When Allen Iverson was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame last fall, he mentioned Brendan Gaughan along with a lengthy list of thank-yous.
Gaughan was teammates with Iverson for two years at Georgetown University, a reserve whose primary job was to make Iverson miserable in practice.
“It went bad for him and bad for me some days,” Gaughan recalled during Daytona 500 media day on Wednesday. “I was allowed to hold my own with him (in practice); we had certain rules that didn’t apply to games.”
Gaughan said one of Iverson’s crossovers literally broke his ankle at one point — at least in the form of a bone chip and torn ligaments.
“I made sure he paid for that, though,” Gaughan said with a smile.
Gaughan downplayed how much impact he had on Iverson’s Hall of Fame career, but is proud of the player who he still calls a friend.
“I like to say (the success) is all because of me, personally,” he said with a grin. “But I don’t think I can take much credit for that.”
Gaughan isn’t about to try and prove himself on the court today, though. A driver who talks trash and wants to take Gaughan on in a game of one-on-one is likely to be turned down.
“I got to guard one of the NBA’s greatest point guards of all time, so I’ve got nothing to prove against any NASCAR driver who thinks he can pick up the basketball,” he said.