The NBA Hall of Fame’s 2016 inductees, which included Allen Iverson, Shaquille O’Neal, and Yao Ming may be some of its most well-known stars yet.
The induction ceremony took place on Friday, Sept. 10 at Springfield Symphony Hall. In attendance were the inductees, their friends and family, fans, as well as presenters and sponsors
Inductee Yao Ming gave the first speech of the night. Ming, whose accolades include the All-Rookie 1st Team of 2003 and the All-NBA 2nd Team in 2007 and 2009, played center for the Houston Rockets from 2002-2011.He played in a total of 486 games and has career averages of 19.0 points, 9.2 total rebounds, 1.6 assists per game.
In his speech, he thanked and reflected on his relationships with his sponsors, teammates, coaches, parents, and his wife and daughter. He also talked about his journey from China to becoming a basketball star in the United States, and ultimately, the ending of his career due to an injury.
“Unfortunately, my injury cut things short and ended my time with the Rockets too soon,” Ming said. “I will always remember my time spent with the Houston Rockets as some of the best times in my life.”
With one last thank you to the people of Houston and his supporters, Ming concluded his speech. Later in the ceremony, former Philadelphia 76er, Allen Iverson took the stage.
Allen Iverson, an All Star MVP in 2001 and 2005, starred for the Sixers from 1996 to 2006 and returned in 2010 before retiring. He played with three other teams in-between: the Memphis Grizzlies, the Detroit Pistons, and the Denver Nuggets. Iverson played in a total of 914 games and has career averages of 26.7 points, 3.7 total rebounds, 6.2 assists per game.
Amidst loud cheering from Philadelphia fans, Iverson started his speech by thanking God. He then thanked the Hall of Fame for inducting him, his college coach for giving him a chance, his mom for introducing him to basketball, his 76ers coaches, and everyone who helped him throughout his career.
Iverson thanked his father for being someone he could look up to, his aunts and uncles for always being supportive, and his wife for being his crutch. He also thanked each of his kids and he mentioned his Philadelphia fans as being extremely supportive.
“My relationship with the fans in Philadelphia is like no other,” Iverson said. “Thank you for the support over the years. Y’all let me grow and make my mistakes. You never jumped off the bandwagon and continued to support me like true fans are supposed to.”
Possibly the most looked-forward to speech of the night was Shaquille O’Neal’s. Shaquille O’Neal, whose accolades include being a 3 time All Star MVP and a 3 time Finals MVP, played center for the Orlando Magic from 1992-2001. He played for 5 other teams afterwards, winning three championships with the LA Lakers and one with the Miami Heat. O’Neal played in a total of 1207 games and has career averages of 23.7 points, 10.9 total rebounds, 2.5 assists per game.
He thanked his sponsors and his family for being extremely supportive of him, especially his father who introduced him to basketball and his kids who he had stand up in the audience. He also talked about the coaches he had throughout his life and how they had helped him, especially his college coach at LSU, Dale Brown.
O’Neal told a story of how he went to see Coach Brown speak when he was 13, and walked up to speak to him afterwards.
“He offered me a scholarship on that day. Coach, thank you,” O’Neal said.
He finished his speech with one last thanks to the committee and a congratulations to his fellow inductees.
“Today is a great day. A day of honor, humility, great sacrifice, and resolve to keep on keeping on,” O’Neal said.
