The former Houston Rockets great remembered his stay in Texas with great fondness during his induction to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday.
Advertisement
This is probably the strongest class to enter the Hall of Fame since 2009, when Michael Jordan, John Stockton and David Robinson received the honor of joining this elite company. To me it was so gratifying to be able to cover him there, I could speak Chinese to him afterwards in the locker room.
O’Neal and Iverson are overshadowing the other inductees when it comes to publicity.
O’Neal, 44, headlines this year’s Hall of Fame class, which also includes former National Basketball Association guard Allen Iverson, former Houston Rockets center Yao Ming and current Michigan State men’s coach Tom Izzo, former WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes, Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf, longtime National Basketball Association referee Darell Garretson, former coach John McLendon and former players Zelmo Beaty and Cumberland Posey.
Iverson delivered a captivating 31-minute speech in which he overcame initial jitters during a memorable address that featured multiple standing ovations.
Allen Iverson wants to thank the haters, too. Fighting tears throughout his extended speech, Iverson thanked former Georgetown coach John Thompson “for saving my life”.
Iverson broke the mould of a conventional basketball superstar by doing things his way. The conviction was overturned in 1995 for insufficient evidence. You give me strength to move forward.
Get the rest of this report at ESPN. I walked out on the court and I looked at him. I thought of golf.
“That’s the only thing that gets me here, is my teammates”.
Even on Thursday, as O’Neal, sat at a table bearing a placard that read “Mr. O’Neal” he looked across the room at an empty table for one and said, “I don’t know how you miss this”.
Even the ones that were negative in my career, obviously to try prove them wrong was a motivation, he said Thursday after arriving late to a pre-induction press conference. “Orange fits perfectly for basketball”, Colangelo said. It’s never easy for an unbelievable talent like Allen to play for someone like me. Yao said in a statement announcing a youth basketball partnership with NBA China in 2012. I thank you all for the support over the years. I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done for me. “I think this spot belongs to the great Allen Iverson”.
“And obviously Shaq, dominant, big man, controlled the paint, which really emphasised the importance of having a big man”, Mourning said.
Advertisement
“When I just came to the United States I needed some time to adapt into the oversea culture”.
