Darius Acuff Jr. Reveals Allen Iverson's Advice, Talks Relationship with NBA Icon in New Video

Sacramento Kings rookie point guard Darius Acuff Jr. disclosed the advice that he received from NBA legend Allen Iverson during his high school days.

"I met AI for the first time my senior year in high school playing at the Iverson Classic," Acuff said during a Saturday appearance on the Road Trippin' podcast. "I had just signed with Reebok. It's crazy, they had a little one-on-one stuff up there and he just showed up in the middle of it. I'm like 'Oh.' I'm like, 'There go AI.' I'm like 'Yeah, I'm finna win.' So yeah, we got to playing and I ended up winning the tournament. That was the first time he stood up. I shook his hand and I told him he was my favorite player. Ever since then, it's been a great connection. The number one thing he installed in me, he said, 'Just always be a dog first. Don't worry about nothing. Be a dog first. Go out there and play hard and everything else will come later.' It makes sense coming from a guy like him because he went out there and he hustled no matter what, you know, he was a hustler on the court and he's gonna get to it regardless."

"That's what he was giving advice to me and I appreciated that," he added. "Ever since then, it's been a great relationship. That's my dog."

Iverson established himself as one of the top offensive players in the league during his tenure in the association, earning four scoring titles to go along with an MVP award despite being just 6'0."

Acuff has also been able to make an early impact for the Kings this season after he was listed at 6'2" at the NBA draft combine.

The 19-year-old ranks No. 1 among all rookies with his averages of 25.4 points and 7.2 assists per game. He's also recording 3.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals on a nightly basis.

While Acuff is only shooting 41.1 percent from the field and 32.7 percent from three-point territory this season, he's compiled 44.6/38.0/88.6 shooting splits over his past eight games.