Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson faced off on 13 separate occasions over the course of their NBA careers, but one particular game stands out among the others.
Iverson was the first overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft and came out of Georgetown with a lot of hype surrounding him. He lived up to it from the jump, but never more so than during a specific outing versus the Chicago Bulls in 1997 when he crossed Jordan over in epic fashion.
It was a stunning moment that has more than stood the test of time, despite the fact that Jordan actually beat Iverson more times (7) than Iverson beat him (6).
During a recent appearance on Shannon Sharpe’s ‘Club Shay Shay’ podcast, Iverson revealed that Jordan had yet to forgive him for that infamous crossover.
“I went to a Charlotte Hornets game, and he had me come in and we in the back and me and him just sitting back and drinking and reminiscing or whatever, and I was like, ‘Man, I love you, man.’ And he was like, ‘You don’t love me, you lil b****. You wouldn’t have crossed me up like that if you did.’
“Man, and everybody in the room just bust out laughing, man. It was crazy,”
The crossover is so prominent that, to this day, Jordan reserves a special 4-word greeting for Iverson any time he sees him.
Jokes aside, Jordan holds Iverson in very high regard. He spoke extremely honestly about who’d win a battle between the two in their primes, and that’s rare for someone as competitive as him.
— Game 7 (@game7__) September 14, 2021
Iverson has been similarly complimentary of Jordan, taking a very hard stance on who is superior between him and LeBron James.
Iverson and Jordan are two legends in the sport of basketball, so it’s great that they’ve maintained the sort of relationship that allows them to have such good banter even all these years later.
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A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
