Sitting with Shaq, Barkley and Kenny Smith, Gervin traced the line from the finger roll era to Victor Wembanyama's San Antonio - and told the real story of how the Iceman got his name.

In the acclaimed table-tennis drama, Gervin plays Lawrence, the club owner who gives the hero a home court - and he shot every scene in a single day.

'Ice: Why I Was Born to Score' turned the Iceman's story into a book - and the book keeps turning into podcasts, keynotes and packed rooms.

The tuition-free charter school Gervin opened in San Antonio in 1995 marked three decades of service - complete with a celebrated campus re-opening and a visit from the Spurs Coyote.

Outside the arena that already bears his name, EMU raised a bronze statue of Gervin frozen mid-finger-roll - a permanent monument to the smoothest shot in basketball.