His journey to the Hall of Fame started on the Peninsula, where as a quarterback, defensive back, kick returner and point guard he led Bethel High to state football and basketball championships. Posting a picture of the two together on Instagram, Thomas wrote: “There will never be another Allen Iverson but I’m for damn sure going to be the closest thing to you”. I’m looking at his shoes, and I’m like, man, he’s got on the Jordans! I totally understand why they didn’t.
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Before that, he spent his first four seasons in Orlando, from 1992-1996, where he quickly began dominating the league, earning an All-Star nod each year while making his mark off the court with projects like his rap album, “Shaq Diesel”, and film, “Kazaam”, in which he played a genie that lived in a boombox.
“He told me I’m cut from the same cloth as him”, said Thomas. He earned the league’s Most Valuable Player award in 2001, and led the National Basketball Association in scoring four times.
Swoopes was a six-time WNBA All-Star and three-time league MVP who averaged 15 points over 12 seasons.
In addition, Jackson pointed out that he was happy that O’Neal was enshrined as a Laker. While he was terrific on a per-game basis – he averaged 19.0 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks while shooting 52.4 percent from the field and 83.3 percent from the foul line – he only played in 486 games in the National Basketball Association, and only 242 of them came over his final six years in the league.
Yao Ming, who inspired a generation of NBA fans in his native China, wistfully acknowledged a career that “ended too soon” as he was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday. The former LSU star will be presented at his Hall of Fame induction by four former National Basketball Association greats – Bill Russell, Julius Erving, Isiah Thomas and Alonzo Mourning. “The gift I get from you, is not only the height but the way you taught me to think, and to make decisions”.
Committees focused on preserving all areas from the game also selected four directly elected members, including Zelmo Beaty from the Veterans Committee, Yao Ming from the International Committee, Cumberland Posey from the Early African American Pioneers Committee and Jerry Reinsdorf from the Contributor Committee.
“Thank God for loving me and blessing me”, Iverson said, “to be the man that I am and having no regrets for the man that I am”.
For more on Iverson and why people love him, read this excellent new profile from The Undefeated.
“People took a small piece of an elephant, but left most of it behind”.
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Toward the end of his speech and with Russell by his side, O’Neal paid one more tribute to the man who taught him the game.
