When Allen Iverson Took a Shot at Isaiah Thomas for His Height but Praised Him in the Same Breath

Allen Iverson, standing at an even six feet on a good day, was one of the smallest superstars the NBA has ever seen. However, there did come a day when an even smaller player matched A.I.’s nightly dominance with the Philadelphia 76ers. The league may never witness a better season from a shorter player than Isaiah Thomas, who set the NBA on fire throughout his memorable 2016-17 campaign.

Iverson naturally had to hold his height over the 5-foot-9 Thomas, as there haven’t been too many successful guards smaller than A.I., especially since he played in the league. “Yeah, I always called [Thomas] midget,” Iverson told Michael Rapaport in an interview for Fox Sports.

The 11-time All-Star underlined how he liked to poke fun at I.T., but Iverson also had high praise for the 36-year-old. He segued from discussing how he could easily shoot over the smaller Thomas on the court to heaping praise on the former Celtic’s electrifying play. “But just the talent [Thomas] has and the heart… You can’t teach that, the heart that he got,” Iverson continued.

Iverson applauded Thomas for overcoming several obstacles in his basketball career, most notably the unexpected death of his sister. The Hall of Famer knows the perseverance it takes for a smaller player to survive in the NBA, so he didn’t hold back with his praise for I.T. Iverson’s heartfelt compliments meant a lot to Thomas, who considers the Sixers legend one of his basketball idols.

Isaiah Thomas looks up to Allen Iverson literally and figuratively

As the shortest player in the NBA by a decent margin at one point, Isaiah Thomas didn’t have too many top talents to compare himself to. Nate Robinson had a similar stature to Thomas, but his high-flying skillset contrasted I.T.’s ground-level play style. The closest comparison to Thomas’ historic campaign that saw him average 28.9 points and 5.9 assists per game is Iverson himself. Thomas came out of nowhere to finish top 5 in MVP voting in one of the most iconic individual campaigns in recent memory.

Both Iverson and Thomas know they’ve had to travel similar paths to find success in the NBA, so it’s no surprise that the two-time All-Star looks at A.I. with such reverence. When Iverson was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016, Thomas publicly shared the admiration he had for the former MVP.

“He’s pound for pound the best player to ever play the game in my eyes and on the court. I definitely want to be just like him,” Thomas said. I.T. may not be a future Hall inductee, but he displayed more dominance in one season than most players his height have in their entire playing careers.