HOUSTON (AP) — Bahagi na ng kasaysayan si Allen Iverson at sa pagkakaluklok sa Basketball Hall of Fame, inamin niyang hindi malilimot ng basketball fans ang madamdamin niyang pahayag nang mabigo siyang sandigan ang Philadelphia Sixers sa NBA championship noong 2002.
“I’m in the Hall of Fame and I can go outside today and go to a restaurant or whatever and somebody will say to me: ‘Practice? We talking about practice,’” pabirong pahayag ni Iverson.
Aniya, maging ang kanyang mga anak ay patuloy siyang binubuska hinggil sa kanyang naging pahayag sa news conference ng NBA Finals kung saan halos 20 beses niyang ipinahayag ang salitang “practice” “Man, I am a Hall of Famer and that’s all you can think about — me saying practice,” aniya.
Kasama ni Iverson sa 2016 batch ng Hall of Fame sina two-time MVP at four-time NBA champion Shaquille O’Neal, Yao Ming, Sheryl Swoopes, Tom Izzo at Jerry Reinsdorf.
Ipinahayag din nitong Lunes (Martes sa Manila) ang pagbibigay ng Posthumous award kina 27-year NBA referee Darell Garretson; John McLendon, ang kauna-unahang African-American coach sa professional league; Cumberland Posey, na isa ring Baseball Hall of Fame; at Zelmo Beaty, gumabay sa Prairie View sa NAIA title noong 1962.
Pormal na ipinahayag ang pagkakapili sa grupo nitong Lunes ng gabi bago simulan ang duwelo sa pagitan ng North Carolina at Villanova sa NCAA Championship.
Napili si Iverson bilang first overall pick ng Philadelphia 76ers noong 1996 NBA draft kung saan tinanghal siyang rookie of the year at naging 11-time All-Star. Kabilang sa nagdiwang sa kanyang pagkapili si John Thompson, ang kanyang coach sa Georgetown.
“I’m proud of the fact of knowing him as a person and knowing the challenges he’s had to overcome,” sambit ni Thompson.
“Allen is legitimate. There’s a lot of impersonators of what he is. But he is a kid who came from basically nothing and had to be thrust into a whole different way of life and been successful as he has been in his profession.”
