Allen Iverson was not just another guy with terrific skills and athleticism who would shut up and dribble. Standing 6 feet tall and a mere 165-pound, with a frame that wouldn’t threaten anyone, ‘The Answer’ was a challenge even for the likes of Michael Jordan since Day 1 in the NBA.
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Coming in as the 1st pick in the 1996 Draft, which is probably the greatest draft class of all time, AI felt no pressure to deliver to the hype with which he came in despite being one of the shortest players in the league’s history with the expectations of leading a franchise.
Iverson normalized it for the point guards or shorter shooting guards to become the primary scorer of a team, which never happened before the 1997 Rookie of the Year came into the picture.
That’s one reason why he became an inspiration to players like Gilbert Arenas, Stephen Curry, and several other current generations of players who are now the faces of their franchises.
Gilbert Arenas praises Allen Iverson for giving 1000% every time he took the court
In a recently dropped clip by VladTV, former 3x All-Star, Gilbert Arenas, who could himself have been one of the greatest hybrid guards of all time, if all things went right with him, talked about what made Allen Iverson special.
As usual, Arenas had a unique analogy for it. He said AI was like a white man who wants to be great and always gives much more energy than he is capable of, but was also skilled like a black man. That would be the most lethal weapon on any pitch, irrespective of sport.
“You’re talking about a guy who is going to come at you 1000% all the time. It’s like he had the white boy energy, the black man skill,” said the former Wizards guard, while also calling AI the greatest player to never win a ring. Watch it here.
Iverson’s 14-year NBA career
Although it wasn’t as fruitful as it should have been, Allen Iverson’s career was full of ups and downs, mostly off the court. On the court, there was nobody who could stop AI in his heyday.
The 11x All-Star didn’t average below 20 points in 12 out of the 14 years he played in the toughest sport for a 6-feet tall guy. His career averages of 26.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and 2.2 steals per game should be enough to tell you how big of a menace he was to deal with.
If not, the 2001 MVP was also a 4-time scoring champion and a 3-time steals leader in the era that had some of the greatest all-time scorers and defenders. He might not be a practice guy like Kobe Bryant or MJ, but AI never gave anything less than either of those whenever he put on NBA gear, special the one which read ‘Philadelphia 76ers’.
