Allen Iverson’s long, gracious speech was the story of the 2016 Hall of Fame induction ceremony. He thanked everyone from the Notorious B.I.G. to Matt Geiger, commemorating fans and fallen friends along the way.
Summing up The Answer’s speech is nearly impossible, so we’ll do you one better and provide the full speech below:
I can’t speak for everyone, but this was exactly what I wanted from Iverson. His raw emotion and connection with the people he loves was evident throughout. He quivered early on, struggling to put his gratitude into words. Ever the showman, he recovered and made sure to find room for almost every major figure in his life.
If there was ever a doubt about who owned this night, Iverson plowing past a flashing WRAP NOW notification should have left no doubt. He was going to get every last word in before he stepped off the stage, and the screaming fans in the rafters ate it up.
It’ll be tough for another player — let alone another Sixer -- to top that. Iverson’s final performance was among his best, and it’s only fitting for a larger-than-life icon to go out with a larger-than-life speech.