By: Brandon Apter, managing editor 
A.I. has finally gotten his answer. He's Hall of Fame Bound. It's official. One of the most storied players in Philadelphia 76ers history is headed to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Shaquille O'Neal and Yao Ming will be inducted along with Iverson, who won the scoring title four times during his 14-year career in the NBA.
Congrats to @alleniverson… a member of the 2016 @Hoophall #16HoopClass! pic.twitter.com/LnchdbEOqy
— NBA (@NBA) April 4, 2016
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction will take place in Springfield, Massachusetts on September 9th. The Answer will be honored along with Shaquille O'Neal, Yao Ming, Tom Izzo, Sheryl Swoops, Jerry Reinsdorf, referee Darell Garretson and coach John McLendon.
Iverson was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers first overall 20 years ago, in the 1996 NBA draft. The Georgetown alum went on to win Rookie of the Year in 1996-97 after averaging 23.5 points, 7.5 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game. Iverson was a two-time All-Star Game MVP and won the NBA Most Valuable Player award in 2000-01, leading the Sixers to the NBA Finals against Kobe Bryant and fellow 2016 Hall of Fame nominee Shaquille O'Neal. That year, A.I. averaged 31.1 points, 4.6 assists and 2.5 steals, shooting 42 percent from the floor.
“I’m a product of Michael Jordan, Isaiah Thomas, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, all those guys that paved the way for us,” said Iverson during the announcement event, which was held at the Sheraton Centre hotel in Toronto and televised on NBA TV. He added that those players have “no idea” the extent to which they influenced him. [Sixers.com]
Iverson made eight playoff appearances in his 14-year career, six times with the Sixers and two with the Denver Nuggets. In those 71 combined playoff games, A.I. averaged 29.7 points, six assists and 2.1 steals per game. During his final year with Philadelphia, in 2004-05, Iverson averaged 31.2 points per game in the five postseason contests.
On December 19th, 2006, the Sixers parted ways with their franchise cornerstone, trading him to Denver in exchange for Andre Miller, Joe Smith and two first round picks that seemingly never panned out. Iverson returned to Philadelphia to play for the Sixers in December of 2009. He averaged 13.9 points in 25 games played that season, shooting just under 42 percent.
A.I. finished his career in Philadelphia second in franchise history in points (19, 931), second in steals (1,644), first in three-point field-goals (885), second in points per game (27.6), first in steals per game (2.3) and third in assists (4,385).
The 11-time All-Star is joined by nominees Shaquille O'Neal, Sheryl Swoopes, Tom Izzo, Kevin Johnson, Eddie Sutton (coach), Bo Ryan (coach), John McLendon (coach), Muffett McGraw (coach), Robert Hughes (coach), Darrell Garretson (official), Leta Andrews (coach), Charles Dreisell (coach) and 1954-58 Wayland Baptist University.
