Allen Iverson’s crossover is one of the most iconic moves ever showcased by a player on NBA hardwood. The move is so iconic that earlier this year, the Philadelphia 76ers unveiled an Iverson statue depicting the crossover outside their practice facility. The NBA legend recently sat down with Dennis Page, founder of SLAM to talk about the origin of the move.
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Iverson recalled falling victim to the ankle breaker by his Georgetown Hoyas’ teammate Dean Berry over and over again during practice. Swallowing his pride, he would go on to ask Berry to teach him the shifty move. To his credit, AI was a quick learner. Soon, he picked up on every detail that was required to perfect the move.
He said, “He was breaking me off at practice and I had to humble myself. The move was so vicious, I was like, ‘Man, you’ve gotta teach me that.’ It had been going on for a while and I wouldn’t say anything…then after a while, I was like, ‘man, I can’t do this. I need to add this to my arsenal.’ He sat out to practice and he worked with me.”
Iverson said that within a couple of days, he was already hitting people with the crossover during scrimmages. Even though it was AI who popularized the move, he believes that his crossover isn’t better than Berry’s. The 49-year-old compared his Hoyas teammate to Mr. Miyagi and himself to Daniel. He said, “I’m never going to say mine is better than the teacher.”
Iverson’s crossover is arguably one of the best dribble moves in the game’s history. The initial fake lures the defender in one direction, giving AI enough time to cross up and make his shot. It’s as simple as any move could get and this is why it’s so effective and dangerous. So much so that Iverson even executed it on his idol the first chance he got his rookie season.
Allen Iverson’s crossover on Michael Jordan
Allen Iverson joined Georgetown in 1994. He learned the move during Berry’s freshman season in 1995-96. A few years later in 1997, he crossed over Michael Jordan. This goes to show just how confident AI was in his abilities handling the rock as he dug into his bag to pull a move on the man he admired growing up a mere few years after first learning about the move.
During an appearance on Knuckleheads Podcast, AI said, “He still almost blocked it and I got him good. I was telling all my friends and my family that if…he [Jordan] ever guarded me, that I was going to try my move on the greatest player to ever play…So, I knew I was going to do it when he got on me. That’s why I backed up. I said, ‘Oh, here we go.'”
When AI was matched up against MJ, he tested the first fake to see if the Bulls legend was moving in that direction. Once he saw that he did, he hit MJ with an even better fake and hit the shot from the key. AI has had deep love and respect for MJ since the beginning. But when he put him in the crossover, MJ told him, you don’t love me because if you did, you wouldn’t have crossed me like that.
