NBA legend Allen Iverson is facing heavy criticism in Australia after multiple families and organisations accused him of failing to show up for scheduled appearances, including a charity event involving children battling cancer.
The controversy began with a viral Reddit post shared on r/NBA, a forum with more than 17 million members, detailing a meet-and-greet in Melbourne organised by Cavalo Prestige in partnership with Challenge, a not-for-profit organisation supporting children and families living with cancer.
“Allen Iverson came to Cavalo Prestige Melbourne to meet 12 kids who are battling cancer,” the post read. “My little brother, who is 12 years old and currently receiving chemotherapy for ALCL lymphoma, was so excited to meet one of his idols. He came out extremely disgusted and disappointed in Allen Iverson’s behaviour – and so were the other families.”
Iverson stayed in a separate podcast room for hours and never directly addressed the families, with his security staff delivering an apology instead, according to the post.
“We were all told we would get to sit with him from 10:45 to 11:30am, and that did not happen,” the user wrote. “We were waiting in a downstairs room with his security and all of the kids, and his security told us he was ‘having a bad day’ and didn’t want to come out.”
Families were allegedly promised signed basketballs, jerseys, and the chance to ask questions, none of which occurred.
“After waiting hours, his security firmly told us he is not signing anything at all,” the post continued. “We did not get to talk to him, and he did not say a word to anyone.”
Australian basketball legend has hit out at the former NBA star on social, calling him a sh*t human.
Challenge CEO David Rogers later confirmed the organisation’s disappointment in a statement to Fox Sports Australia.
“Challenge was deeply disappointed with the meet and greet involving Allen Iverson,” Rogers said. “There was nothing further we could have done as an organisation to improve the experience and, despite working diligently on the day to manage a challenging and at times disrespectful approach from his management team, we believe Allen Iverson ultimately let down the children and families who came to meet him.”
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