Following a legendary 14-year career that featured 11 All-Star appearances and an MVP award, Allen Iverson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016. During his memorable Hall of Fame speech, the Philadelphia 76ers legend took time to discuss one of his earliest rivals and longtime hero, Michael Jordan.
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Iverson described his awe when seeing Jordan for the first time, saying,
“I walked out on the court and I looked at [Jordan] and for the first time in my life, a human being didn’t look real to me.”
Born in 1975, AI grew up watching MJ dominate the NBA, so facing him near the end of the GOAT’s career was undoubtedly a memorable experience for the electric guard.
Iverson compared the feeling to an old Chapelle Show reference, which he explained to the crowd.
“[Dave Chapelle] talked about a certain incident where somebody seen Rick James. Like I literally seen [Jordan’s] aura.”
The 49-year-old underlined how he couldn’t keep his eyes off MJ during their first meeting, even sharing how the Bulls guard was “glowing.”
Allen Iverson talks playing vs Jordan 1st time & drops the 1st ever Chapelle Show reference in a Hall of Fame speech pic.twitter.com/DTzVRS3mRw
— Andrew Jerell Jones, Luke 1:37 (BlueSky too now) (@sluggahjells) September 10, 2016
The sketch Iverson referred to is one of Dave Chapelle’s most iconic. Aired over 20 years ago, “Charlie Murphy’s True Hollywood Stories” depicted Charlie Murphy, who also wrote the sketch, retelling his encounters with celebrities from the 1980s. The most memorable was his Rick James story, which helped catapult the show to new heights. This episode started the legendary “I’m Rick James, b****!” catchphrase that is still referenced even today.
Michael Jordan was brutal to Iverson in their first meeting
While Iverson described the amazement he felt when matching up with Jordan for the first time, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for the rookie guard. The Answer revealed in a 2018 interview how Jordan gave him a cold welcome to the league by attempting to tear him down with his patented trash talk. Iverson said,
“The first time I ever talked to him was that year playing in the rookie game. That was the year they did the top 50 of all time. I saw him walking and I’ll never forget it because he said ‘what’s up, you little b***h. I’ll never forget it.”
Iverson may have conveniently left this excerpt out when discussing his admiration for his childhood idol. However, this story lines up with the Michael Jordan the world has come to know—a no-nonsense, win-at-all-costs superstar. While the interaction didn’t appear to shake Iverson in the long run, there’s a reason people say to never meet your heroes.
