By Jake Appleman
Quick thoughts on three guys who were enshrined in Springfield this weekend...
Allen
Iverson:
- Allen Iverson is larger than life.
- He’s only 6”0 tall, but there’s something unnaturally expansive about his frame, especially when you’re in his presence. With more limbs, he could be a certified spider human.
- People talk about how real Iverson was, and I think there’s definitely something to that, but nobody who gives interviews day in and day out is 100% their normal self all the time. In my brief experiences with him in Denver and Philadelphia, Iverson reminded me more of the kind of actor who gets respect for making everything appear seamless, for being a natural. Thought: Allen Iverson could be a tremendous stage actor. I saw Mos Def pull it off in Top Dog/Underdog opposite Jeffrey Wright back in the day. Such a performer’s transition might be worth a shot. Stage direction, costume changes, line memorization; it is a ton of practice, though.
- I interviewed AI for a SLAM cover story right after he was traded to the Denver Nuggets. The way he responded to my questions and entertained a horde of media felt as organic as anything I’d seen before.
- His speech: Awesome. His name drops may have set the all-time assist record for a Hall-of-Fame speech. And the crowd responded with familiar passion.
Yao Ming:
- Yao Ming is larger than life.
- The first NBA game I ever covered live featured Yao Ming. It was Yao’s second season and my first ever locker room experience.
I was a sophomore in college and was finishing up a Middle Eastern Asian Studies class.
I asked Yao what he thought about Chairman Mao.
His translator Colin Pine didn’t really know what to do because the question was so unexpected.
And then Yao, an unbelievably savvy listener, did what few expected at the time because of how reliant he was on Colin.
He responded in English.
“You want a history lesson?” he said. “I’ll give you a history lesson.”
It was a remarkable moment. (If you believe Shaq's speech, I spoke English with Yao before Shaq. Weird.)
A few years later, I was in the visitors locker room at Madison Square Garden when Jesse Jackson walked in. The Rockets were in town. Sometime before I walked out, it occurred to me that Yao Ming, Dikembe Mutombo and Jesse Jackson was the answer to some hypothetical question from way back when, like, name the most absurd trio of people you could conceivably end up in a room with at the same time.
For the record, I would run Jesse at the point, Yao at forward and Dikembe at center because of Yao’s perimeter skills. Dikembe and Yao would probably have to switch on D, though; Jesse would clearly call out switches and assignments.
- His speech: winning in its earnestness.
Shaquille O’Neal:
- Shaquille O’Neal is larger than life.
- Tried to be Shaq when I was a kid. Stood on a white plastic chair and dunked on a hoop attached to a barn. Ripped the hoop clear off the barn and landed on my back on soft pavement. Thankfully, it was soft pavement.
- In leading the Lakers to the first two championships of the Shaq/Kobe era, Shaq looked like a toy figurine come to life. The dominance wasn’t that interesting, although Shaq is probably the only guy to look like he was playing a fusion of NBA basketball and Nerf basketball. Nerf Diesel.
- To what degree is Shaq responsible for Twitter’s
success? He was an early endorser/influencer, and his bio line, “Very
Quotatious, I Perform Random Acts of Shaqness” remains maybe the greatest in
Twitter history. I really just want people to meditate on the idea
that the guy who gave us Shaq Soda influenced the way the media does its job
and how a lot of the world receives its
information. The lovable thing about Shaq, I think, is that he
wouldn’t necessarily put Twitter influencer on his resume ahead of Shaq Soda.
He hasn’t always been able to put missed free throws ahead of dunks.
- His speech: Like Shaqaclaus to everyone watching.
Congrats to Sheryl Swoops, Jerry Reinsdorf, Tom Izzo, David Aldridge and the rest of the 2016 class.
