There will never be an NBA player quite like the great Allen Iverson. #3 is as real as it gets as a human being and an athlete, breakin’ ankles and wearing his heart on sleeve like a beast.
If you grew up watching AI and/or lived in a two-hour radius of the Spectrum II, AI’s speech will make your heart hit your throat. Dude may not have any rings but he’ll always ben the G.O.A.T.
Here’s a transcription via CSN Philly:
Man, I love ya’ll, too.
First, I just want to thank God for loving me and blessing me.
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I want to thank Coach Thompson … Coach Thompson, for saving my life, for giving me the opportunity. I was recruited by every school in the country for football and basketball. An incident happened in high school and all that was taken away. No other teams, no other schools were recruiting me anymore. My mom went to Georgetown and begged him to give me a chance and he did.
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Once I started to listen to Larry Brown and take constructive criticism, I learned that how much of a great, great, great coach that he is.
Once I started to listen to him the way I was supposed to and was coached by him, that’s when I became an MVP, that’s when I became an All-Star, that’s when I made first-team All-NBA — once I got the message from him. And I followed his lead all the way.
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Man, Dr. J. … those shoes, some big shoes — literally. I got to Philadelphia and, man, those were some big shoes to fill with a size 10 foot. He was always supportive of me throughout my career, always gave me words of wisdom. Just a great man — and an old-school dude, too.