Just watching some documentaries and old games of Allen Iverson in his prime; his match-up with Reggie, his epic battle with Vince Carter. For a guy 6 feet tall, to average 24 points in his first 14 seasons, including his rookie season, is unfathomable these days. In 10 different seasons, he was in the top 4 in MPG played, and with his small stature and the physical reckless style he played (not to mention the more physical game allowed back then) its amazing his career lasted as long as it did. 4 time scoring champion Top 10 in points 11 seasons. But he never won a title, and today the man is broke. After accumulating over 154 million dollars in his career from his salary alone, he has been forced to sell off his houses one by one. He is now a poor man. Sad to see it. He was one of the most exciting players I have ever watched. Gonna miss AI.
I remember that like 60 point game he had against us. Don't remember if it was 60 but I know it was around there.
Iverson could play, no doubt about it, but that entire era of basketball was weird. I'm talking about isolation basketball. It ran rampant and in many instances it worked. Iverson was the king of it. As the game evolved the players that couldn't adapt became extinct. The environment Iverson thrived in disappeared. That's another reason why his legacy is diminished. If re-entered the league again today as a rookie he'd have half the impact he used to.
Are we suppose to feel sad for the idiot? If you are dumb enough to blow through $154,000,000 then you deserve no sympathy. And as someone pointed out he is not broke. Doesn't he have a trust fund or something which gets him a measly million dollars a year?
The guy makes Westbrook seem amateur, and makes Uncle Drew look like a stiff. AI was the best one v one point guard ever to play the game. Too bad he made too many questionable calls off the court.
So you're saying if you switch aaron brooks and ai, then they would have each had relatively the same success as the other barring injuries?
Who said he was underappreciated? He was wildly popular and no one denies his talent. Youtube videos continue to pay him respect with crossover montages set to NSFW rap
Brooks couldn't finish at the rim or breakdown defenders like AI. AI gamed the system at an elite level. There are other players out there that willed their teams to wins playing iso-ball who weren't as talented as Iverson.
Exactly. Allen Iverson represents a dark era of basketball, perpetuated by volume scorers, a HORRIBLE eastern conference, unattractive personalities, and a dearth of all-time great players in or near their prime. I've made this argument before wrt the Tim Duncan love. And I think Timmy is freaking amazing. But his 4 championships all came against generally horrible competition overall. And the same can be said, imo, about the level of play overall during AI's prime. AI had multiple seasons, in his prime, when he shot UNDER 50% from a true shooting percentage. It's Rajon Rondo level bad. In 2001-2002, the dude took 28!!!! shots a game. And what did he shoot? 40%. He shot 29% from 3 and still took nearly 5 of those a game. He was a great pick-pocket, but otherwise so-so defensively. Probably underrated as playmaker... but maybe not if you factor in the fact that the ball was ALWAYS in his hands. The guy had a 37.8% usage percentage in 2001-2002 for example. People think Harden can be a ball-hog? His usage this year was 29%. Is it impressive AI took a team to the Finals? Yes, I guess. Though consider (1) the opposition. they beat Indiana, Toronto and Milwaukee.... and (2) you can attribute the success of that bunch to Larry Brown as much as anybody. Larry is probably the best coach who has done the most with the least in NBA history. He took the Clippers to the playoffs when it was unheard of. He won a championship with Detroit with a ragtag cast of characters that may be the one team in the last 20-30 years that has won a championship with the worst #1 player on that squad. Larry Brown turned Dikembe, and Aaron McKie, Eric Snow, Tyronne Hill, George Lynch, the Geigernator, a young Raja Bell, etc. into one of the best defensive teams in the league. And that's what they relied on. They beat the Bucks in the ECF one game where AI went 5-27 from the field. Sorry to be hard on AI. He was definitely a unique player. And definitely very talented. Even more-so considering his size. I'm sure he's a HOFer. But beyond that, I wouldn't get too excited about him. There's a laundry list of PGs/guards I'd take over him in an all NBA history draft.
