Former NBA All-Star Theo Ratliff talks Allen Iverson and bullying

Former NBA All-Star and Philadelphia 76ers legend Theo Ratliff is spending his retirement battling bullies around the country with new community project.

Theo Ratliff spent five seasons from 1997-01 and 2008-09 with the Philadelphia 76ers serving as the ultimate rim protector for the team. Teaming up with fellow All-Star Allen Iverson, he was a key contributor to the team’s NBA Finals run in 2001 until injury and a deadline trade to the Atlanta Hawks for center Dikembe Mutombo ended his tenure. Ratliff averaged 7.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game during his 16 seasons in the NBA.

Today, Ratliff is focused on helping kids through reading and putting a stop to bullying in different communities around the country. In his new book “Theo The Hero“, Ratliff shares the story of his childhood experience with bullying, and most significantly, the lesson he learned about dealing with bullies from the advice given to him by his mother, Camilia Ratliff-Eatman.

Ratliff kicked off his tour starting with P.S 284, “Lew Wallace School” located in Brooklyn, New York, dubbed “Theo The Hero Anti-Bully Ambassadors” through an initiative facilitated by Elite Learners Inc. He spoke to a classroom filled with eighth grade boys discussing the opportunities and responsibility to combat bullying in their community.

Ratliff took time after the presentation to share his thoughts on the current landscape of NBA centers and his former MVP teammate Allen Iverson.

What are your thoughts on the new role for centers in today’s NBA compared to your era?

“You got guys now stepping outside, where in the past that wasn’t a normal thing. You got a lot of guys that play like Hakeem Olajuwon. Hakeem really didn’t shoot 3s but you have a lot of guys that have that same skill-set, [Joel] Embiid, [DeMarcus] Cousins, [Karl-Anthony] Towns. I mean you can go down the list. All those guys are super athletic playing with guard handles.

Whereas guys when I came up, we didn’t really have dribbling coaches that worked on our dribbling and developing those skills. Now they are doing it so young as they grow they continue to keep that skill level.”

Are there any defensive minded big men in today’s game that remind you of yourself?

“Clint Capela is definitely changing the game for Houston with all the scorers he’s definitely dominating on the inside. He’s got that pick-and-roll thing down pat with [James] Harden and now Chris Paul. So his numbers are way up and he’s looking like an All-Star to me for real.”

Any memorable moment from your time playing with Allen Iverson in Philadelphia?

“So many with that guy talk about the heart of a lion, we were never out the game. I mean we already knew he could get hot at any minute and run 25 off anybody. You talk about a guy with determination and drive that he played with, that he practiced with a lot of people talk about his ‘practice’ stuff. When Allen practiced, he practiced like he played, all he needed was a little challenge. He just needed Eric Snow or Aaron McKie to say something crazy to him and he’d be out there like he’s playing a game.

“His true words, were you never know what the next day has promised so he gonna play every game like his last. He was the guy that epitomized that every time he stepped out on the floor.”

What sparked the project “Theo The Hero”?

“My publicist Michael Harris did a series of kids books and we decided that my story needed to be told in a kid friendly place to address literacy, which is also a big topic of bullying since I had gone through that at such a young age. Recognizing that these young kids need to have solution so they don’t feel like they just alone.

“It happens to the big guys too, so everybody has something somebody talked about in certain ways in which it becomes the bullying part. Having that opportunity to put that together and me having young kids it was just definitely a big topic around the country being able to put things together and after five years finally get a real program behind it. It’s always been a part of my foundation and what I talk about creating a platform for kids. I didn’t want to just come to a school leave a book somewhere and the kids only get for the moment whereas having a full curriculum will stay with the group.”

What is your ultimate goal for this project?

“The ultimate goal is being able to get kids to talk about a serious subject, which is bullying around the country. Then creating these young kids to be the ambassadors to fight against it. If you’re young fighting against it that mean you carry the torch every year and with eighth graders, they have a whole crew of kids that look up to them. If you’re saying the right message, those kids are gonna get the right message and as they grow, it becomes the same thing and eventually a movement instead of just a one-off.”

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Ratliff was a blue-collar type of player during his career, never afraid to get his hands dirty. It appears he continue that same trend in retirement today in trying to help the youth.