He claims Iverson broke promi$e HE TREATED THE budding basketball star with the concern of a doting parent. He let the player live in his home, helped his family with expenses and took the boy to school every day. And when the kid needed a catchy nickname because other players had them, Jamil Blackmon came up with one that would stay with the kid even after his career took off into the upper reaches of stardom. At least that's the way Blackmon tells it - in a lawsuit he filed in federal court in Philadelphia last week, claiming 76ers star Allen Iverson reneged on a promise to share his earnings with his former mentor. Blackmon wants millions. Blackmon contends that Iverson has made profitable use of the nickname "The Answer" and has shared none of the earnings with Blackmon. He said in an interview last night that he feels "slighted" by the young man he befriended and who, after he became a star, turned away from him. Iverson didn't even invite him to his wedding in August, Blackmon said. Blackmon, 34, an entertainment promoter now living in Brooklyn, N.Y., is seeking 25 percent of "all proceeds" that Iverson earns through the now-famous nickname. Iverson's attorney, Larry Woodward, said yesterday he and Iverson were aware of the lawsuit, but will have nothing to say about Blackmon's legal claims, since they are now in litigation. "We're going to handle it in the courts," Woodward told the Daily News. Iverson's manager, Gary Moore, said last night he remembers Blackmon, but wouldn't comment on the lawsuit. Blackmon's suit was filed Friday. Reebok International Ltd. just extended Iverson's 10-year, $50 million contract on Nov. 28 to a "lifetime" deal to promote Reebok's sneakers and sports apparel. Iverson's original Reebok deal was signed in 1996. Blackmon claims that he thought up the nickname for Iverson in 1994, at a time when Blackmon was involved in marketing and promoting hip-hop concerts. Blackmon has known the Iverson family since 1987, when Blackmon was a student at Hampton University, the suit states. By 1994, Iverson, a native of Hampton, Va., was living with Blackmon, competing in basketball tournaments and in need of a nickname because other players used nicknames, the suit states. "Blackmon told Iverson that once he got to the NBA, Iverson would be 'The Answer' to all of the NBA's woes," asserts the lawsuit, filed by Blackmon's Philadelphia lawyers, Frederick A. Tecce, Anthony J. DiMarino III and J. Garland Giles. "Iverson was immediately excited about the nickname 'The Answer,' began using it as a basketball player, and had it tattooed on his shoulder, the lawyers added. "There were numerous discussions. . .as to how the nickname. . .had immediate application for use in connection with clothing, sports apparel and sneakers. "Iverson repeatedly promised" Blackmon "that Iverson would give Blackmon 25 percent of all proceeds which Iverson realized form his use of 'The Answer,' " the lawsuit alleges. The suit says Iverson's mother, Ann, asked Blackmon in early 1994 to help her get Iverson through high school after Iverson was released from jail. He had spent four months in jail in connection with a February 1993 bowling alley fracas, but was granted clemency. The convictions were overturned in 1995. The suit says that Blackmon and Iverson's mother enrolled Iverson at "an alternative school," the Richard Milburn High School in northern Virginia. Iverson moved into Blackmon's home in Hampton, and Blackmon made sure Iverson attended classes. Every school day, Blackmon dropped Iverson off at school and either picked Iverson up after school or had someone else pick him up. This continued until Iverson enrolled at Georgetown University in August 1994, the suit says. By this time, the suit alleges, Iverson's mother, his sisters Aisha and Brandy, and niece, Alexis, also were living in Blackmon's home, and Blackmon "was paying numerous bills on behalf of Iverson and his family." Last night, Blackmon said Ann Iverson had asked him to take the budding star under his wing. "Why? Lack of finances, lack of a father figure around," he said. "So she needed help from somebody she could trust. She pretty much appointed me his godfather." Referring to Iverson, he said, "We were close back then." But, he said, Iverson found other friends when he became a pro and he turned to them instead of Blackmon, who described himself as "somebody who was toiling through the muck when [Iverson] didn't have anything." "He was content, I guess, living with me and having me help with his family's bills and clothing. And then when he became a pro, I guess that was enough. I was good for what I was good for," Blackmon said. Iverson was drafted first overall by the 76ers in June 1996. Before the draft, the suit asserts, Iverson told Blackmon he'd use the nickname in connection with his Reebok deal and "repeated his promise to pay Blackmon 25 percent of all proceeds. . .including any money received from Reebok." But shortly after the draft, Iverson told Blackmon the nickname might not be used in connection with the Reebok contract. A July 10, 1996, letter from Falk Associates Management Enterprises, lawyers then representing Iverson, to a New York lawyer who was representing Blackmon, asserted that someone else had a trademark for the phrase "The Answer." As a result, Iverson and Reebok couldn't use the nickname to promote Reebok's goods, Iverson's lawyers insisted. "The fact that Mr. Iverson and Mr. Blackmon reached an arrangement with regard to 'The Answer' is irrelevant due to the inability to legally register, protect and use a trademark and/or logo incorporating 'The Answer' in the market place," the letter advised. Reebok went on to use "The Answer," promoting Iverson and naming a sneaker after him. It's not clear how the company resolved the trademark issue, if there was one, as the lawyers alleged. Asked by a reporter yesterday why Blackmon didn't sue earlier, one of his lawyers said, "Iverson kept telling him, 'I'll take care of you.' " * Staff writer Dave Davies contributed to this report.		Author Jim Smith Gloria Campisi   Source Daily News   Return to Articles