Allen Iverson was a no-show at an exhibition basketball game in Lima, Ohio, Saturday night, despite his name being on the bill. A crowd of about 1,500 fans showed up at the Lima Senior gym.
The game was promoted as the former NBA MVP leading The Streetball team against the Lima Explosion and Friends in Street Ball 2, The Lima News reports (via HoopsHype).
The Explosion play in the ABA.
Travis Walton, who played high school ball at Lima Senior and then at Michigan State, led the Lima squad with 31 points in its 131-100 win.
“That was tough,” Walton said Iverson’s absence, “It was a pity because of all the hard work (promoter) Quincey (Simpson) put into this. I know Allen Iverson had said he was going to come and he was confirmed to come. I know this is bad because I know everyone came here to see Allen Iverson, one of the greatest players to play the game of basketball.”
Simpson said of Iverson, “He didn’t give me his word. He gave me a contract. This wasn’t a handshake agreement. This was an actual contract that he was going to be here. I never had a conversation with Allen Iverson myself, I didn’t need to. I talked to his people and they assured me he was coming. They told me (Saturday night) he was in the Dayton airport. They assured me he was on the road (to here), but I’m starting to think that that was basically a lie. It was very embarrassing.
“I’m going to have another event, sometime in the spring, and it’s going to be a free event to let everybody know I’m trying to do things the right way.”
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