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Allen Iverson Names 5 Favorite NBA Players Of All Time

Allen Iverson Names 5 Favorite NBA Players Of All Time

Allen Iverson is one of the most beloved NBA players in the league’s history. The things he did on the basketball court simply should not have been possible for a guy of his size.

Between the way he played on the court and the swagger he displayed off it, Iverson frequently finds himself listed as one of everybody’s all-time favorite players.

But who makes up Iverson’s top five?

Not too long ago he appeared on the All The Smoke podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson and answered that very question.

“My favorite is always going to be Mike, you know what I mean,” he said.

“Kobe, you know what I mean, my one and two. And LeBron, you know what I mean, so great. I got Bron at No. 3. Kobe is the closest thing to me to Mike.

“And then LeBron is just hands down LeBron James. He’s in a class by himself. And then, you know, Shaq and I just, ya’ll know how I feel about Steph Curry.”

Of the players Iverson listed, Curry is the only one with no NBA Finals MVP on his resume.

That said, he does have some other notable accolades.

Curry is a three-time champion, two time regular season MVP, six-time All Star and has been named to the All-NBA First Team on three separate occasions.

During the same interview, Iverson also opened up about who he would have loved to play with from today’s era.

“Was LeBron (James) in my era?” he asked.

“Kind of…alright no. I’d love to play with Giannis (Antetokounmpo). Aw nah, nah, nah. Yeah, I’d love to play with KD. I love Giannis now. I love Giannis. I love Giannis. I’m trippin’ cuz I ain’t seen KD in a minute. So yeah, I’m trippin’ hard. But no disrespect to Giannis. I love Giannis.”

Iverson likely would have done well in this era, where offensive stars are given way more leeway by officials. That said, he didn’t do too poorly in his own time.

For his career, Iverson averaged 26.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 6.2 assists. He also memorably led a horrible Philadelphia 76ers team to the NBA Finals against a juggernaut Los Angeles Lakers group, and even stole Game 1 from them.

Iverson was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016.

During the podcast, Jackson also made it a point to tell Iverson how much he meant to an entire generation of fans.

“The way I dress right now is because of you, the tattoos and everything,” he said.

“You gave a lot of people confidence when they didn’t have confidence in themselves. You let a lot of people know they can be themselves and still be successful.

“You know why I’m telling you? You know why I’m giving you flowers? Because you mean a lot to us,” he continued.

“We can’t lose you, we just lost Kobe [Bryant], we can’t lose you. We’ll give you all the flowers in the world right now.”

Iverson was visibly moved by the comments.

Needless to say, all in all, it was a pretty great podcast.

Related: Lane Kiffin’s Pregame Outfit For Ole Miss vs Florida Goes Viral

Anthony Amador

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.

One Comment

  1. Allow me to name my least favorite player of all time. Allen Iverson.

    Somehow managed to worm his way onto world champion Detroit Pistons roster, having them deal away the leader and heart of the organization Billups and then proceed to tank a championship team that hasn’t been shit since then. His opinion holds 0 weight.

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