No Subject

Struggling for a toehold in the playoffs, the 76ers
needed a diversion. Charles Barkley obliged.

The Houston Rockets forward and well-known former
Sixer -- opining in the April 19 edition of Sports
illustrated about "bad basketball and bad players and
young guys whose memories are too short" -- went on to
say this about Allen Iverson:

"Take Iverson. I can't stand that guy. He has to show
up for practice every day. He has a responsibility to
cut the crap and not have some drama with the coach
every week. He's showing no respect to anyone, least
of all the game."

Yesterday, Iverson responded.

"And I can't stand his fat a -- , either," Iverson
said. "He needs to go lose some weight. . . .

"What has he done? Nothing but spit on kids, throw
people through windows, and talk racist [ stuff ] when
he has a white wife, and talk crazy about black
people."

Iverson was just getting started.

"He's nobody, man. How many years has he been in the
league? He hasn't even won a championship yet. To me,
he hasn't done anything. .. .

"I've said it before: Charles Barkley ain't [ worth
anything ] ! . . . He's stealing money right now. To
me, he's the Houston Rockets'problem, if they have
any. He must be mad at me. He must be player-hating or
something.

"I've never criticized him before, but now it's
getting out of hand. Why am I on his mind so much? Why
is he thinking about me or worrying about me?"

Iverson added that, under different conditions, he
might heed Barkley's words.

"I've said before that if Michael Jordan criticizes
me, Isiah Thomas, Magic Johnson or Larry Bird, then
all right. Maybe I'd have to listen to what they have
to say and do some soul-searching.

"But Charles Barkley? . . . What has he done to
criticize somebody like that? He hasn't done anything
but throw [ a bar patron ] through windows, spit on
little kids. What has he done besides spit on little
kids?

"You can't say that about me. You can talk about my
game all you want, but I ain't never spit on a kid.
Can't no little kid come up to me and ask why did I
spit on him. But he got kids that can come up to him
and ask him about that."

When Iverson left the First Union Center after a
90-minute practice, he was still fuming.

"Charles Barkley . . . He's nobody."
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