Allen Iverson made as many headlines off the court as he did on it.
The gifted guard was named MVP in 2001 and made the All-Star team for 11 consecutive seasons.
But his lifestyle and fiery personality often got him in trouble.
Iverson blew a $200million fortune on jewelry, cars, and nights out, later admitting to Afrotech that he was unprepared for fame.
One former teammate who saw the warning signs was Derrick Coleman.
When the No. 1 overall pick joined the league in 1996, Coleman was already a team leader for the Philadelphia 76ers.
The 1991 Rookie of the Yr revealed what he told Iverson during a chat with The Players’ Tribune.
“I used to inform him on a regular basis, ‘Yo, send your homeboys home, man. Because they are going to get you in trouble and blame you. They’re driving your automotive – who’s name is registered to? Allen Iverson,'” he said.
“After they pull out Allen Iverson, you recognize, they got guns in a automotive, they got weed, whatever, he ain’t nowhere to be found.”
Coleman left his second stint with Philadelphia in 2004 and met Iverson over a decade later in Detroit.
“As soon as he saw me, he began crying,” Coleman revealed.
“We had some drinks, and I’m like, ‘Motherf*****, what you crying for? I’ve seen you in a minute.’
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“He said, ‘I get emotional after I come around you.’ We’re talking real love.”
Iverson’s love of luxury cars is infamous – and it was Coleman who sparked it.
“I remember coming to practice sooner or later, and DC, Derrick Coleman, pulled up within the Rolls Royce and I used to be like, ‘Yo, what the f*** is that?’ Because I do not know what no Rolls Royce is,” he told the Knuckleheads Podcast.
“I used to be like, ‘Yo, what’s that, man?’ Had the drop top joint, too. And he was like, ‘Man, this known as an automobile. This isn’t a automotive, that is an automobile.’
“Next day, I got the drop joint.”
Coleman ended up playing the role of huge brother to Iverson.
Their relationship didn’t yield any Championships however the friendship would stand the test of time.
Now 57, Coleman made headlines for all the best reasons in 2016.
He drove 65 miles each day to deliver water to the people of Flint, Michigan, from his home in Detroit.
“It is a shock for some people to see a 6-foot-10 guy standing there,” Coleman told syracuse.com.
“They are saying, ‘Hey, man, you seem like Derrick Coleman.’ I tell them, ‘Yeah, I get that rather a lot.’
“After which they thank me, and it is a blessing. And I move on.”
