Iverson enters the hall as not only one of his generation’s most exciting players, and pound for pound one of the best ever, he also swaggers in as one of the great cultural influencers and counter-culture heroes of the 90’s and 00’s.
Advertisement
Just everything – and it was tremendous. Dressed in a black suit with a black shirt and tie, he paused repeatedly to collect himself at the start of his speech while thanking his three presenters – Larry Brown, Julius Erving and John Thompson – as well as members of his family. Dr. J was the ultimate mentor.
With Allen Iverson and Shaquille O’Neal taking the stage in Springfield, MA today for their official inductions into the annals of basketball history, Reebok unveils two limited edition variations of their respective signature sneakers – Allen Iverson’s Question Mid and Shaq’s Shaq Attaq. All the mistakes I would make, I didn’t even realize I was making mistakes.
Man, I love ya’ll, too.
“We all look older and fatter than when we first met”, Yao, 35, joked as he reminisced about his career. I gave it. To my teammates, to my coaches and my fans. To me, in my eyes, he’s the best coach ever.
His career averages – though an impressive 19.0 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks – didn’t put him in the same category as some of the greats who came before him.
He says he never attempted a jump shot until he was in high school.
“I treasure each and every moment”. My mom went to Georgetown and begged him to give me a chance, and he did. They made it so easy for me to believe in myself, because I didn’t want to let them down. And I followed his lead all the way. These three individuals are all famous big men among National Basketball Association history.
“That’s the only thing that got me here is my teammates”, he said, his voice trembling. “For giving me the opportunity”. “God, man. Why it can’t be just great man?”
As expected, Iverson became emotional talking about his gratitude and love for his family.
The Peninsula, of course, also is where a racially charged 1993 fight at a bowling alley landed Iverson, then a minor, in jail on trumped-up felony charges that an appeals court later set aside. Somehow, A.I. worked in Chappelle’s Show and Rick James. You want to know why? But the origin of it actually stems from a Georgetown walk-on.
The 2000-01 Sixers, coached by Brown, fought through the Eastern Conference to take on the Lakers in the NBA Finals.
The “Celebrate” iterations of Iverson’s Question Mid and O’Neal’s Shaq Attaq are available now via reebok.com, and both retail for $275.
“The Philly fans”, he said, triggering another raucous reaction from them.
Advertisement
My favorite memory of Yao as a player – other than reading pieces like this and getting a warm feeling that, as a Rockets fan, Yao was ours to cherish, and ours alone – was in a Rockets loss. 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. It was super cool to hear each name.
