Former Philadelphia 76ers star Allen Iverson shared a moving tribute to his former head coach and mentor John Thompson on hearing of his passing Monday morning.
Iverson, who played for Thompson’s Hoyas, never forgot Thompson’s loyalty despite his conviction over supposed involvement in an interracial brawl in a bowling alley ahead of his senior season.
The fight saw prosecutors charge Iverson with serious crimes that could have seen him serve as many as 60 years in prison. Iverson would get 15 years with 10 suspended.
Iverson eventually would be granted clemency by Virginia Governor Douglas Wilder, and the Virginia Court of Appeals later overturned the conviction for insufficient evidence in 1995.
Thanks For Saving My Life Coach. I’m going to miss you, but I’m sure that you are looking down on us with a big smile. I would give anything just for one more phone call from you only to hear you say, “Hey MF”, then we would talk about everything except basketball……. pic.twitter.com/03yj4gZv5q
— Allen Iverson (@alleniverson) August 31, 2020
Despite the fact Iverson could not play sports in the high-risk high school he attended after being released from prison, Thompson gave him a four-year scholarship, an acto faith never forgotten by the future 76ers No. 1 overall pick.
“Thanks For Saving My Life Coach,” shared Iverson in his tweet.
“I’m going to miss you, but I’m sure that you are looking down on us with a big smile. I would give anything just for one more phone call from you only to hear you say, “Hey MF”, then we would talk about everything except basketball.”
Thompson cast a cavernous shadow on the sport of basketball, touching the lives of many, Iverson included.
From his time as a player at Providence College and the Boston Celtics to his early pivot to coaching despite success as a player at Georgetown, to his career as a color commentator on TNT and analyst on ESPN, John Thompson touched so many lives in basketball, and beyond.
Rest in Peace.
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