Iverson pays homage to MJ, Tupac in HOF speech

The crossovers and the do-rags, the baggy shorts and the FU attitude, and the ability to dominate in a game catered towards giants; Iverson held the spotlight (for good and bad reasons) as one of the more authentic athletes to ever play the game.

“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”.

As he was introduced to the crowd before his speech, NBATV host Ahmad Rashad said – with the crowd interrupting him with cheers – “Consider the willingness, the tenacity, the toughness to compete at the highest level, the mesmerizing handle, the breathtaking speed…and you will find The Answer”.

“I’m sitting there, and I’m saying, ‘Man, that’s Michael.’ And I’m looking at him”. And I’m like, ‘Man, he got on the Jordans.’ It was Mike. If that doesn’t scream top five centers in the history of this game, I don’t know what does. I don’t know if you all watch the Chappelle Show, but he talked about in a certain incident where somebody’s seeing Rick James. Like, I’m looking at his shoes.

Iverson had a long list of people he thanked, from his coaches to his teammates, to his family and friends.

Chosen No. 1 by Philadelphia in the well-acclaimed 1996 draft, Iverson burst onto the scene for a 76ers squad that had fallen on hard times since trading Charles Barkley for 25 cents on the dollar. “Thank you for being such a big part of the league”.

“I love you, too”, Iverson responded.

Iverson also paid tribute to “the ones that stuck by me throughout my journey”. “But once I started to listen to Larry Brown and take constructive criticism, I learned how much of a great, great, great coach that he is”.

“Ya’ll let me grow, ya’ll let me make my mistakes, never jumped off the bandwagon and continued to support me like true fans are supposed to”. And O’Neal made sure to give credit to Bryant, seriously noting how the recently-retired guard helped him bring three titles to the Lakers, but jokingly thanking him for “getting me pushed off the team” and sent to the Miami Heat. “I want you to walk around and be proud of yourself that you are a Hall of Famer”.

O’Neal referenced Luke and Laura from “General Hospital” and joked about his commercial endeavors, including how he sat in a “Buick I knew I couldn’t fit in”.

Iverson is the fourth former Georgetown standout to play under Thompson Jr.to enter the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, along with Mourning, Mutombo and Patrick Ewing (C’84). I said, ‘Hey, Yao, nice move.’ He said, ‘Thanks, my brother.’ I said, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. “Don’t laugh, because I think this spot belonged to the great Allen Iverson”.