Allen Iverson on Charity and The Afterlife

I've always been a fan of Allen Iverson despite his reputation as one the NBA's bad guys. Much of that always seemed to come from the way he dressed, the way he wore his hair and the number of tattoos he has. None of that concerns me in the least.

Recently he provided some pretty interesting quotes to a reporter. Here are the highlights:

When asked about the highly publicized charity work organized by the league, he said it was "Fake."

"I just look forward to doing it. I don't need all the publicity that comes with it. I don't need that. When it's time for me to get toward that gate, either [God is] gonna say, 'Come in,' or He [is] gonna say, 'Turn around.' And a camera won't decide whether I get in or not."

Someone asked if Iverson thought he was going to heaven or hell.

"I've done a lot of good things in my life and done a lot of bad things in my life so I don't know. I hope the good things outweigh the bad things. I'm damn sure I don't want to go to hell.

"I'm not saying that I'm not in, because I think I am. Unless some things go dramatically wrong in the next how many years, I think I'll be welcomed through those gates."

He was asked if athletes should be considered role models?

"We have more impact on the world than people may think, than even we might think, you know what I mean? When I was younger, when we talk about role model-type situations, I never knew that we were important like we are.

"We are role models, regardless if we like it or not. It is something that we got to accept, but it is something that people should know that we're human and we make mistakes and we are not going to be perfect. You can want to be like Allen Iverson, but I don't think people should try to be like Allen Iverson. I think people should be better than Allen Iverson."