National Basketball Association

Here's why Allen Iverson missed his Hall of Fame press conference

Published Nov. 15, 2016 3:09 p.m. ET

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Andrew Lynch

If you know one thing about Allen Iverson, it's that he has a complicated relationship with practice — one that continued Thursday during the Basketball Hall of Fame's opening press conference.

The members of the Class of 2016 were in Springfield, Mass., to receive their new ceremonial jackets and participate in some lighthearted banter, except for Iverson. In classic AI fashion, the former Sixers great was nowhere to be found for what amounted to practice ahead of Friday's induction ceremony.

Unfortunately for those of us who love jokes, Iverson wasn't making a meta-statement or referencing his famous practice rant. Instead, he was simply the victim of bad travel arrangements.

So that's understandable, if also unfortunate. But Iverson's reasonable excuse didn't spare him from fellow Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal's jokes:

And most depressingly, AI missed a chance to ride down a staircase on top of a folding table along with Shaq:

A Hall of Fame weekend is usually a pretty serious affair — unless you bring Shaq along. We'll see the emotional side of things Friday, when Iverson takes the stage, assuming his induction into the 76ers' Hall of Fame earlier this year was a sign of things to come.

On the bright side, Iverson did eventually make his way to the festivities, answering questions from the media in a more relaxed setting:

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