The NBA has seen tremendous change in the way the game is played from the 90s era to today. The amount of physicality has toned down massively, but the number of technical fouls being handed out to players has seen an exponential rise. While players get technicals for staring down an opponent today, many stars got away with physical altercations on the court years ago! So, as the game is played today, these two former NBA champions could not help but reminisce about the old-school referees and how they conducted themselves back in the day.

In today?s NBA, especially in this last season, the officials handed out a lot of questionable technical fouls. But there was a time when referees were not afraid to talk back to players, one of who ended up calling out Allen Iverson.

Former NBA champions share throwback Allen Iverson story

Allen Iverson could be called one of the most controversial players off the court. While on the court, AI was a bonafide superstar. However, it was his off-court activities that were often highlighted in the news. AI was a trendsetter who brought about a cultural change in the league. Not just anybody could talk back to the 2001 NBA MVP. However, one official did.

In the most recent episode of KG Certified, Boston Celtics legends Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce talked about the way referees handled themselves and players back in the day. And one story came up in which the Philadelphia 76ers legend, Allen Iverson, was involved. The Big Ticket shared a story of Iverson and his clash with a ref.

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Garnett said, ?Mark Davis told Allen Iverson, I?ll beat your little a** after calling the foul. He said, ?Hey, it ain?t no foul?. ?Yes, it?s a foul?. ?Ain?t no f**king foul. Boy, I?ll beat your little a**?. I was like, ?Mark, what???

Garnett also stated that the league was trying to find better ways to improve the perception of referees. Pierce joked that they need to start selling jerseys for the refs. The duo went on to talk about more incidents from referees back in the day.

Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce talk about other incidents

Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce talked about numerous other officials from back in the day. One such incident was veteran official Joey Crawford ejecting San Antonio Spurs legend Tim Duncan for laughing while sitting on the bench. Garnett called Crawford a “gangster”.

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Garnett also mentioned the names of a few players who talked non-stop trash with officials. He named Gary Payton, Karl Malone, and Michael Jordan to name a few. But the only difference was that the referees from back in the day talked back some trash of their own instead of handing out technicals or ejecting players from the game.

Garnett himself was a big trash talker and would often get into it with other players. When someone like him is calling old-school refs bada**, that means something was definitely up! What are your thoughts on the story? Let us know in the comments.