Allen Iverson thanked a long list of friends, family, former teammates, executives and other basketball-related people during his speech at his jersey retirement in Philadelphia on Saturday night, and he even decided to thank a few media members.
Not surprisingly, both media members he mentioned were booed by the Philly faithful.
“I know you wouldn’t believe someone like me would shout these people out, but it is what it is. They’re a part of my career, a part of my life,” Iverson prefaced his thank-yous.
“I gotta thank Stephen A. Smith. Howard Eskin,” Iverson said before thanking a few other people.
Though Smith has been a national personality for several years, he started off as a prominent writer/reporter/columnist for the Philly Inquirer. He was close with Iverson during A.I.’s tenure with the Sixers and often reported exclusives on the former MVP.
Eskin is veteran Philadelphia sports personality and media member. He works for FOX 29 TV and 94 WIP Radio in Philly, and he has received national attention for some of his reports, many of which have turned out to be incorrect. Eskin’s son, Spike, who is also a host for WIP and totally awesome, shared this cool photo of Iverson hugging Howard:
I’ll be fair here and point out that there were roars from the crowd when both names were mentioned, but I think that was just because they were roaring after everything Iverson said. Most of the reception seemed to be boos.
