Gilbert Arenas takes dig at NBA 'crucifying' Allen Iverson for missing practice but now laying load management rules: "They are missing paid games"

Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas brought Allen Iverson to the topic of load management, who was famously criticized for not attending practice during his first stint with the Philadelphia 76ers. The former Washington Wizards point guard talked about how the league has criticized AI for missing practice but lauded current stars for resting.

Arenas shared his thoughts on the new tradition of players sitting out and missing games to rest. Load management has been an issue in the league for quite some time now and players are constantly missing games to rest their bodies multiple times in the season.

"When the game come, he was there 100%, he's running 1,000 miles an hour. He's giving you his all. And y'all crucify this man for that. And now you're allowing, you're putting rules in... He was missing free practice, they're missing paid games."

Teams have started to go with the tradition of resting players to protect their investment in the long run. However, it has started to hurt the business side of the league, as fans are constantly complaining about why they aren't able to watch their favorite players in action.

You might also be interested in reading this: "I mean how silly is that" - Allen Iverson once lost his cool and said 'practice' 22 times in 2 minutes

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The story behind Allen Iverson's "practice" rant

During the 2001-02 NBA season, the Sixers were in poor shape as they were below .500, a year after Allen Iverson won the scoring title. In the book "Not A Game" Kent Babb wrote about how the situation between Iverson and head coach Larry Brown started to become bitter.

Journalists started to ask about Iverson's lack of presence in practice, which happened in the middle of the season. The 11-time All-Star became defensive and started to go on a rant about practice.

"We sitting in here -- I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we in here talking about practice." Iverson said. "I mean, listen: We talking about practice. Not a game. Not a game. Not a game. We talking about practice. Not a game. Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game like it's my last. Not the game. We talking about practice, man."

The story of Iverson's practice rant has aged like wine. Especially now that players opt to sit out games, which is hurting the league.