I am not defending Iverson, that is atrocious behavior.
How does a 12 year old know know Allen Iverson was? He quit playing in 2013. I am just curious.
I hope your brother wins his fight against ALCL lymphoma and I am sorry he had a negative experience. I am not the praying kind but I will send him some positive thoughts.
This was my thought when I heard this story.
Speaking from experience, I actually was a Make-a-Wish kid back in '98-'99, and meeting Iverson was on my short list of wishes I was considering (I also contemplated trying to cram 2 wishes into one, and thought about trying to wish to do a Sixers/Celtics games so I could meet Iverson
and the Celtics).
Now I was in high school at the time, but for 98/99 that would be like getting to meet David Thompson or George Gervin or Pete Maravich, I knew a little about them, but not much. Even if it was Larry Bird or Kevin McHale, that would be cool, but it wouldn't excite me like getting to meet Antoine Walker or Ron Mercer would have. And that's basketball-obsessed-high-school-aged-me, it would be even worse if they tried to have me meet those guys at 12 years old.
That being said, the 12-year old sick kids story still makes sense (though that part is played up for feels/clicks), as being a sick kid, you do get a few opportunities to meet random celebs. They ask you, do you want to meet a D-list celebrity? So you sign up, and the hospital staff and your parents probably hype it up for a couple of weeks, day arrives, you go to the spot, told it's going to be a half hour wait, then 2-3 hours later, you're told you're not getting anything. Ya it sucks for the kids, you got excited and wasted your time for nothing, but I doubt they were dying to meet him.