By Lou Dubois (exclusive to No Mas)

Easily one of the most iconic and controversial athletes to ever play in sports-crazed Philadelphia, Allen Iverson’s well-documented NBA career almost never came to fruition. And now there’s a movie that talks all about it.

Famed director Steve James (best known for his work on Hoop Dreams) tells the story of Iverson as a multi-sport high school superstar embroiled in a controversy that if nothing else, brought about a severe racial divide in Hampton, Virginia, the hometown that both the director and the protagonist share. James’ documentary No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson examines the 1993 bowling alley brawl that landed Iverson, then the nation’s top high-school basketball player, in jail along with two friends/teammates. At its core, the movie is as much about race and equality in the south in the early 1990s as it is about a sports star and his divided community.

Since premiering last month at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, the documentary has opened to limited audiences across the country with positive reviews and will air nationally as part of ESPN’s 30 for 30 series this Tuesday at 8pm ET. It seemed only fitting to attend a screening of the movie among some of Iverson’s biggest fans during last weekend’s Philadelphia Film Festival Spring Preview, organized by the Philadelphia Film Society.

After watching this film, audiences should leave with a clearer understanding of Iverson the person, who has carried a me-versus-the-world mentality with him through his entire public life. It also gives some insight into what has often been referred to as his rocky relationship with the media. As Iverson told Tom Brokaw in 1993 (and shown in the film), “I felt like I was convicted before I went to court by the media.” Perhaps the most fascinating part of this film, however, is that Iverson and many others involved in this case refused to participate in James’ project.

“I’m not even sure if Allen knows that this movie was made,” producer Emily Hart said in a short Q&A after the screening in Philadelphia. “Through his agent, we were basically told that he would not be participating. That was the response we got from a lot of people on this movie—they didn’t want to reflect on the past.”

The film starts by addressing how important Iverson was to the local community in Hampton, as a multi-sport athlete in football and basketball that many expected to put their town on the national radar. His basketball games had to be played at college arenas to accommodate the large following he’d received.

On Valentine’s Day in 1993, Iverson was at a bowling alley with friends when alleged use of the n-word provoked a nasty brawl between a group of black teenagers and white adults. Iverson was charged with hitting a white woman over the head with a chair, though the only grainy video footage of the evening supported no such claim.

The case received an inordinate amount of national attention, including (as referenced in No Crossover) this controversial Sports Illustrated story by Ned Zerman that was accused of being highly inaccurate. As one Hampton native points out in the movie, the case “nearly tore this town apart” based on race.

As the trial progressed, much of the community felt Iverson was being made an example of by the local judicial system based as much on his celebrity as his participation in the crime. When he was convicted on felony charges under a “maiming by mob” statute designed to prosecute lynch mobs and sentenced to 15 years, the town exploded. Iverson ended up only serving only four months at the minimum-security Newport News City Farm before being released and becoming a mega-star.

The film offers a rare glimpse into Iverson’s character and oft-criticized persona, and he comes off as a charming youth who was burdened with an inordinate amount of pressure from his local community to succeed. At the time, Iverson said a friend quickly escorted him out of the bowling alley when the brawl broke out, knowing there was a lot more at stake for the hoops star than anyone else in the building. But in a fascinating 2006 interview with Stephen A. Smith shown in No Crossover, Iverson said: “I’m not saying I did what they said I did, but . . . I deserved to be exactly where I was at. I went through what I went through because God said to go through it. And I overcame it.”

Whether you think Iverson committed the crime or not, it’s a great documentary that James and his crew weaves together 16 years after the crime. It quickly becomes clear as some of the movie’s central stars are talking that despite a Hall of Fame career and a highly publicized life, many in Hampton still think about Iverson in terms of this trial (and in some cases, don’t want to talk about him for that reason).

The film also seems perfectly timed with Iverson’s recent off-court issues that were written about extensively by Smith, dealing with his addiction to drinking and casinos. To see one of the most transcendent athletes of the past decade before he was a star is a harrowing story not to be missed.

As James told the Philadelphia Inquirer about No Crossover last weekend, “(this film) is about Allen at that time of his life on some level, because it has to be. But really, it’s ultimately a film about the community. The best sports films are never really about sports. They go beyond that. Sports is a great arena to express things about race and class and the American dream and family.”

No Crossover premieres Tuesday night at 8pm ET on ESPN as part of the network’s “30 for 30 Series.” To view further information on the movie and to gather tune-in info, visit the “No Crossover” micro site on espn.com.

Words: Nick Strini and Chris Isenberg
Illustrations: James Blagden

1970 – Jim Bouton’s book, “Ball Four”, is published, exposing the public to the prevalence of drug use amongst professional athletes.

1970 – Pittsburgh Pirates’ pitcher Dock Ellis throws a no-hitter will tripping on LSD.
“The ball was small sometimes, the ball was large sometimes, sometimes I saw the catcher, sometimes I didn’t. Sometimes I tried to stare the hitter down and throw while I was looking at him. I chewed my gum until it turned to powder. They say I had about three to four fielding chances. I remember diving out of the way of a ball I thought was a line drive. I jumped, but the ball wasn’t hit hard and never reached me.”

1970′s – “Sweet” Lou Johnson sells 1965 World Series ring to cocaine dealer for $500.

1971 – MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn announces a long-term Drug Education and Prevention Program. According to the Program: “unproscribed possession and distribution of amphetamines and barbiturates (including greenies) is a violation of federal and states laws. Discipline will be considered by the Commissioner’s Office in cases of illegal involvement. Such matters will be handled on a case by case basis.”

1972 – Cy Young winner Denny McClain is charged with racketeering and cocaine possession with intent to distribute.

1985- Denny McClain was found guilty of federal charges involving racketeering, extortion and narcotics and sentenced to 23 years before the convictions are overturned.

1996- Denny McClain is convicted of conspiracy, theft, money laundering, and mail fraud. He is sentenced to eight years in Federal Prison.

1976 -1967 MVP Orlando “Baby Bull” Cepeda is caught claiming baggage containing 150 pounds of marijuana in a San Juan, PR. Cepeda spends 10 months in a Florida prison. He goes on to become a practicing Buddhist and to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

1978 – New York Ranger Don Murdoch is arrested for possession of cocaine. He is suspended for the1978-79 season but reinstated after 40 regular-season games.

1980 – Texas Rangers pitcher Ferguson Jenkins is suspended by Major League Baseball after he is arrested with cocaine, hashish, and marijuana, and convicted of narcotics possession in Canada. The Player’s Union files a grievance and the suspension is lifted.

1981 – Dr. Patrick A. Mazza, a former Phillies organization doctor, is cleared of criminal charges that he improperly prescribed amphetamine pills to Tim McCarver, Steve Carlton, Pete Rose, Larry Christenson, Larry Bowa and his wife, and the wife of Greg Luzinski. Mazza has his medical license suspended for one year.

1981 – “Confessions of a Cocaine Cowboy” by Dallas Cowboys Pro-Bowl linebacker Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson appears in the December issue of Playboy.

1983 – Henderson is arrested and charged with sexual assault and false imprisonment after he admits smoking crack with two teenagers in his apartment. He serves 28 months in prison.

1982 – When N.L. East favorite Montreal Expos finish third, team president John McHale blames cocaine: “We felt we should’ve won in 82. When we all woke up to what was going on, we found there were at least eight players on our club who were into this thing.” Rookie All-Star Tim Raines, the only user publicly identified says, “I had it in little gram bottles that I kept in my pocket, when I carried it in my pocket, I’d go in head first.”

1982 – Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star pitcher Steve Howe leaves the team three times for drug treatment and is suspended by the Dodgers. Howe goes on to be suspended for drug use a MLB record seven times.

1982 – Three-time Knick all-star Michael Ray Richardson traded to Golden State amid drug rumors.

1983 – Michael Ray is traded back east to the Nets. In camp, Michael Ray goes missing for three days; he then enters a drug rehabilitation program at NBA partner Hazelden Life Extension Institute.

1986 – Richardson fails his 3rd drug test He is banned from the NBA.

1987 – Richardson is denied reinstatement, a year later he moves to Europe to play professionally for the next 13 years. In 2003 Richardson returns to the U.S. and is named Denver Nuggets Community Ambassador.

1983 – The NBA introduces the first professional sports drug policy. The policy is aimed at stopping use of cocaine and heroin. According to the policy, Players who test positive in “reasonable cause” tests are banned from the league for a minimum of two years, when they may apply for reinstatement.

1983 – Utah Jazz forward John Drew misses 38 games for drug treatment.

1984 – John Drew voted “Comeback player of the Year” runner up.

1986 – Drew attempts to buy cocaine from an undercover police officer. He becomes the first player banned from the NBA under the leagues new drug policy.

1983 – Kansas City Royals Jerry Martin, Willie Aikens, and A.L. batting champ Willie Wilson plead guilty to attempting to buy cocaine and are sentenced to 3 months prison.

1983 – MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn suspends convicted Royals, Martin, Aikens, and Wilson, from baseball for one year.

1983 – Montreal Canadiens Ric Nattress is suspended for the 1983-84 season for possession of marijuana and hashish. Nattress is reinstated after 40 games.

1983 – Chili Davis tells the New York Times he was approached by the FBI and Giants coaches, “The coaches whisper, ‘Hey, they think you’re on cocaine. You’re not getting mad when you make outs any more.’”

1984 – Pitcher Pascual Perez serves three months in a Dominican Republic prison after a conviction for cocaine possession.

1984 – A year removed from playing in the NBA All-Star game and a stint in drug rehab, Dave “Skywalker” Thompson falls down a flight of stairs at Studio 54 disco, effectively ending his career.

1985 – Curtis Strong, a Pittsburgh caterer, drug dealer, and friend to baseball players is tried on 16 counts of distributing cocaine in Pittsburgh from June 1980 to May 1984.

Players Lonnie Smith, Keith Hernandez, Lee Lacey, Enos Cabell, Rod Scurry, Dale Berra, Dave Parker, John Milner, Jeff Leonard, Tim Raines, Al Holland, Lee Mazilli and mascot Kevin Koch, known to keep cocaine in his beak during his work as the “Pirate Parrot,” are listed as government witnesses and granted immunity.

Parker tells the court he had made it possible for his “primary supplier” to get into the Pirates’ clubhouse at Three Rivers Stadium and to fly on the same plane with the Pirates when they traveled to other cities to deliver drugs.

Hernandez tells the court: cocaine was “the devil within me.” He recalls using cocaine, including playing a game high. Berra, subject to defense attorney Adam Renfroe Jr.’s questions during cross-examination, tells of drug use as a Pirate:
Q. “Where did you get them [amphetamine pills, or, ‘greenies’)?”
A. “From Bill Madlock. You could get them from Willie Stargell.”
Q. “So Willie Stargell gave you amphetamine pills?”
A. “Yes.”

Lonnie Smith tells the court, “The majority of the time, I hid it on me, had these Playboy socks with pockets in them and I’d stick it in there. I had ways of folding my clothes, 10, 12 pairs of pants in a suitcase. I learned it from a Latin friend in Venezuela. People who wanted to check wouldn’t take the time. We Federal Expressed it back and forth, I Federal Expressed the money, he Federal Expressed the stuff. He would use a phony address for his address. I thought it was kind of creative in a way. He’d send me newspapers from Philadelphia and tape the stuff inside the papers.”

In cross-examination, Milner testifies regarding his tenure as a Met: “Willie had the red juice.”
Q. “Willie who?”
A. “Mays.”
Q. “Willie Mays?”
A. “That’s right, the great one, yes.”

Strong is convicted on 11 counts and sentenced to twelve years in fed-eral prison.

1985 – John “Hot Rod” Williams is acquitted of charges that he took money and cocaine to fix Tulane basketball games.

1986 – Borje Salming of the Toronto Maple Leafs is suspended for the season for admitting use of cocaine in a newspaper article. Salming was reinstated after eight games.

Draft Class of ’86
#2 Boston Celtics – Len Bias (Maryland) dies of cocaine induced heart attack in his University of Maryland dorm room on draft night. Bias allegedly smoked “a pure form of cocaine free-base” with teammates, one of whom is reported to have said, “Hey Len, you’re hitting the pipe too hard.”

#3 Golden State Warriors – Chris Washburn, (NC State) is banned from the NBA for life in 1989 after failing his third drug test. 1991 Washburn is convicted of cocaine possession and sentenced to three years in prison. 1996 Washburn is shot by someone to whom he allegedly owed money.

#6 Phoenix Suns – In 1987 William Bedford (Memphis State), is named in an indictment that charged he either witnessed or knew of drug transactions by Sun teammates. In 1988 Bedford enters rehab, and returns to play in the NBA until 1993.

#7 Dallas Mavericks – 10/17/1991 The NBA bans Roy Tarpley (Michigan) for life after refusing a drug test, his third drug violation of league drug policy. 10/1/94 Tarpley is reinstated. 12/94 Less than a year after signing a six-year, $22 million contract Tarpley is banned again for drinking alcohol, violating his after-care agreement. 11/19/1997 Tarpley is arrested and charged with burning his girlfriend’s stomach with a clothes iron.

1987 – Dwight “Doc” Gooden’s friend and teammate Darryl Strawberry tells the New York Times, “I saw on TV last night that people were saying he had a drug problem in 1985. It’s not possible. As far as having a serious drug problem now, that’s not possible, either.”

1987 – In a voluntary drug test to “end the gossip” Mets pitcher Dwight “Doc” Gooden tests positive for cocaine and checks into rehab for 28 days.

1994 – Gooden is suspended for 60 days for violating his aftercare program and failing two drugs tests.

1994 – Dodgers announce Strawberry has a substance abuse problem and place him on the disabled list.

1994 – Gooden fails additional drug tests and is suspended for the 1995 season.

1995 – MLB suspends Strawberry for 60 days after he tested positive for cocaine.

1996 – Gooden throws a no-hitter in a comeback with the Yankees.

1999 – Strawberry is charged with possession of cocaine and soliciting a prostitute. Strawberry allegedly solicited an undercover officer for sex for $50. When searched, police find 0.3 grams of powder cocaine was inside of his wallet.
2000 – A Florida Department of Corrections report says Strawberry tested positive for cocaine on Jan. 19. Strawberry is suspended for one year, his third cocaine-related suspension from baseball in five years.

1987 – Waltergate: FBI gambling investigation leads to indictments for ten Phoenix Suns players on drug charges. James Edwards, Jay Humphreys, Grant Gondrezick, Garfield Heard, Mike Bratz, Don Buse, Curtis Perry, Walter Davis, William Bedford, and team photographer Joseph Beninato. Walter Davis, the key prosecution witness is “forced to turn on teammates.” No charges result in a trial.

1989 – Bob Probert of the Detroit Red Wings is suspended from the NHL for life for smuggling 14.3 grams cocaine into the U.S. Probert is reinstated in 1990.

1994 – The Chicago Blackhawk’s suspend Probert and he enters an NHL rehab center in California.

1991 – Phoenix Sun Richard Dumas tests positive for cocaine and suspended by the team.

1995 – Dumas is banned from the NBA for violating an aftercare agreement prohibiting alcohol.

1997 – Dumas tells the New York Times “If they tested for pot, there would be no league.”

1991 – USC star Todd Marinovich, groomed by his father, former Raider lineman Marty Marinovich, to be an NFL quarterback, is pulled over after barhopping in Newport Beach. Police find a half gram of cocaine and marijuana.

1996 – Marinovich is arrested for growing a marijuana plant in his house.

1993 – Tennis prodigy Jennifer Capriati is arrested in Coral Gables, Florida for marijuana possession. She agrees to six months of drug counseling. Capriati returns to form and wins the 2001 Australian and French Opens, earning the USTA #1 ranking.

1993 – Robert Parish, the oldest player in the NBA is arrested when police find marijuana in his home and in a FedEx package addressed to him. Parish and Alaa Abdelnaby are rumored to be called “Chief and Chong” by teammates.

1993 – Cincinnati Reds pitcher Tom Browning is arrested for possession of marijuana.

1995 – Former Houston Rocket Vernon ‘Mad Max” Maxwell is found with marijuana when he is stopped for running a red light.

1996 – Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin is arrested with former Cowboy tight end Alfredo Roberts in a motel room with cocaine, marijuana and two topless dancers. Irvin is charged with felony cocaine possession. Prosecution witness Rochelle Smith described drug use and group sex with Irvin. Dallas police officer and Smith boyfriend Johnnie Hernandez is arrested when he attempts to hire an undercover police officer to kill Irvin. The NFL suspends Irvin for five games.

1996 – Portland police see Isaiah Rider smoke marijuana from a soda can and arrest him on possession charges.

1998 – NBA career leading scorer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is fined by customs officers in Toronto when found with marijuana.

2000 – Abdul-Jabbar is arrested in Los Angeles for driving under the influence of marijuana.

1998 – Lawrence Taylor is arrested in his New Jersey hotel room when police find a butane torch and other materials commonly used to smoke crack.

2002 – In his autobiography, “L. T.: Over the Edge”, Taylor admits he smoked crack cocaine before games and before his introduction to the NFL Hall of Fame.

2000 – Kevin Stevens of the New York Rangers is arrested for possession of crack cocaine and is admitted to the NHL’s treatment program.

2001 – Former Dallas Cowboys and 6 time Pro-Bowler Nate Newton is arrested in Louisiana when police find him driving a van containing 213 pounds of marijuana in a van he was driving.

2001 – While on bail Newton is arrested when police find him driving a van containing 175 pounds of marijuana. In 2003 Newton is sentenced to five years in federal prison.

2001 – Boxer Pernell Whitaker, a former champion in 4 divisions, is arrested on drug charges in Virginia Beach when police find cocaine among the boxer’s belongings when he is sentenced to four days in jail after pleading guilty to speeding and driving without a valid license.

2001 – Former All-Star Shawn Kemp checks himself into a drug rehabilitation program for cocaine abuse.

2002 – Damon Stoudamire is charged with felony possession of more than 150 grams of marijuana after police respond to a burglar alarm at Stoudamire’s house. Search later ruled illegal.

2002 – Stoudamire and Rasheed Wallace found with marijuana during a traffic stop.

2003 – Stoudamire sets off an airport metal detector carrying more than an ounce of marijuana wrapped in aluminum foil.

2003 – Zach Randolph faces a DUI charge after a police officer said he smelled a “strong odor of burning marijuana” coming from his Cadillac.

2003 – Qyntel Woods is found with marijuana and driving without a license or insurance during a traffic stop.

2004 – Former MVP and admitted steroid user, alcoholic, and abuser of painkillers Ken Caminiti dies in the Bronx, as a result of what the New York City Medical Examiner calls “acute intoxication due to the combined effects of cocaine and opiates.”