Allen Iverson is known for his frivolous spending habits, but this strip club story takes it to a whole new level.
Chris Ballard wrote an outstanding profile on Matt Barnes for Sports Illustrated that we highly recommend you read. Not only is it a good profile about Barnes, but it also shares some wonderful anecdotes about several other players.
Take this one Barnes shared about Iverson at strip clubs for instance.
“Allen was the first guy that showed me how NBA players spend money in strip clubs,” Barnes told Ballard. “That guy went. HARD. He’d throw so much money, and this was when I was first in the league, that I used to take my foot and scoop the s— under my chair and either re-throw it or put some in my pocket. He’d throw $30,000, $40,000 every time we went. I’m like, ‘You realize what I can do with this money?’”
That is awesome. There you have Allen Iverson personally funding the college education of some strippers by making it rain at the club. The guy was his own economic stimulus package.
But we already sort of knew this.
One of our favorite stories all time at LBS is about how Iverson supposedly never brought luggage on road trips and instead just bought new clothes everywhere he went. You read stories like these and it’s no surprise that he blew through $150 million in career earnings. So, no, even when you’re Allen Iverson, spending $40K a night at strip clubs is not a good idea. Then you just end up broke and owing tons in child support.
That wasn’t the only great story shared by Barnes. We appreciated this quote about his former 76ers coach Mo Cheeks, who barely gave him an opportunity to show what he could do.
“I hated Mo Cheeks. He was a dick,” Barnes said.
Barnes also is known for being a big fighter in the league. He says a lot of that attitude stems from having a chip on his shoulder that he feels helps make him who he is.
“That negativity is what keeps that chip on my shoulder, what makes me a dog, what makes me an a–hole on the court.”
Barnes is so dependent on the chip to motivate him that he will even scroll through his Twitter mentions to find some negativity to inspire him. The man also lauded Kobe Bryant for his attitude and blamed Lakers management for players not wanting to go there, not Kobe.
