How Good Was PRIME Allen Iverson?

at 6' nothing and 170 lb Allen Iverson was the shortest and lightest MVP in league history but even more than his MVP 11 Allstar selections and four scoring titles AI was a cultural icon he changed the way athletes looked how they talked and how the point guard position was played the answer was your favorite player favorite player and even though he was perpetually late and didn't like to practice we talking about practice in 2001 he produced one of the most magical finals runs in NBA history in this video we'll talk about Iverson's prime years how desperate the Sixers were before his arrival and how AI reached basketball immortality with the worst offensive team ever and it all started while Allen Iverson was still in high school when the Sixers started to suck since the 1992 season and Charles Barkley's trade to Phoenix the Philadelphia 76ers became one of the worst teams in the NBA but after they won just 18 games in 1996 there was Hope on the horizon when the Sixers won the draft lottery and the number one overall pick the 1996 draft was the best class ever producing 10 Allstars and five Hall of Famers but the Sixers Choice was easy and they went for a sure thing despite some questions about his character and him being the smallest and the lightest player ever selected first overall there were not that many questions about the answers game because from the first moment he stepped on the NBA floor there was no doubt this guy was the fastest player the league had ever seen even as a 155lb rookie Iverson put fear in people's hearts because nobody could stay stay in front of him Iverson could change directions with the ball on a string turn on the Jets and burn Whoever Whenever plus despite his small stature Iverson had a long wingspan he was wiry strong and fearless if you tried to beat him up he'd get up every single time and go at you 100 mph again and again in his NBA debut AI scored 30 points which was the sixth highest scoring game ever for an NBA rookie Allen also broke Wilt Chamberlain's rookie record of three straight games with at least 40 points doing so in five straight games including a 50-point effort in Cleveland against the Cavaliers who had the second best defense in the NBA That season he thus became the second youngest player ever to reach the 50-point plateau but the most memorable moment of his rookie season came against his Idol Michael Jordan I has Jordan the crowd is into it Allan shakes fre Iverson finished that game against Chicago with 37 points on 15 for 23 shooting completely outshining Jordan who finished with 24 points on 9 for 24 shooting in his rookie year AI led the Sixers with 23. 5 points which was the sixth best scoring average in the NBA he also ranked 11th in assists with 7. 5 dimes per game and even though he shot just 41% from the field he made 155 three-pointers which was near the top of the lead Iverson won Rookie of a year however his 76ers sucked and they were glued to the bottom of the standings and because they barely improved from the previous year coach Johnny Davis got fired and in his place came a coach that would soon become synonymous with alen Iverson Larry Brown as a player Brown was a three-time assists leader in the ABA and as a coach he was a disciplinarian who believed in structure and being 20 minutes early to everything and when he got to Philadelphia there was Iverson a ball hog who didn't like to pass the ball a guy who believed coaches couldn't teach him much and who was perpetually late for everything it was a match made in hell and it didn't take long for the coach and the Superstar to clash if you come down and jack up a bad shot and nobody else touches the ball what good have you done those four guys they don't want to just run play defense and set screens it gets old for them real fast but Iverson was a hothead and didn't like Brown's authoritarian style he did not stay after practice to work on his game if there was a shoot around he showed up when it started and left as soon as it was over if he even showed up at all when the other Sixers hit the gym Iverson would just lay on the bench brush machine pretending to be lifting or he'd hide in the bathroom and eat junk food still with more experience and Brown's efforts Iverson improved as a rookie he led the NBA in turnovers with 4.

4 per game and in his soft more season he cut that to just 3. 1 his shooting efficiency went up from 41% to 46% and his decision-making improved as brown didn't want the Sixers to be a one-man show if I had a mismatch last year I could take it I can't do that as much this year that gets a little frustrating Iverson said of his lack of freedom on offense but despite Iverson scoring less than the year before the Sixers improved even though they didn't make the playoffs however in 1999 AI couldn't be reigned in anymore not even by Brown the coach started to play Iverson as a shooting guard to get him off the ball but the result wasn't more cutting to the basket an off ball movement to make it easier for the offense sir AI started gunning leading the NBA in field goal attempts and averaging nearly as many turnovers as assists the ball was still in ai's hands for the majority of the time and thanks to an insane usage rate he led the NBA in scoring with 26. 8 points per game but most importantly thanks to their top five defense the Sixers were finally successful with their first winning season in 8 years in the play play offs AI led the Sixers pass Orlando in the first round with 28 points six assists and four steals per game but in the next round they immediately got swept by the Pacers for the 1999 2000 NBA season AI continued on the same trajectory he took 25 shots per game which was nearly a third of all the Sixers attempts he averaged 28 points which was second best in the league and he made his first All-Star team the Sixers again won their first round playoff matchup but they once again lost in the second round to the Pacers on the surface Iverson had a successful year he was a fan favorite and was becoming a cultural icon with nearly half the NBA copying his hairstyle getting tattoos and wearing baggy clothes however inside the locker room it was horrible Iverson missed half of the team's practice sessions and for the ones that he did show up to he was late and Larry Brown who was setting up his clocks 20 minutes early just so he was never late for anything was fed up brown publicly criticized the behavior of a star player I wonder what your relationship would be with any employee that you might have who doesn't choose to come to work and suspended him for one game to which Iverson went berserk you say this team's a family when it's convenient but then you go talk about me in the newspapers if it's really family then you keep it in the family you don't disrespect me like that after this incident Larry Brown demanded from the ownership that Iverson had to be traded or that he himself would quit in Philadelphia coach Larry Brown and guard Alan Iverson have been going at it again Iverson was mythed that he was benched Saturday night for the final 20 minutes of an eventual loss to Detroit and Iverson shared the same sentiment about his coach wanting him gone he believed that he was a superstar and that the Sixers would get rid of brown to keep him but then a shock during the off season the Sixers decided to trade Iris and were openly shopping him across the league finally in Late July of 2000 a four te 10-player deal was made between the Pistons Hornets Lakers and Sixers that would have sent Iverson and Center Matt guer to Detroit however at the last moment Matt guer refused to wave his trade kicker B us which messed up the finances of such a complicated trade and everything fell through but this near trade finally sobered up alen Iverson he realized that he was not above the team that he was acting like a primadonna and that if he didn't clean up his act the Sixers would get rid of him as soon as they got the chance from that point on I promised myself that I would never give anyone the ammo to use against me I looked back at the practices I missed it was ridiculous I missed so many and I was laid for so many I gave them the ammo before the training camp started Iverson had a meeting with Larry Brown where he apologized for his behavior I'm going to change I'm ready to be a leader I want to be a captain I'm going to be on time I want to have the kind of relationship with you that Magic Johnson had with Pat Riley and Michael Jordan had with Phil Jackson Brown was elated because that's all he wanted too and when the training camp started Iverson kept his word he didn't miss a single day of training camp and not a single weightlifting session when the training camp started AI reported at 15 155 lbs with the goal to bump that to 170 for the first game of the regular season when that first game came AI weighed in at 172 lbs and was deadlier than ever the Sixers started the season with 10 wins in a row and there was a noticeable change in Iverson's game and Body Language AI started to Dish the ball more out of double teams he looked engaged during timeouts and hugged his coach after games this new dynamic between brown and Iverson culminated during the All-Star game when Allen's fourth quarter explosion carried the East to victory since the 76ers had the number one seed Brown coached the game and after Iverson was presented the All-Star game MVP his first words were who my coach where my coach Coach Brown is he before the trade deadline the Sixers traded Tony kach and Theo Ratcliffe for dmbe Matumbo who won defensive player of the year that season the Sixers secured the number one seed in the East and for the first time since their championship year in 1983 it looked like they could go all the way after they defeated the Pacers in the first round of the playoffs Iverson was named the league MVP with averages of 31 points 4.

5 assists and 2. 5 Steals on top of a defensive player of the year and the MVP the six also had a Sixth Man of the Year in Aaron mcke however in the second round another problem awaited and the clash with the highflying Superstar Vince Carter Vince and AI were the most attractive players in the NBA and their matchup was one of the most exciting duels in NBA history in game one in Philly both Iverson and Carter went over 35 points but Toronto won in game two AI scored 54 to even the series and Carter immediately countered with 50 of his own in game three the Sixers even the series in the fourth game and in game five Iverson eclipsed 50 again finishing with 52 points seven assists and four steals to give Philadelphia a 3-2 series lead but in Toronto Carter played out of his mind again scoring 39 points to extend the series and force a game seven on the day of the deciding game Carter had a graduation ceremony in North Carolina and he decided to participate after two flights that day he made it to Philadelphia but he was exhausted and played an awful game including a final second miss that would send the Sixers to the Conference Finals and I had a horrible shooting night but he did finish with a career-high 16 assists and doing everything in his power to lead Philly to Victory and in the Conference Finals they faced another NBA legend Ray Allen and his Milwaukee Bucks Ray Sam Cassell and big dog Glenn Robinson look like the better team at the beginning of the series and after game two it looked like the Sixers were doomed the game was tied but Allen Iverson injured his hip and was ruled out of game three and without their best player the Sixers had no chance against Milwaukee but being as tough as he was Iverson pushed through the pain and suited up for gain four and even though his hip contributed to an atrocious shooting performance from Iverson 10 for 32 shooting the Sixers somehow ped through in a must-win game and then in game five Iverson had an even worse game shooting 5 for 27 and scoring only 15 points but he did have nine rebounds and eight assists and the Sixers somehow eak out an 8988 win AI scoring came back for game six and he finished with 46 points but the Sixers lost and were due for another game seven but when it was most important Iverson played the best game of the series finishing with 44 points and seven assists to push the Sixers to the NBA finals after a decade of irrelevance and losing the Sixers were on the brink of basketball immortality reaching their first Finals in 18 years however in the 2001 finals there was a worst possible opponent the Los Angeles Lakers with prime Shack and Kobe didn't lose a single game on their way to the finals but in game one Allen Iverson was destined to change that in the first half Iverson played like a madman torching Kobe and Derek Fischer for 30 points however in the second half Bill Jackson decided to put in Iverson's doppelganger Ty Lou leading up to the finals Lou barely played however he was the only player on the Lakers fast enough to keep up with AI and he did a fantastic job holding Iverson to just three points in the final stretch of Regulation but then came overtime Iverson found his Groove again scoring seven of the Sixers 13 points and his last shot became one of the greatest moments in NBA history this deadly bucket was the epitome of Iverson's career it showed the full detail of his talent and his deadly crossover while the step over after he made the shot fully explained the cold-bloodedness of this 6-foot killer Iverson rarely talked trash on the court and he rarely even swore on the court even if he said something it was a simple oneliner wor closer to Tim Duncan than to Kevin Garnett instead he let his game do the talking and in that game one win against the Lakers he reached basketball immortality he finished with 48 points six assists and five steals almost singlehandedly defeating the team that was undefeated in the playoffs it was the sixth highest scoring game in NBA finals history however in the next four games the Lakers proved their dominance and won the title as nobody in the NBA could deal with Shaq and even though Iverson lost he became a people's champion and an NBA legend the 76ers averaged 94. 7 points per game that season Allen Iverson averaged 31.