Yao Ming to the left, Shaquille O'Neal in the middle, Allen Iverson to the right.
Finally!!!!!! Yao Ming, Shaquille O'Neal, and Allen Iverson were inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2016 along with three others: Sheryl Swoopes, a former WNBA superstar, Tom Izzo, Michigan State University basketball coach and Jerry Reinsdorf, owner of the Chicago Bulls. They are finally "Hall of Famers", after so many years of being illegible. Each of these players played one another in their prime. It was an unbelievable experience watching them go after each other on TV. Every game up til the end of their NBA career they came to play and each game was a very exciting one to watch. It felt like the Superbowl or the NBA Finals each game they played each other. I was glad I was able to watch them play.
These three players all have an incredible story to tell and had backgrounds that inspired them to be the person they wanted to be. I'll go through all 3 of their backgrounds below:
Yao Ming
Yao Ming was born 1980 on September 12th in Shanghai, China. He started playing basketball as a young teenager and was able to play professionally for the CBA(Chinese Basketball Association) as a member of the Shanghai Sharks. He played 5 years for them and dominated. His final year in the CBA he averaged 38 points and 20 rebounds where we won his first CBA championship. Yao Ming went on to play for the Houston Rockets and the Steve Francis. Before he went, Yao Ming had to be approved from the Shanghai Sharks and the CBA to leave because Yao was still under contract and they didn't want their best player to leave. So contracts had to be negotiated and an agreement had to be made. Those agreements were to draft Yao Ming as the number 1 pick in the NBA draft with the Rockets first pick who were interested in him, and he would have to return to play for China's national team. Once they were met he was cleared to play.
Coming into the league Yao Ming was predicted to not do well. In his first NBA game, he had 0 points and 2 rebounds. After that performance, he was predicted to be a bust in the draft. His minutes were also limited down to 14. When his minutes increased, all his categories increased, and he became a dominant forced later on in his rookie season making all-star with the number 1 ballot and started over 3 time NBA champion Shaquille O'Neal. Over the years he got better and his fan based increased on and off the court.
Allen Iverson
Allen Iverson was born in 1975 on June 7th in Hampton, Virginia. His story is really interesting. His mother had him at the age of 15 and his father wasn't around much during his early years. His mom was active in his life made sure took care of business in school and when he did his work his mother made him go to basketball practice when he was originally a football fan and a player. His eventually fell in love with the game of basketball and he excelled in both basketball and football. He went to Bethel High School where he played numerous sports but were able to take his basketball and football team to the championship and win his junior year of high school.
Iverson along with several of his friends were involved in an altercation at a bowling ally in 1993 February 14. A big fight broke out between two groups who were black and white. Only the black group was arrested including 17-year-old Iverson. Iverson was charged and convicted as an adult for maiming by mob, a law in Virginia. Iverson who was looking at scholarships from every school in the country for basketball and football was sentenced to four months in a correctional facility. He lost all of his scholarship offers. When he came out, his conviction was overturned due to reevaluation. Iverson met with John Thompson, coach of Georgetown, along with his mother and was asked to join his team. Thompson took a chance on young Allen Iverson giving him a full ride into Georgetown and made sure he followed what he was told.
Iverson made a big impact where he became recognized nationally. He won rookie of the year and took his team to the sweet sixteen where they lost and did it again the second year where they lost in the elite 8. Iverson was the team leader in points and did not continue college as he entered the NBA draft.
Iverson came into the NBA draft with the number 1 overall pick in the talented 1996 draft by the 76ers and was the shorted drafted number 1. Iverson dominated his rookie season having numerous 40 point games. Iverson got better and better each season. In his career, he won multiple scoring titles, been an NBA leader in steals three times, won all-star appearance multiple times, won MVP once, and took his team to the NBA finals where they lost to Shaq and the LA Lakers. Even if Iverson was a great player on the court, he still had a lot of problems off the court. He was portrayed in a negative light by the media and was looked at differently. His headlines went from being something good to something bad and it started to happen so much that when Iverson spoke at conferences he was always criticized and his stories or his voice was not heard which started to effect him on the court. The media followed him everywhere even when he retired. For the past few years, that much attention hasn't been put on him until now and it's something good. He's a Hall of Famer and deserves it because he showed a lot of dedication on the court and played every game like his last. I applaud him, and he is truly blessed.
Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille O'Neal was born 1772 on March 2 in Newark, NJ. Shaq lived there for his early years as a kid. When he was in middle school, he was already standing at 6 feet. Surprisingly, he wasn't into sports than or as good. He shot around in places like the boys and girls club in Newark. His family moved to Germany when Shaq was about 12 or 13 years old because his stepfather was in the military and they moved on the military base there. When Shaq moved to Texas, that's when his basketball heart and love for the game came. Shaq attended Robert G. Cole High School in San Antonio, Texas where he and his team were 68-1 over two years including the 36-0 in his season year there. His team went all the way and won the state championship that year.
As a kid, O'Neal met Dale Brown when he was in Germany and he offered Shaq to play for him when he was younger. When he graduated high school, he attended Louisiana State University. While there, the 7-foot giant was a dominant force. Won Sec Player of the year twice and college player of the year twice. O'Neal left in 1992 instead of staying for his junior year to play in the NBA where he was the first overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft by the Orlando Magic.
In his first year in the league as a rookie, he took over. He was named player of the week in his first week playing in the league and was putting up big numbers averaging 23 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 blocks per game while shooting over 50 percent. He made the All-Star team in his rookie season and started for the Eastern Conference. He was rookie of the year hands down. His team didn't make the playoffs that year but the next year his numbers increased and better players were brought to Orlando where Shaq met Penny Hardaway. Together they brought their team to the NBA playoffs for the first time where they lost. Each year got better until O'Neal's final season where they lost to the Bulls in the third round of the playoffs.
O'Neal brought his talents to LA where played with Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. They were a great fit as they won three championship titles from 2000 to 2002 where he was the Most Valuable player in 2000, Finals MVP three times, Scoring Champ in 2000, and more. He left LA in 2004 and went to Miami where he won his fourth title in 2006 with Dwayne and the Heats. He played for many more teams after that because of the differences he started to have with the team. Shaq was a great player overall and was a true big man in the game. He gave back to his community, furthered his education, and created his own businesses. He deserves the honor of being in the Hall of Fame as well.
All of these players have a different stories and backgrounds. But they all wanted the same dream of playing in the NBA. The Hall of Fame Honors was meant for them as it shows how far they came in their life and they will continue to do great things for many more years to come, Congratulations to the 2016 Hall of Famers.
