Allen Iverson was the best ball-handling PG the NBA had ever seen, plus he’s the only guard who beat Michael Jordan multiple times for the scoring award. After dropping his Airness on his behind in his rookie year, AI knew how to be great, despite his “small” stature. Standing at only 6 feet, Iverson was short for the NBA.
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And then two guards came into the league right about when he was retiring: Stephen Curry and Kyrie Irving. While one player is hailed as the best ball handler since AI, Steph’s dribbling is underappreciated. He’s known to the kids of today because of his impossible shooting angles, but there’s more to his game than just a jump shot.
The year 2016 saw many firsts and lasts. While fans remember it for the 73-9 season, Kobe Bryant retiring, and the Cavaliers winning it all, one award people tend to overlook is the unanimous MVP award. Nobody had done it before, with LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal coming close.
He’d done the impossible—won it with first-place votes from everybody. And why wouldn’t he—because he led the team to the best record in the regular season. His numbers were also unreal: 30.1 points and 2.1 steals. He was doing it on both ends of the floor.
Allen Iverson was that guy before everybody else – Stephen Curry said he modeled his game after him
If one followed Curry around the court, they’d probably tire out in about 2 minutes because of how much he moves. There’s never a moment in the game where he just stands in the corner. Steph snakes around the whole court, and if the ball is in his hands, there’s more possibility of him missing the shot than giving it away.
Iverson was the same: He gave everybody the works. Players were heaving a huge sigh of relief that he wasn’t any taller—he’d be unstoppable. AI had partied like there was no tomorrow if he had worked out more. He rarely lifted weights and came to practice, but when he needed to play, he balled out.
Curry even said Allen Iverson was who he wanted to be – such was the reverence for the Answer. He was a cultural icon and a huge influence on the kids of the 00s.
Stephen Curry was unreal that season – His closest Competitor Kyrie Irving was good, but Curry was a class apart
The playoffs aside, Stephen Curry showed the world what a point guard could truly do in the modern era. Till then it was the shooting guard who did most of the lifting, but Curry said not anymore. His 2014-15 season was good as well, but something clicked in 2016.
He broke the 400 3-pointers made barrier that season, a number nobody had done before, and no one has done since. That was the year AI sat up to take notice, and when he gives you the carrot, you know you’ve made it.
