Allen Iverson, the poster boy for how Hip Hop and basketball cultures collide, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame yesterday (September 9).
During his 14 seasons in the NBA, Iverson broke barriers for all players from his famous crossover on Michael Jordan his Rookie Year to his street style that was an influence on the league’s creation of a dress code for its players.
In his induction speech, A.I. pays tribute to many Hip Hop greats for inspiring him through his playing days for the Philadelphia 76ers, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons and Memphis Grizzlies.
“I wanna thank Biggie Smalls, Redman, Jadakiss, Tupac and Michael Jackson for being my theme music throughout my career,” The Answer says to a cheering crowd, adding to those he already mentioned including Ma$e and Cam’ron.
Iverson tried his hand at rap himself, but scrapped his debut album after his single, “40 Bars,” caused controversy for going against the family-friendly image of the NBA.
As he reflects on his career, he thanks Georgetown coach Jon Thompson who agreed to take a young Iverson after he went to trial in high school for being in a fight. A.I. also describes filling Julius “Dr. J” Erving’s shoes and leaning on his family when media scrutiny became difficult.
Watch Allen Iverson’s full Hall of Fame speech below.
Did he ever mention how he mishandled his fortune and blew through millions of dollars and is now BROKE???
Hope u all now that he has 32 million dollars from Reebok in trust fund.. At 55 he I’ll be filthy rich
EXACTLY
Yea that comment is irrelivant and some real hater shit… while your online mad… google iversons trust with reebok and stop worrying about that mans pockets.
I thought he was gonna list Nas because, you know, he’s broke and all. But AI was great on the court.
Shoulda listened to more King HOV and you wouldn’t be broke right now.
Fuck Queensbridge stays in his mommas basement jerking off to “Song Cry” while thinking of 6 million ways to hate on Nas before his part-time 2pm shift at Dairy Queen you 38 yr old Stan ass nigga!
One of the best EVER!!
where tha fuck is Lil Wayne? fuck this broke ass loser. swag
He’s probably behind you in your butt hole
This guy is not broke..every body is quick to jump into somebody’s pockets