After showing up late to the Basketball Hall of Fame press conference yesterday, Allen Iverson also appeared to have another scheduling issue on Friday, as he didn’t make a scheduled appearance at Springfield’s High School of Commerce for an event in conjunction with the Hall. Sheryl Swoopes and Calvin Murphy both spoke instead.
Every time it seemed that one of the best guards of all-time looked like he was finally arriving, the crowd of high school students cheered. “We want A-I” was the big chant of the day, and the crowd was on its feet as a Sixers employee took a snapchat of the crowd.
While the crowd wanted to see Iverson, they did get good speeches from both Swoopes and Murphy, though they were still wanting for more.
“I’m not going to be up here long,” she said. “I know you guys have been sitting here for a while, you’ve been waiting on us. Well, you haven’t been waiting on me, but I won’t talk about that.”
“The kids heard a terrific speech from Sheryl Swoopes and Mr. Murphy,” Commerce’s Chief Communications Officer Azell Cavaan said of the speeches the kids did get. “So the kids were inspired and completely riveted by what they each had to say. … I can just say that Sheryl Swoopes and Mr. Murphy were wonderful presenters for the kids. Their talks were inspiring and motivational. I think it meant a lot to the kids.”
“We were just expecting him to show up, and due to some circumstances, he didn’t,” Cavaan said. “…The organizers said there were circumstances that came up beyond their control. That’s all we were told.”
The enshrinement ceremony starts Friday night with a red carpet walk at 6:30. Hopefully AI is on time for that.
[MassLive]
