Iverson is a Hall of Fame finalist
TORONTO - Allen Iverson is one step away from reaching basketball immortality. The former all-star guard and 76ers legend was among 14 finalists selected Friday for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The 2016 Hall of Fame inductees will be announced at the Final Four in Houston on April 4. The Class of 2016 will be enshrined during Hall of Fame festivities in Springfield, Mass., on Sept. 8-10.
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TORONTO - Allen Iverson is one step away from reaching basketball immortality.
The former all-star guard and 76ers legend was among 14 finalists selected Friday for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The 2016 Hall of Fame inductees will be announced at the Final Four in Houston on April 4. The Class of 2016 will be enshrined during Hall of Fame festivities in Springfield, Mass., on Sept. 8-10.
"I'm just proud of the people that helped me, just for it be a debate if I'm going to be a Hall of Famer or not," Iverson, 40, said after the ceremony at Sheraton Centre Toronto. "I'm just proud of my family and friends and my fans that helped me get to this point."
Two others with Philly-area ties were also finalists: Notre Dame women's coach Muffet McGraw, a St. Joseph's grad, and former Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan, a Chester native.
Iverson was a nine-time all-star and perhaps the most popular Philadelphia sports figure in the last 25 years. He played with the Sixers from 1996 to 2006 and during the 2009-10 season. He also had stints with the Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, and Memphis Grizzlies during his NBA career. Iverson briefly played for Besiktas Milangaz of the Turkish Basketball League in 2010-11.
He averaged 26.7 points per game in his NBA career and carried the Sixers to the NBA Finals in 2001.
"To me his toughness and his fight and his spirit night after night after night [are the best memories]," said Sixers chairman of basketball operation Jerry Colangelo, who also is chairman of the Hall of Fame. "It just wasn't a one-time 'wow, look at what he did.' It was his tenacity. There's all these things you can describe of him.
"Look at his numbers for a career. It wasn't a season. It was a career of everything I just said."
Colangelo couldn't name one favorite memory of Iverson. However, he said his standout memory is of the 6-foot Iverson being as "nasty as they come on the floor, because of his ability to get to any spot he wanted to on the court. And he was a big-time scorer. I mean big time."
Iverson is one of seven first-time finalists, joining Shaquille O'Neal, longtime referee Darell Garretson, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, John McLendon (first African American coach in a pro league), four-time WNBA champion Sheryl Swoopes, and 10-time AAU national women's champ Wayland Baptist University.
Also named finalists were three-time NBA all-star Kevin Johnson and former college coaches Lefty Driesell and Eddie Sutton.
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