"I believe that whatever we have, regardless of a trade being done or not, I feel we have a shot. I've just got to believe that we're going to be all right. I've got to just play basketball"
About this Quote
The context matters: trade talk turns athletes into assets, and Iverson was often treated as both icon and problem to be solved. When he says “whether a trade [is] being done or not,” he’s acknowledging the brutal suspense of being evaluated in real time, publicly, by people who can rewrite your life with a phone call. The subtext is about control. He can’t control the front office, the media cycle, or the narratives about “chemistry.” He can control only one thing: the next possession.
That’s why the final pivot - “I’ve got to just play basketball” - hits as both defiance and surrender. It rejects the soap opera around him without pretending it doesn’t exist. It’s also Iverson’s brand of leadership: not the polished, podium-ready promise of order, but the insistence that belief is an action. In a league where stability is marketed and rarely delivered, he offers the only honest strategy: keep moving, keep scoring, keep faith until the paperwork proves otherwise.
Quote Details
| Topic | Teamwork |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Iverson, Allen. (2026, January 17). I believe that whatever we have, regardless of a trade being done or not, I feel we have a shot. I've just got to believe that we're going to be all right. I've got to just play basketball. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-believe-that-whatever-we-have-regardless-of-a-37452/
Chicago Style
Iverson, Allen. "I believe that whatever we have, regardless of a trade being done or not, I feel we have a shot. I've just got to believe that we're going to be all right. I've got to just play basketball." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-believe-that-whatever-we-have-regardless-of-a-37452/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I believe that whatever we have, regardless of a trade being done or not, I feel we have a shot. I've just got to believe that we're going to be all right. I've got to just play basketball." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-believe-that-whatever-we-have-regardless-of-a-37452/. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.






