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“Can the story of basketball be told without Allen Iverson? NO!”: How ‘The Answer’ changed the NBA as we see it today

Akash Murty
Published

“Tears would flow down my eyes when I passed the football field”: Allen Iverson recalls asking legendary Georgetown coach, John Thompson, permission to play football

Allen Iverson revolutionized the guard position forever, allowing smaller guards to be the superstars of a team.

Allen Iverson is one of a kind. There was no one quite like him before, there sure aren’t any afterward. If we talk about the guard position, Iverson changed how everyone would look at it forever.

While there were Jerry West, Michael Jordan, and a few others who were the leaders of their teams and superstars in the league, there weren’t more. And if you look for guards under 6’3 you wouldn’t find any who was a superstar before AI.

Also read: “One of the reasons I wear no.3 is Allen Iverson”: Dwyane Wade recounts the story of his first encounter with the Answer

The shooting guard position was a straight NO for anyone under 6’5 at the very least. That changed as soon as AI debuted in the league in 1996. He played both one and two guard positions throughout his career according to the need of the hour.

A former Knicks point guard, Gregg Anthony, who guarded him several times says, “For a guy to be 6’ foot, 165 pounds, I don’t know if there’s anybody more physically intimidating than Allen Iverson.”

 

The story of Basketball without Allen Iverson is incomplete

Iverson wasn’t just a little guy who could score, he played college basketball with the Georgetown Hoyas for two years before he declared for the NBA. That’s where he put the NBA on notice of his brilliance on both sides of the court. While setting the school record for career scoring with an average of 23.0 PPG, he also won Big East Defensive Player of the Year awards both years.

And he carried that brilliance into the NBA. The 2021 MVP started obliterating the superstars and great teams in his 1st season, averaging 23.5 points, 7.5 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.1 steals a game.

Although, he deserved all individual accolades from the first season onwards for lighting up best-in-the-world basketball players and teams at 19 years of age. But because of the changes he tried to bring alongside him, the league adopted a stricter perspective in giving Iverson his due respect.

The NBA as we see it now has a lot of difference from when you see it before Iverson’s debut. Philadelphia’s #3 didn’t just break the league’s orthodox rigidness towards seeing shorter guys as only role players but also led the charge in opposing its view towards tattoos and the style with which players could walk into the arena.

The Answer changed the NBA for good

While players before him weren’t allowed to follow the Hip Hop culture anywhere around a basketball arena, nowadays you can barely find players without tattoos. The business and casual wear are only used by players for a change, and every bit of it came because AI brought them with him.

In return, NBA did punish him silently in many ways trying to maintain a negative aura around him for being arrested years before coming into the league and a few other stories.

The man missed out on All-NBA first-team honors in 2000 despite averaging over 28 points per game with 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and, 2 steals per game in the regular season and similar numbers in the playoffs as well.

Al would get his revenge the very next year averaging a league-leading 31.1 points and 2.1 steals forcing his way to towards his first and only MVP award. He averaged over 30 points 4-more times with over 7 assists and 2 steals but made just 1 First Team.

Also read: “Allen Iverson or Kyrie Irving? Who had the better handle?”: NBA Redditor asks spectacular question on Nets star and 76ers legend, Reddit answers unanimously

The NBA did take its toll on Iverson in some way to challenge its old ways, affecting his resume in the process, but the 11-time All-Star was seldomly fazed by it. He did his thing and became one of the greatest icons of the game.

About the author

Akash Murty

Akash Murty

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An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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