Major League Baseball stuff you got on? And I'm like, man, it's just clothes. You know what I mean? And I sat in that meeting, and I thought I may have been in there 30 minutes, and it seemed like I was in there getting chastised for hours.

And I really felt like they changed that rule because, you know, once everybody seen that I was dressing like that, guys were like, well, damn, that's how I wanna dress. That's how I feel, yeah. Where was we going afterwards, Shannon? We'll go from the gym and go right to the club. Right. After the game. Straight up.

We're gonna wear no suit to the club. So you were that bridge because everybody saw Michael Jordan suited and booted. He had a suit on. He had the tie on, the nice gaiter, the nice shoes. Okay, Michael Jordan. And then AI comes along in 96 and

he got on 4X t-shirt and FUBU and he tatted up. They're like, well, hold on. I want to be like this. This is more comfortable than being like that. It's not the clothes. Right. Just like when some guys, you know, you ever seen Reservoir Dogs?

Yep. When they rob the jewelry store or anybody go rob some banks, they don't never have on sweatpants and jeans. They come in there with suits on. You know what I mean? The stereotype. Right. It don't matter. It's inside the clothes.

Right. There you go. You know what I mean? Do you understand? It's the purpose. But you started the sleeve. Wasn't nobody wearing no sleeve. Yeah. You started the sleeve. I'm like, why he got that on?

I'm like, what's wrong? That was, was the sleeve, was it just a fashion statement or did you actually need the sleeve? It was an injury and I had just got surgery on my elbow. Your bursa? So it was an injury and I used to have, I don't know, remember the cloth that they used to have in the training room? Yeah.

Yeah, they cut it and put it over your knees to keep down swelling the thing. Yeah. There you go. And then I just said, okay, won't y'all just make me one? Right. And then it started to get so popular and I love it now. Like I love seeing guys in different sports, have them on and whatever. Some guys wear them and don't even be injured.

Right. One time I was watching an R. Kelly video and the man had it on in the video, man. I said, well, R. Kelly must have fell off the stage and hurt himself or something. The man got a sleeve on in the video. And I was really hurt then. I had to wear it.

Right. I ended up turning the sleeve into a fashion, man. And today, when I look back on it, it's so cool. You see high school players, college players wearing it, even dudes playing rec league football. I just think it's so cool and it's a blessing, man. You know what to do. Hit the subscribe button and become an official member of Club Shea Shea

where we do something before two something. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news and the best analysis delivered by the time you get your coffee. The show hits every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone, so I'm bringing in all the big guns from NFL media like Colleen Wolf. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends.

Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.