Iverson's "mile-a-minute" lifestyle would make for compelling TV, says ESPN's Mark Shapiro. Gerard Rancinan/SI
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Those who saw Allen Iverson's appearance last week on the debut of ESPN 2's Quite Frankly were rewarded with something increasing rare on television these days: the unexpected. There was Iverson, equal parts raconteur and provocateur, offering unfiltered opinions on everything from the atmosphere of last year's Sixers' team ("Everybody uptight, everybody seemed like they were mad all the time") to media coverage of a long-ago domestic dispute ("Man, they even said I threw my wife out naked. I don't want nobody to see my wife naked, period. So what makes you think I'm going to send her out of the house for everybody to see her naked. ... Why would I expect somebody to look at me as a man if I did that to my wife?") to a self-critique ("I'm not perfect. I'm not even 50 percent perfect.").

The show even included an Oprah moment: Tears welled up in Iverson's eyes as he watched a tape of former coach Larry Brown speaking of his love for Iverson and his former player's potential to make an impact on kids. While it's far too early to make any critical judgment of Stephen A. Smith as a talk-show host, one thing is clear: Allen Iverson is a television star.

Two years ago Mark Shapiro, ESPN's executive vice president of programming and production, told Sports Illustrated that Mike Tyson was at the top of his wish list for an athlete reality show subject. That was then, and this is now: They don't make reality shows about missionaries. "It's unfortunate that our viewers would find a reality series on an explosive figure like Mike Tyson uncompelling," Shapiro says. "[But] a life of caring for underprivileged people, as [Tyson] says he's going to do, just isn't as riveting as the ticketing-time-bomb life."

Shapiro has a new star in mind. "We'd love to do a reality series on Allen Iverson," he said prior to Iverson's appearance on Smith's show. "[Allen's] life is mile-a-minute. If we could have a no-holds-barred, all-access, 24-7 reality series in the life of athlete X, Allen Iverson would be at the top of the list."

Would Iverson be interested? His agent, Leon Rose, told SI.com this week that Iverson would at the very least entertain a offer from Shapiro.

"It's flattering," Rose said. "Allen is a private person but I'm sure if ESPN made a proposal, he would look at it."

Stay tuned.