{"id":743541,"date":"2026-05-25T11:45:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T11:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/743541\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T11:45:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T11:45:15","slug":"a-bentley-its-nothing-to-me-allen-iverson-said-teammate-mistook-250k-gift-for-rookie-hazing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/743541\/","title":{"rendered":"“A Bentley, it’s nothing to me” – Allen Iverson said teammate mistook $250K gift for rookie hazing"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Allen Iverson<\/a> famously gave his Bentley to Larry Hughes<\/a>, his rookie teammate on the Philadelphia 76ers<\/a>, many took it as another example of the NBA legend\u2019s extravagance.<\/p>\n

Iverson was taking the league by storm back then with his unique style of play and his influence on the league\u2019s culture, earning him fame and fortune. So, well aware of his superstar status, he had no problem gifting his rookie his $250,000 luxury car after the rookie expressed interest in it while they were walking through the players\u2019 parking lot after practice.<\/p>\n

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\u201cA Bentley, it\u2019s nothing to me\u2026But it\u2019s funny, because it\u2019s not like that for everyone. If you\u2019re AI\u2026It\u2019s a Bentley. If you\u2019re not? It\u2019s a BENTLEY,\u201d he wrote<\/a> for the Players Tribune in 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got this look\u2026.He\u2019s in a Bentley Daze. Just looking at it\u2026. and then looking at me\u2026I don\u2019t even hesitate. \u2018Bro, you can have mine.\u2019 I\u2019ve never seen anyone so grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Hughes\u2019 gratitude turned into skepticism after he took his Bentley out for a spin \u2014 a story that Iverson would never forget.<\/p>\n

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Hughes thought A.I. was hazing him<\/p>\n

By the time Hughes was drafted, Iverson was already making millions in salary and endorsements. So, giving away his Bentley to Hughes did not affect him that much. Meanwhile, the rookie was elated.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo he\u2019s got the car going, he\u2019s feeling himself, and now he\u2019s probably thinking, Alright, I\u2019m taking the long way home today,\u201d Iverson said. \u201cYou\u2019re driving that BENTLEY for the first time. And you\u2019re not really trying to be on some HIGHWAY. You\u2019re trying to be SEEN.\u201d<\/p>\n

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However, the day after his first ride, Hughes didn\u2019t seem to be happy. Apparently, he ran out of gas while driving somewhere in West Philadelphia, and he thought it was all part of Iverson\u2019s plan as a form of good old-fashioned rookie hazing, which was still common back then. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you talkin\u2019 bout, rookie hazing?\u201d Iverson asked Hughes after his accusation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what Larry believes, to this day: That I\u2019d given him my car like I knew it had no gas left in the tank \u2014 and then like I knew he wouldn\u2019t be able to read a Bentley\u2019s gas meter,\u201d he said. \u201cMy guy spent almost half the night out there before he got himself saved.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Related: “I’d pull up in a Bentley, she’ll say, ‘Son, I want one'” – Allen Iverson on how spoiling his mom and helping everyone drained his fortune<\/a><\/p>\n

Iverson splurged on luxury cars\u200b<\/p>\n

According to Iverson, his biggest purchase was a Rolls-Royce<\/a>. He once saw former NBA player Derrick Coleman arrive at practice in one and immediately wanted it for himself.<\/p>\n

Well, he certainly had the means to get one, having earned over $200 million during his 14-year Hall of Fame career. So he bought one and added it to his insane luxury car collection, which included Bentleys and a Mercedes-Maybach.<\/p>\n

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However, this extravagant spending would later backfire for Iverson. He was forced to declare for bankruptcy after his retirement \u2014 a result of his recklessness with money and his mistake of financially supporting too many people.\u200b<\/p>\n

\u201cI was out of control with it, man,\u201d Iverson said<\/a>. \u201cAnd then I thought I was going to play forever, you know what I mean? And God put me in check. You know what I\u2019m saying? That money got funny. You understand?\u201d<\/p>\n

Before \u201cmoney got funny,\u201d though, Hughes got to experience and enjoy a small part of Iverson\u2019s fortune thanks to his gift.<\/p>\n

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It became an unforgettable moment in his rookie year \u2014 made even more memorable when he found himself stuck somewhere in West Philly with an empty tank in his new Bentley, convinced that The Answer had got him good.<\/p>\n

Related: “Bro, do you know you just signed for $400M?” – Derrick Rose asked his brother if he could buy a Bentley<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Basketball Network<\/a> on May 24, 2026, where it first appeared in the Off The Court<\/a> section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Allen Iverson famously gave his Bentley to Larry Hughes, his rookie teammate on the Philadelphia 76ers, many…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":743542,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3724],"tags":[6170,7,91683,9350,207],"class_list":["post-743541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-allen-iverson","tag-basketball","tag-bentley","tag-larry-hughes","tag-philadelphia-76ers"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116635049870945179","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=743541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/743542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=743541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=743541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=743541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}