Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson both left a lasting impact on NBA history. The latter made his mark as something of an underdog – doing the sort of things that nobody of his size had ever done in the league before. The former is in most people’s eyes the greatest to ever play the game.
Although the pair shared an extremely special moment early in Iverson’s career and late in Jordan’s when the infamous “crossover” occurred, there was very little overlap between their playing days.
Iverson was drafted in 1996 and played until 2010. Jordan retired for the second time in 1999, returned for two seasons between 2001 and 2003, and then retired once more.
There was some on-court interaction, but not a ton.
Despite that, Jordan left a lasting impression on Iverson.
This week, during an interview with Shannon Sharpe on the Club Shay Shay podcast, Iverson and All Harrington opened up about their relationships with Jordan. Namely, what his greetings for them were.
In the case of Iverson, it was: “What’s up little b***h?”
For Harrington, Jordan kept it even shorter and sweeter – he would just refer to the 16-year NBA vet as a “h*e.”
While it is definitely funny that Jordan would regard two respected NBA players in such a dismissive way, it’s worth remembering that he still had immense respect for Iverson.
Once upon a time, Jordan was asked who’d win a game of 1-on-1 between him and Iverson. Given how ultra-competitive Jordan gas always been, his answer was extremely telling.
Ana Montana gets brutally honest about LaMelo Ball. https://t.co/68kaZAvlBs
— Game 7 (@game7__) August 23, 2021
“[Iverson] could beat me on the perimeter, but I could take him in the post,” Jordan said. “He’s a heck of a good player. He’s a young talent. He is gonna continue to get better once he learns how to play the game on a much higher scale. Right now, he’s doing a lot on physical ability. He’s good, he’s quick. That’s a challenge for me to go out to him and his stature. He’s so quick and small. But it’s a challenge I won’t back away.”
No matter what, Iverson and Harrington obviously have a lot of love in their hearts for Jordan. And it’s great to see that after all this time, the impact he had on his contemporaries and those that followed is as strong as ever.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
