It just showed me he wasn’t afraid of the contact.
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Yao, who turns 36 on Sunday, was helped in donning his Hall of Fame jacket by O’Neal, his former National Basketball Association rival for the Los Angeles Lakers and at 7-foot-1 about the only one who could lend one final assist to the NBA’s biggest Asian star.
There was time for one last question in Thursday’s media availability, and the topic caused Iverson to pause and wipe away tears: teamwork.
Jack Sikma – Of all the players who have not yet been admitted into the Hall of Fame, few players generate quite as many interesting points on both sides of the argument as Sikma.
O’Neal was a two-time All American, the 1991 AP Player of the Year recipient and led LSU to three NCAA tournament appearances. But he was also a polarizing figure in a league struggling with racial issues, with his tattoos and cornrows and embrace of a hip-hop culture that was at odds with the corporate image the National Basketball Association wanted to project.
Iverson was “the greatest athlete his size, (and) he might have been the greatest competitor”, said former Sixers coach Larry Brown. I was looking forward to getting down to basketball.
Shaquille O’Neal and Allen Iverson headline the Class of 2016 to be enshrined on Friday. Without your love & support, I would never have become the Big Diesel. I totally understand why they didn’t. Former Philadelphia 76ers star Allen Iverson, current Michigan State coach Tom Izzo and women’s basketball icon Sheryl Swoopes are among the other inductees. “My God”, I said. Even with dismal offense, he’ll be one of those guys who at least ends up in the conversation every single year until he makes it in. I was poor all my life. It is technically possible for him to have idolized Shaq and sent him fan mail, even though he lived in China at the time and didn’t really know how to speak English. “That’s why I know God loves me”. I respect and honor all of the things that people helped me did for me. “I’m still finding my way”.
Joining the elite trio will be 4-time Women’s National Basketball Association champion Sheryl Swoopes, 27-year National Basketball Association referee Darrell Garretson, Michigan State University coach Tom Izzo, racial barrier-breaking coach John McLendon, Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf as a contributor and pioneer stars Zelmo Beaty and Cumberland Posey.
“That’s a great feeling for me”, he said.
“I want my legacy to be the guy that came out and gave everything he had,”Iverson said”.
O’Neal and Iverson are overshadowing the other inductees when it comes to publicity.
After he slipped on his custom orange blazer, Shaq theatrically waved off Hall of Fame president and CEO John Doleva, clearing the way for the man who once called himself “The Big Aristotle” to strut solo across the stage as camera bulbs flashed.
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“He told me I’m cut from the same cloth as him”, Thomas said. “I’m going to get my jacket AND my ring”. For someone so cool in big moments, the enormity of the Hall of Fame ceremony has gotten to him at times.
