George Gervin: The Coolest Man to Ever Play the Game

All The Smoke

The Black Effect and iHeartPodcasts

Basketball, Society & Culture, Sports

4.8 • 7.4K Ratings

🗓️ 30 October 2025

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When it comes to cool, few ever matched George “Iceman” Gervin. The Hall of Famer pulled up to ALL THE SMOKE for a sit-down with Matt to talk through every era of his basketball journey, from the ABA to today’s game. Ice reflects on his early days teaming up with Dr. J on the Virginia Squires, the punch that ended his college career, and the lessons that made him one of the greatest scorers ever. He breaks down how he perfected his signature finger roll, recalls the 1978 scoring race with David Thompson, and opens up about being teammates with a young Michael Jordan, including the controversy that surrounded their 1985 All-Star Game. Off the court, Gervin shares stories about his Detroit roots, his friendship with Marvin Gaye, and how Nike stole him from Adidas. There’s only one Iceman, and his story is just as smooth as his game.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is an I-Heart podcast.
0:04.3	Welcome back, all the smoke.
0:06.8	We got a legend in the building today, 12-time All-Star, 7-time All-N-B-A, four-time scoring champ,
0:13.2	one of the original Nike athletes.
0:15.9	He's still wearing them to this day.
0:17.3	Now, the point total is up for debate.
0:18.8	Let's talk about your point total, because you should
0:21.1	have about what, 26,000? 26,595. What do they have you on the books for? They only got me
0:31.1	books with 20-something thousand. They owe you about almost 7,000. Yeah, they ain't going to get to me.
0:36.6	Welcome to the show, George Gervin, man.
0:38.6	Thank you very much for coming in.
0:41.1	Thanks for having me, man.
0:42.4	Good to be a part of this, man.
0:44.7	I've been watching you guys a long time, man.
0:46.9	Thanks for the invite.
0:48.3	Thank you for coming out.
0:49.4	You're out in L.A. for the Big Three.
0:52.2	How has that experience been for you
0:53.7	and how are you guys doing this season?
0:55.0	I love Big Three, man.
0:56.0	I'm here, my eighth year with Cube.
0:59.0	I'm so proud of them to have this vision, man,
	...

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