The Best ‘Ted Lasso’ Speech Actually Happened in Real-Life (2024)

Ted Lasso may have had the perfect ending to wrap up its storylines at the end of Season 3, but few fans of the show will be disappointed to hear that the Apple TV+ series is coming back for a fourth time. More episodes means more time with our favorite characters, with the namesake of the series, played by Jason Sudeikis, leading the way. Ted is at once a lonely soul who will break your heart, yet also one of TV's most uplifting characters ever, thanks to his positive outlook and his wise quotes. In Season 1, while trying to get through to the selfish Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster), Ted gives a powerful motivational speech to his star player. If you're an NBA fan, it might sound familiar, as Ted quotes Allen Iverson's famous "We're talking about practice" outburst at the media word for word.

Allen Iverson is one of the greatest NBA players of all-time. Despite being just six-feet tall, he was one of the better scorers of his era. Iverson spent the vast majority of his basketball career with the Philadelphia 76ers, but despite all of his accomplishments, his most famous moment occurred off the court during a 2002 outburst. The 76ers had just lost to the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs and some were blaming A.I. for the defeat due to him missing practice. The questioning of his dedication to the team led to reporters getting to see a flabbergasted Iverson, who went on to say "practice" a whopping 22 times at his press conference. Here is just a snippet of what he said:

"We sitting in here—I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we in here talking about practice. I mean, listen: We talking about practice. Not a game. Not a game. Not a game. We talking about practice. Not a game. Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game like it's my last. Not the game. We talking about practice, man."

Allen Iverson, unfortunately, never won an NBA Championship, but he was the NBA Rookie of the Year, a several-time All-Star, and an NBA Hall of Famer. There are few athletes of the late '90s and early 2000s more popular than him, but his "practice" outburst defined his legacy, so much so that it was parodied and quoted relentlessly, including by Ted Lasso.

Ted Lasso Quoted Allen Iverson's Practice Rant Word for Word

The first season of Ted Lasso is a fish out of water story with Ted Lasso, an American college football coach, leaving his family behind to become the coach for a very different kind of football team, the Premiere League's dismal AFC Richmond. They're so bad that they bring in a guy who knows nothing about their sport, yet Ted begins to win everyone over with his enthusiasm and confidence. He has a harder time getting through to their arrogant best player, Jamie Tartt, who refuses to practice one day. In episode six, as a co*cky Jamie sits at his locker in front of his disappointed teammates, Ted Lasso walks up to him and quotes Allen Iverson word for word. While it's funny to see the rant used by Lasso, it's not at all a laughing matter.

Jason Sudeikis Spoke About Quoting Allen Iverson in 'Ted Lasso'

People made fun of Allen Iverson after his 2002 outburst, but they shouldn't have, because his response was an emotional one that came from a place of heartbreak. Seven months earlier, A.I.'s best friend, Rashaan Langford, was tragically shot to death. We focus on the "practice" part of his words, but we don't remember how he also talked about how he was upset because he had lost his friend, and how adding the loss on top of it was becoming too much to take.

Iverson's words come from a place of hurt and anger, and while Ted is hurt and angry at Phil, he's also trying to motivate him. He's not talking down to him as Iverson rightly was with reporters, but trying to get him to wake up. In an interview with Ben Travers of Indiewire, Jason Sudeikis spoke about deciding to do the Allen Iverson speech in the scene the night before, not in a moment of comedy but as a protest. He elaborated, saying:

“The reference by no means ever played to me as funny. Maybe somebody would say the moment is clever, but it was repurposing what I feel was a protest song by Allen Iverson in that moment and turning it into an opera, charged with more emotion.”

Ted Lasso has some of the best lines a TV character has ever had, whether they're funny, serious, sad, or taken from Allen Iverson. Sadly, with the news from Deadline that Phil Dunster won't be back for Season 4 of Ted Lasso, the coach is going to have to talk to someone else about practice.

Every season of Ted Lasso is available to watch on Apple TV+ in the U.S.

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