Philadelphia 76ers legend Allen Iverson is receiving criticism after his meet-and-greet with kids battling cancer in Australia earlier this month didn’t go as planned.
A nonprofit that supports kids battling cancer arranged for Iverson to spend 45 minutes with a group of children in Melbourne, according to a report from Axios. Iverson was set to spend time with the kids and sign autographs for them, the CEO of the nonprofit told Axios.
Instead, Iverson spent about one minute with the families, the CEO of the nonprofit said. Iverson did not speak with the children, took just a few photos, signed autographs for a “small number” of the kids and left, per Axios.
News of Iverson’s interaction was first posted on Reddit. The story caught the attention of Melbourne, Australia native and former NBA star Andrew Bogut.
“Current/former NBA player did a tour of Australia and treated people poorly and didn’t fulfill appointments and obligations. In other news the sky is blue,” Bogut originally posted on X.
Bogut, a former No. 1 overall pick, then shared a link to the Reddit story, as well as more thoughts on Allen Iverson.
“Absolute [expletive] human,“ Bogut said of Iverson. ”No excuses for this. If anyone knows this family [please] reach out.”
Allen Iverson was drafted by the 76ers with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft. He went on to win the 2001 NBA MVP and was named an NBA All-Star 11 times.
Iverson was also named the MVP of the All-Star Game twice. He was the NBA scoring champion four times in his career and is in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Iverson was flashy on and off the court during his career, which included stops with the Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons and Memphis Grizzlies, in addition to his time with the 76ers.
