Allen Iverson Gives Moving Speech at Players Awards, Shouts out Michael Jordan

Allen Iverson was different in his younger days.

“I don’t want to be Michael Jordan. I don’t want to be Magic. I don’t want to be Bird, or Isiah [Thomas]. I don’t want to be any of those guys," he once said. "When my career is over, I want to look in the mirror and say I did it my way.”

On Tuesday night, Iverson sweetened his tune a bit.

While accepting the Game Changer Award at the National Basketball Players Association's inaugural Players' Awards, Iverson began his speech with a sign of respect for MJ, perhaps the most famous victim of his lethal crossover.

“If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be on this stage,” Iverson said. “I wouldn’t have had the vision to be a basketball player. So I love him for that, and I honor him for that.”

He later went on to shout out LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and Chris Paul, five of today’s premier players.

Iverson’s moving speech transitioned from the court to the world, and he said that each day is the “same fight, different round.”

The NBA still misses The Answer.

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