J-Speaks: Hall of Fame Will Induct "The Answer"

There are a lot of words that you can use to describe basketball superstar Allen Iverson. Electric, fun, exciting, relentless, bold, tough and special to name a few. The other word is loyal, sometimes to a fault, but most of the time wonderful. On the hardwood, he was amazing, fabulous and determined. He played each game as he said, “Like it was his last.” It made him a perennial All-Star, MVP of the NBA and a force of nature that paved the way for a lot of today’s stars. In a matter of months, you will also be able to call the 1997 Rookie of the Year and something not even he would have ever thought possible.

Last week at the NCAA Final Four in Houston, TX Allen Iverson, current NBA on TNT/NBA TV analyst Shaquille O’Neal and former Houston Rockets center Yao Ming highlighted a stunning 2016 Elected Class into the Naismith Hall of Fame, where they will be inducted in Springfield, MA this September.

Joining the No. 1 overall pick in the 1996 Draft, O’Neal and Ming are Michigan State Spartans Men’s Basketball Coach Tom Izzo, Bulls’ owner Jerry Reinsdorf, Four-time WNBA champion with the Houston Comets and Olympic Gold Medalist Sheryl Swoopes; former St. Louis/Atlanta Hawk Zelmo “Big Z” Beaty; former coach John McLendon; former NBA referee Darrell Garretson and former player Cumberland Posey.

“I used to say my biggest accomplishment was just getting drafted, whether it was the first pick or the 100^th or whatever,” Iverson said back on Apr. 4 when the 2016 class was announced. “But now this is the best feeling because it’s a tribute to everybody who helped me and stood by me, regardless. My actions right or wrong, there were people who supported me through this long, hard journey.”

If you really look at this up close, it is fitting that one of the smallest guards to ever play on the professional hardwood is going to be immortalized flanked by two of the tallest and most dominant centers to ever play.

While he might have been just ‘5’11” 160 pounds on a good day, his game and how he attacked the basket not to mention his persona and reach to others that watched him was just as big as the size and game of O’Neal and Ming.

Iverson though was more than just the 26.7 points and 6.2 assists per game he averaged in his 14-year career. He was more than just his 11 All-Star appearances, four scoring titles and being named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the NBA back in 2001.

He was a dynamic force that brought it each night whether at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA or in the opposing team’s gym. He had wicked crossover that left a lot of defenders in his wake and he left die hard and casual fans shouting, crying and screaming for more.

He was a skinny guard who thrived in the land of the giants because he had no fear with the ball in his hands. He felt nothing but joy of going into the paint and taking it all the way to the bucket even if it meant getting knocked on his rear end and landing more often than not hard on the floor and getting back up time and time again.

“A.I. was the type of guy you couldn’t break,” O’Neal, who was the MVP of The Finals back in 2001 said of Iverson. “I tried to break him a couple times. A lot of guys when they tried to come in there with all that fancy stuff, I tried to put them on their back. But he just kept coming back. He hated to lose. That’s the type of guy you want in a back alley with you. The type of guy you want to have on your team. He was a joy to watch.”

With that being said, Iverson was also someone that you loved to death or you despised with every fiber of your being. He at times walked to the beat of his own drum and there was no way to dress up the image that he portrayed at times in his career.

To put that into perspective, the dress code that is in place now in the NBA is a lot in retrospect because of Iverson. The best example of that is last week at the announcement of the 2016 Hall of Fame class, Iverson entered the ceremonies with ripped jeans, a t-shirt bearing the king of hearts, a red leather baseball cap.

While he has said many times he is comfortable with all that transpired in his NBA career, but he also said that if he could do anything all over again, he would have had a better approach to how he and former Sixers head coach Larry Brown co-existed.

“If I could have a wish as an athlete, I wish I had bought into what he was trying to give me all along,” Iverson said. “I was just being defiant, being a certified (expletive) for nothing, when all he wanted was the best for me. I didn’t take constructive criticism the way I should have. When I finally caught up to that, that’s when I went to being an MVP.”

That year was in 2001 when Iverson led the Sixers to the best record in the Eastern Conference at 56-26; their first Atlantic Division title since 1989-90; Iverson won MVP and they made it all the way to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1983, but lost to O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Phil Jackson and the Lakers 4-1.

The thing about that unforgettable season for the Sixers, their best in quite some time then, was the summer leading up to the season, there were rumors that Iverson was on the verge of being traded. It had gotten so bad between Brown and Iverson that it put then owner Pat Croce in a corner where he had to make a choice. After a very serious conversation with the Sixers’ star, Iverson came to the realization that he had to change if he wanted to remain in the city of “Brotherly Love,” which he did.

Unfortunately, that good fortune did not last as the Sixers never made it back to The Finals and Iverson and Brown exited Philadelphia.

For Iverson, his reckless disregard for his body, which earned him his nickname “The Answer” made him a star and a lightning rod to those who disapproved of his lifestyle, his friends and his daily wardrobe.

While on the surface he brushed it off, it did bother him very deeply.

“I’m human, just like you. I hurt. I bleed. I read things and they affected me. I did let them get to me at times,” Iverson said.

“What I had to learn is that some people are just not going to like you. I had to have thick skin, when I would see what people would say or write about me. Now, I just concentrate on the people who say, ‘I love you, A.I.’ I took until this old-ass age of mine to realize that. I feel so good for everybody who helped me. I’m talking about the true fan who from Day One was like, ‘Ok, I’m an Allen Iverson fan.’ I want them to sit back and feel like they accomplished this, because you can’t do nothing by yourself. You need somebody with you when you’re down to pick you back up. I want everybody who rooted for me to feel good about today.”

This is a day we all as basketball fans should feel good about. This is a player for better or worse had a major impact on the game not just here in the U.S., but around the world. His game was something to marvel. How he played and how he looked inspired the likes of today’s stars like four-time MVP, two-time champion LeBron James and perennial All-Star Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks.

On the court, he was worth the price of admission. At times off the court, he was an easy target from how he dressed, to how he treated others at times. He was like many of us at a young age given wealth and fame, he had tough moments that played right in front of the public. He found a way though to just keep going and he got into the one place many can only dream of, the Hall of Fame in their sport.

He also changed is approach to life and it made him a better in more ways than one.

“I’ve changed… I’ve changed a whole bunch. I’m a better now boyfriend. I’m a better father. I’m a better friend. I’m a better son. I’m a better brother,” Iverson said.

“I’ve learned a lot. I’ve hit the ground so many times and had to get back up. I’ve learned a lot. I’m not Allen Iverson at 21 years old. I had to learn a whole bunch.”

He learned a lot, sometimes the hard way, but along that way he entertained us on the hardwood. He became an inspiration of what one can do when they put their mind to something. It got Allen Iverson from being a statistic and he became an aforementioned inspiration and the truest form of motivation. He went from the jail house to Georgetown University to the No. 1 overall pick by the Sixers in 1996 Draft to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

More than anything else he showed the value of a relentless determination of being great even when others doubt you. When Allen Iverson is enshrined into the Hall of Fame in September, he will have a lot to say and we all look forward to hearing what he has to say.  

Information, statistics and quotations are courtesy 4/9/16 12 a.m. NBATV’s “Gametime,” presented by KIA with Vince Cellini, Mike Fratello and Stu Jackson; 4/9/16 NBA.com article “Hall of Fame is Iverson’s Greatest Achievement,” by Fran Blinebury; http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Iverson; http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Croce; http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Philadelphia_76ers_seasons.