Iverson shows up late for first Hall of Fame event

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - In much the same way he always clashed with convention, the orange Hall of Fame blazer Allen Iverson belatedly slipped on Thursday afternoon clashed with his more familiar hip-hop outfit - jeans, black shirt, a Yankees cap, and chain.

"Conformation was the medicine most black athletes took once they reached a certain level of success, wealth and fame," Scoop Jackson, the writer and cultural critic, noted in his profile of Iverson that appeared in the program for the 2016 Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Weekend. "[But Iverson was] an unapologetic American superstar that was allergic to conforming."

Forty-one now, more than five years since his last NBA game, 14 after his infamous rant about a missed practice, the former 76ers great buttressed that nonconformist reputation Thursday.

Iverson missed the 2 p.m. televised jacket presentation that along with a subsequent news conference marked the official start of three days of festivities during which he, Shaquille O'Neal, Sheryl Swoopes, Yao Ming, and six others will join the sport's immortals.

The ceremony ended at 3 and Iverson hustled into the facility adjacent to I-91 30 minutes later, an hour after the newly designed blazers had been given to the others in his Hall class.

He said only that the tardiness was the result of "a personal situation, family." Earlier the Hall's president and CEO had attributed it to "flight issues."

"I'm not sure if it was missed flight or delays," John Doleva said when asked about it. "I do know he's inbound and is arriving at 3:15."

Doleva said Iverson wasn't the first honoree to miss a jacket presentation.

"I can think of [Arizona coach] Lute Olson in 2002," he said. "His daughter was getting married in Italy."

The camera lights had been turned off and the crowd had dispersed when Iverson, to the delight of dozens of adults and children wearing replicas of his 76ers jersey, finally appeared. Officials quickly ushered him to an upstairs area where reporters were interviewing the other inductees. Soon he was brought the custom-fitted blazer.

Iverson smiled as he put it on and wore it through much of the interviews and photos that followed.

"Yeah," he joked, looking down at it, "this is me."

Hugely influential and often controversial, he was both beloved and derided during his 14-year NBA career, which began when the 76ers made him the No. 1 pick in the 1996 draft. The fact that even at his own Hall induction he again was out of step with the basketball establishment was not lost on anyone.

"He made a tremendous impact on the game," said 76ers adviser Jerry Colangelo, "but he always did it in his own way."

Stylistically, the mercurial and relentless Iverson changed basketball. Culturally, he changed how those who played and watched it acted away from the court, how they dressed and wore their hair.

"He had guts," O'Neal said. "It took guts to make that famous move on Michael Jordan [when his signature crossover dribble left the legendary defender flat-footed]. And it took guts to act the way he wanted to act and not be influenced by those who wanted him to change."

Iverson frequently was emotional answering questions, choking up, for example, when he thanked Larry Brown and Georgetown's John Thompson, the coaches who along with fellow Sixers legend Julius Erving will present him at Friday night's enshrinement ceremony.

"They meant so much to me," he said. "They taught me so much. I'm so proud they're going to be there with me tomorrow night."

Asked about the speech he planned to give there, he said it was "going to come from the heart."

As a boy in a tough Virginia housing project, Iverson never dreamed of reaching basketball's Hall. The Pro Football Hall of Fame, however, was another story. A lightning-quick quarterback, he led his high school to a state championship.

"I thought I was the greatest football player God ever created," he said.

The others to be enshrined Friday are:

Shaquille O'Neal, the massive and powerful center who won four NBA titles with the Lakers and Miami Heat.

Yao Ming, the 7-6 Chinese center who was an eight-time NBA all-star and helped popularize the game in Asia.

Sheryl Swoopes, one of the all-time great female players, who captured four WNBA crowns and three Olympic gold medals.

Tom Izzo, the still-active coach who guided Michigan State to the 2000 NCAA title and seven Final Fours.

Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner whose Michael Jordan-led Bulls won six NBA championships.

Deceased inductees include:

Zelmo Beaty, who led Prairie View to an NAIA title in 1962.

John McClendon, the pioneering black coach at Tennessee State and professionally in the American Basketball League.

Darell Garretson, the longtime NBA ref who served as the NBA's director of officiating for 17 years.

Cumberland Posey, the turn-of-the-century Western Pennsylvania native who also is in baseball's Hall.

ffitzpatrick@phillynews.com

@philafitz