![]() ![]() But I loved to try and imitate the moves. “I ain’t have that right hairstyle material. “I tried,” Curry said on the “Hoops Adjacent” podcast. He would’ve gotten cornrows if he could have. Wanting to look cool on the court - you know, look good, feel good, play good - Curry imitated Iverson. The music blasting in the cramped Charlotte Christian School gym. His baggy jersey hung on his skinny physique like the sail on a boat. “One of those guys that I emulated every time I went outside and played with my friends.” “Iverson, he was the pantheon for me,” Kevin Durant told reporters after passing Iverson on the NBA’s career points list. But for millions, his value is immeasurable. 40 on The Athletic’s rankings of the 75 greatest NBA players. Iverson was an ambassador, is an ambassador, for this iteration of the ‘hood, a segment of the population systematically disregarded and disenfranchised that yet proved mighty enough to change the globe. The demographic that birthed the music as an expression of their largely oppressive experience. Not in the sense of the music genre so prevalent in modern society, but hip-hop in the sense of the culture and the people in it. But to understand the totality of his greatness, to comprehend just how significant Iverson is in basketball history, requires some sense of what he represented, the era in which he came along and what he inspired. They were aplenty: 11-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection, four-time scoring champion, two-time All-Star MVP, the 2000-01 NBA MVP. The impact of Iverson extended far beyond his feats on the court. ![]() And with his undressing of the game’s great, with his rise to the heights of the game, also came the arrival of a demographic. He had the better part of an entire culture behind him. 1 pick in a loaded draft, worth the anointing as a future NBA star. This was a moment to prove he was worth the hype surrounding him since his high school days, worth the No. Iverson was a young buck testing his signature move - and himself - against the greatest. Not because of the move, but because of its significance. Man, it was crazy.”įor many, it’s the greatest crossover in NBA history. “‘If you did, you wouldn’t have crossed me up like that if you loved me.’ Maaaan, and everybody in the room just bust out laughing. “He was like, ‘You don’t love me, you li’l bitch,’ ” Iverson said, recalling the encounter in an appearance on the “Club Shay Shay” podcast. Iverson released it over Jordan’s outstretched hand, making the shot from the right elbow.Īnd that was all the proof Jordan needed to discredit Iverson’s love. Jordan, an elite defender, recovered in time to contest the shot. This time, Iverson dribbled right into a rhythm pull-up jumper. Jordan bit again, lunging the wrong direction, again swiping at the ball once he realized he was duped. He leaned hard left and snatched the ball from out wide, whipping it back to his right hand. Then suddenly, Iverson hit him again with the same move. He had a way of pausing for a bit between moves, lifting his torso just a little to create suspense about which way he’d go next as the ball spun beneath his left hand. Iverson slipped the ball between his legs back to his left. By the time Jordan got re-set, again square in front of the ballhandler, Iverson was already setting up the kill move. Jordan swiped his left hand at the ball once he realized it was a fake. ![]() MJ bit hard, lunging to get in front of Iverson before he drove left. This was the tester, the sample to see how Jordan would react. It was a solid yank, quick, but hardly his most biting crossover. He jab-stepped left, leaned his whole body to sell the fake, then crossed over to his right. Then a rookie staring down his idol, Iverson took the living legend to the streets. The Philadelphia crowd stood and applauded, recognizing this was a moment. He stretched his arms out wide, positioning himself to force the ballhandler left. He still hears Bulls coach Phil Jackson shout “Michael!” from the bench and tell Jordan to “get up on him!” And Jordan - he of seven first-team NBA All-Defense selections at the time - crouched into his stance, determined to avoid the fate awaiting him. Well, Jordan had his reason for skepticism, evidence dated March 12, 1997. How could his declaration of love be seen as anything but genuine? And Iverson, reputed for speaking from a place of authenticity, has gotten even more tenderhearted and appreciative in his advanced age, softened by the lessons of his textured life. As a Bulls fan as a kid, Iverson credits Jordan as the reason he dreamt of the NBA. Iverson credits Jordan as his basketball inspiration. Allen Iverson puts up a shot against his childhood idol, Michael Jordan, in March 1997. ![]()
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