“The job Ty Lue did on Allen Iverson took a lot of pressure of me”: When Kobe Bryant gave the Clippers head coach props for defending AI well in 2001 Lakers Finals win

Kobe Bryant told Ty Lue that he took a lot of pressure off of him by defending Allen Iverson well during the 2001 NBA Finals. 

Allen Iverson was as close to a sure shot number one overall pick as anyone could’ve been at the time. While Kobe Bryant was a Philadelphia native having attended Lower Merion High School, he was looked at as quite the risk given his reluctance to spend even a single year at a university. 

Both the 1996 NBA Draftees would become the two most iconic players out of their draft and would eventually meet one another in the NBA Finals mere 5 years into the league. The 2001 NBA Finals saw the underdog Philadelphia 76ers, led by Allen Iverson, take on Goliath in the form of the Los Angeles Lakers.

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The Lakers were trying to repeat as champions after having beaten the Indiana Pacers the year before. The Sixers on the other hand, in Larry Brown’s 3rd year coaching the team, lost in 6 games to Reggie Miller and company in the 2000 ECSF. 

The following year however, saw AI win league MVP and lead his 76ers to the best record out East at 56-26. 

Kobe Bryant gave Ty Lue his flowers for guarding Allen Iverson well. 

Game 1 of the 2001 NBA Finals saw Allen Iverson drop a whopping 48 points on the Lakers, even giving us one of the greatest pictures in Finals history (him stepping over Ty Lue). Game 1 would be the only game the Sixers would win that series as Kobe Bryant and Shaq went on to gentleman sweep them.

Also read: “I just fell in love with Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson at the 2001 NBA Finals”: Raptors guard Fred VanVleet recollects his love for the Lakers legend growing up

During the series, Ty Lue, who was only in his 3rd year in the league, was tasked with defending the reigning league MVP. Lue did a decent enough job for Kobe, the clear best perimeter defender on the Lakers, to take a back seat and focus on his offense. 

Iverson would drop 30+ in 4 of the 5 games in the Finals but he did so while draining his own stamina, not being able to guard Bryant on the other end. This is what Kobe had to say to Lue and his defense on AI throughout the series from the eyes of Lue himself. 

“Kobe said, ‘You know, I don’t know if we would have been able to win that series without.’ He said, ‘Because I was getting worn out having to guard Iverson and the job you did on him really took a lot of pressure off me. So man, you just meant so much to this championship.’”