HOUSTON — John Thompson sat against the wall, a hard right turn away from the door to the ballroom at the Houston Hyatt Regency. He was perched on three chairs that had been stacked together an aid to the 74-year-old with the 6-foot-10 frame.
Allen Iverson leaned against Thompson’s right shoulder, tears coming to his eyes as interviewer quizzed him about the impact the former Georgetown coach had on him.
“He saved my life,” Iverson said.
It was clear what the day meant to Thompson, who calls Iverson his “prodigal son.”
“He’s a tough little guy and so I’m very proud of him,” Thompson said.
Maybe the toughest little man to ever play the game, Iverson — the 2000-2001 NBA MVP who led the Sixers on a magical run to the NBA Finals — was given his just reward on Monday morning when he was named as one of 10 members in an elite Class of 2016 to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Iverson will be enshrined on Sept. 9 during a ceremony in Springfield, Mass. But the moment seemed to catch him in full emotion on Monday.
“This is not just my accomplishment,” Iverson said during a 25-minute sitdown interview with scores of Philadelphia and national media following the announcement. “This is the people that supported me and loved me the whole way through — the ups, the downs, the trials and tribulations. Everybody who stood by me regardless of what people said or my actions, right or wrong. Just the people that supported me through this long and hard journey. It’s a tribute to them.”
Iverson made 11 NBA All-Star games in 14 seasons in the league, averaging 26.7 points and 6.2 assists per game while leading the league in scoring average four times. All in a 6-foot frame that took a constant beating thanks to a slashing style to the basket.
“[Iverson was] relentless, fearless, played through anything [injuries],” Sixers forward Elton Brand told reporters back in Philadelphia. “Pound for pound, one of the greatest — if not the greatest — in my book, pound for pound.
At times, he was a lightning rod for controversy but always a fascinating figure on the overall sports and pop culture landscape. Monday’s session with the media was a micro glimpse into the entire Iverson experience. It was funny one minute, wistful the other and even showed the raw emotion that made Iverson such a lightning bolt.
“I had to talk to myself [into realizing] some people just don’t like you,” Iverson said. “It don’t matter what you say, what you do, they just don’t like you. That’s the way of the world. And I had to create rhino skin. I had to have thick skin. I used to read articles and people saying certain stuff about me. I used to go to my room and put my head between my legs and cry, this, that and the third, but after a while it’s like, whatever you do … if somebody don’t like you, whatever you say is not going to make them like you. And I had to realize that and understand it and deal with it.
“So now I concentrate on the people who say, ‘I love you, AI.’ The ones that hate you, what [do] you care about what they think anyway, you know what I mean?'”
Iverson, however, seems more willing to admit some mistakes. When the subject for former Sixers coach Larry Brown came up and the numerous clashes they had during the overlapping years the two shared, the mood was different.
“I don’t regret nothing. Like nothing in my life. I love being who I am. I love the person that I am. I feel comfortable in my skin. But if I could have a wish as an athlete? I wish I would have bought in to what [Brown] was trying to give me all along.
“Just being defiant. Being a certified [expletive] for nothing. When all he wanted was the best for me. And I didn’t take constructive criticism the way I should have. You know what I mean? To me, in my eyes, he’s the best coach ever. … And I didn’t take what God was giving me the right way. God sent him to me and I was defiant at that time. But once I bought in and caught up to what I was supposed to know, that’s when I became the MVP. That’s when it went from just a talented player to the best player on Earth.”
These days, Iverson finally seems publicly like a man at peace and Monday was a time for him to show that side. He insists that he’s happy with life, watching his kids grow up and spending time with his wife, Tawana.
“I’m so much more dedicated to my girl and I’m there for my kids more than I was every there,” Iverson said. “You know this lifestyle. You’re never home. You never get a chance to be a 24/7 daddy and now in my life I’m so happy and content with the fact that I can be there for my family like I’m supposed to be.
“I’m still there for my fans. I still do different events. I’m never going to take myself away from their lives, as far as my fans. But I’m just so much more of a family man. That’s how I want to be defined at this point in my life.”
