Allen Iverson says he 'hates' a TV personality; why suspicion on Twitter turned to Jason Whitlock

Tom Gatto

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Allen Iverson says he 'hates' a TV personality; why suspicion on Twitter turned to Jason Whitlock image

Allen Iverson isn't over the things a particular TV sports personality has said about him over the years. Iverson said so during an apperance on the "All the Smoke" podcast with Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes that dropped Thursday.

AI didn't want to drop a name, although he did specify it wasn't Skip Bayless. But Jackson and Barnes said they knew who it was.

(Language warning for the clip below.)

"I know you know who I'm talking to. I know you hate me, and trust me, trust me, I don't hate nobody ... yes, I do. I hate you," Iverson said while looking directly into a camera. 

"You and your daddy," Iverson said in conclusion. "You and your daddy, and the world can figure it out. But I ain't saying your name."

MORE: How Stephen A. Smith supposedly ruined an AI-McGrady pairing

That sparked a midday Twitter mystery. The "and your daddy" had people thinking perhaps Howard and Spike Eskin of Philadelphia sports talk infamy (Spike tweeted that Iverson barely knows him), but all roads soon led to one primary suspect: Outkick the Coverage pundit Jason Whitlock.

The "daddy" part created a second fishing expedition that pulled out Clay Travis, the Outkick honcho whom Whitlock has joined from FS1, but that's circumstantial at best.

If we're taking journalistic priors, then there's a pretty strong case for suspecting Whitlock, the newspaper columnist turned talking head. Presenting Exhibits A-D:

September 2016, on FS1's "Speak for Yourself," just before Iverson was to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Whitlock reiterated his long-held opinion that Iverson's hip-hop persona damaged the NBA.

December 2009, in a column for FoxSports.com, back when it was still doing the printed-word thing. Whitlock flamed Iverson, essentially calling him an overrated, uncaring diva.

"In the pantheon of spoiled, media-cuddled, overhyped professional basketball players, Allen Iverson reigns supreme," Whitlock wrote in his second paragraph.

It was off to the races from there.

May 2008, again for Fox, trying to make a connection between Iverson and Carmelo Anthony's tattoos to TV ratings for the NBA (the original version goes to a 404 page).

"Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony have more tats on their hands than the entire Spurs roster.
"I know many of you probably think the number of tattoos doesn’t influence viewing habits. You’re wrong. Like everything else televised, appearances matter. There’s a reason you don’t see nude scenes in movies with fat people. Trust me, fat people have sex. It’s just no one wants to see it. Not even fat people."  

August 2004, in a column for ESPN.com, when Iverson and Team USA were crashing out of the Summer Olympics. This time he offered a backhanded compliment ("Hey, don't diss AI and the boys when playing for the Red, White and Blue"), but then a shot:

"We owe Iverson support when he's representing us abroad. Save the hatred for when he's back home skipping Sixers practices and boring us to death playing a two-man game with Glenn Robinson."

Whitlock, who testified Thursday before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee on diversity in America, has yet to respond on Twitter. responded on Twitter on Friday, saying he didn't think he was on Iverson's radar. He threw out two father-son media combinations: the Le Batards (Dan and Gonzalo, i.e., Papi) and the Schaaps (Jeremy and the late Dick). 

This article has been updated with tweets from Whitlock.

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.