Too many kids are being raised in households where little or no emphasis is placed on education, morals and decency. Too many are being raised in affluent households where parents are preoccupied with their Fortune 500 careers and summer homes in the Hamptons to make sure their children have proper role models. At best, Iverson is sending mixed signals. But his thug-life image is telling our youth just the opposite. Thug life doesn't look at going to class regularly and making good grades as cool things.
Thug life is all about drinking excessively, smoking weed and generally being irresponsible.
And when Iverson and other athletes perpetuate that image by the way they dress and act, they are essentially promoting those things. We're talking 15 minutes, tops. Then, when he's not playing basketball, if he wants to wear his cap sideways over his do-rag and drape himself in gold medallions big enough to choke a horse, it's okay by me. All we're talking about here is being a little responsible for 15 lousy minutes, not changing the fabric of anyone's true self. Surely, Iverson and others can understand that.