Why was Iverson drafted 1st?

[theonlyclutch]

Not sure if this is completely on topic, but for those who were around back then, what was the hype surrounding Iverson then that allowed him, as a (under) 6 foot shooting guard, to be drafted 1st? Looking at his stats, he was a big time scorer in college but never really demonstrated a great (or even good) perimeter shot, didn't really demonstrate a knack for assisting (avg. 5.6 assists (5.0 TOVs)/40 minutes). What made him so special strictly as a prospect (please nothing involving "pound-for-pound" stuff, the draft is not by weight class)?

Bonus question: Where might Iverson go in this draft, assuming we don't know how his career turned out?

[neno]

Just watch a highlight tape
Electric player
Elite first step, elite body control
Pure killer
He go first in this draft
Hell in the 96 draft he went ahead of fellow pg phenom marbury who had plenty of hype himself

[tmorgan]

Absolutely no one could stay in front of him. Simple as that.

[EddieJonesFan]

He had passing ability, so people assumed he could develop as a PG, just not a pure one.

And I hope this helps explain it some: http://www.ibiblio.org/craig/draft/1996 ... ml#Iverson

[dolphinatik]

because he could get anywhere and everywhere and played "big" even though he was pint sized.

[HotelVitale]

He was one of that decade's best athletes. He was a crazy specimen, moved quicker and more fluidly than anyone else. In a lot of ways, he underachieved throughout his whole career (and not just b/c/o shot selection).

[Upperclass]

Pound for pound probably the best athlete the NBA has ever seen. Unreal combo of speed, quickness, leaping ability, toughness and strength, for such a small, wiry body.

Iverson under achieved late as his natural abilities eroded, but young Iverson would go #1 in most drafts

[cedric76]

Pound for pound probably the best athlete the NBA has ever seen. Unreal combo of speed, quickness, leaping ability, toughness and strength, for such a small, wiry body.

Iverson under achieved late as his natural abilities eroded, but young Iverson would go #1 in most drafts

+1

[Yuri Vaultin]

What a silly question.

The guy was flat out unstoppable. Toughness, speed, tenaciousness, co-ordination and probably the best cross-over ever.

[LofJ]

Pound for pound probably the best athlete the NBA has ever seen. Unreal combo of speed, quickness, leaping ability, toughness and strength, for such a small, wiry body.

Iverson under achieved late as his natural abilities eroded, but young Iverson would go #1 in most drafts

In his prime a lot of people were saying that he was the best player pound for pound in the history of the league. Give his size and the performances he had on the court it's hard to argue against them.

[SparksFly87]

Not sure if this is completely on topic, but for those who were around back then, what was the hype surrounding Iverson then that allowed him, as a (under) 6 foot shooting guard, to be drafted 1st? Looking at his stats, he was a big time scorer in college but never really demonstrated a great (or even good) perimeter shot, didn't really demonstrate a knack for assisting (avg. 5.6 assists (5.0 TOVs)/40 minutes). What made him so special?

Bonus question: Where might Iverson go in this draft, assuming we don't know how his career turned out?

So disrespectful to AI. He was seriously a basketball god in his prime . He was unbelievable one of the greatest players ever to play the game . He was a literally unstoppable scorer , fastest players ever, best crossover, clutch, elite mid range game and anticipated steals with the best of them. Only 5'11 and would go amongst the trees and finish like nothing. Once in a lifetime player. Respect my man Allen Iverson.

[Cammo101]

AI went #1 in a better draft class than this one, that should answer your bonus question.

[King Ken]

Not sure if this is completely on topic, but for those who were around back then, what was the hype surrounding Iverson then that allowed him, as a (under) 6 foot shooting guard, to be drafted 1st? Looking at his stats, he was a big time scorer in college but never really demonstrated a great (or even good) perimeter shot, didn't really demonstrate a knack for assisting (avg. 5.6 assists (5.0 TOVs)/40 minutes). What made him so special?

Bonus question: Where might Iverson go in this draft, assuming we don't know how his career turned out?

He would go top 3, he's a sure fire superstar prospect and was a superstar player. He was much better as a prospect than Russell. Not sure he's going over the bigs in any draft. He would be the best prospect in this class by a large margin.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wjARYRIlZw[/youtube]

[LofJ]

AI went #1 in a better draft class than this one, that should answer your bonus question.

Understatement of the day here

Iverson
Kobe
Nash
Ben Wallace
Marbury
Camby
Big Z
Ray Allen
Antoine Walker
Peja
Jermaine O'Neil
and Abdur-Rahim

Much deeper than even the class of 84. The best class of its generation and it has yet to be topped almost 20 year later.

[airyak13]

AI went #1 in a better draft class than this one, that should answer your bonus question.

Understatement of the day here

Iverson
Kobe
Nash
Ben Wallace
Marbury
Camby
Big Z
Ray Allen
Antoine Walker
Peja
Jermaine O'Neil
and Abdur-Rahim

Much deeper than even the class of 84. The best class of its generation and it has yet to be topped almost 20 year later.

Well if we're playing the hindsight game, he won't go #1. It's even possible that he doesn't crack the top 3.

Him going #1 in 1996 does not answer the OP's question of who would go #1 this year if AI were in the draft.

[Cammo101]

AI went #1 in a better draft class than this one, that should answer your bonus question.

Understatement of the day here

Iverson
Kobe
Nash
Ben Wallace
Marbury
Camby
Big Z
Ray Allen
Antoine Walker
Peja
Jermaine O'Neil
and Abdur-Rahim

Much deeper than even the class of 84. The best class of its generation and it has yet to be topped almost 20 year later.

Well if we're playing the hindsight game, he won't go #1. It's even possible that he doesn't crack the top 3.

Him going #1 in 1996 does not answer the OP's question of who would go #1 this year if AI were in the draft.

I wasn't playing the hindsight game. 1996 was a really strong draft class heading into the draft. Guys like Camby, Abdur-Rahim, Allen, and Marbury were really high level prospects. If I were going to rate the top 5 guys in that draft against the top 5 guys in this one, based solely on them as prospcts, it would look like...

1. Iverson
2. Camby
3. Towns
4. Abdur-Rahim
5. Okafor
6. Marbury
7. Allen
8. Russell
9. Mudiay
10. Winslow

[MrPerfect1]

Not sure if this is completely on topic, but for those who were around back then, what was the hype surrounding Iverson then that allowed him, as a (under) 6 foot shooting guard, to be drafted 1st? Looking at his stats, he was a big time scorer in college but never really demonstrated a great (or even good) perimeter shot, didn't really demonstrate a knack for assisting (avg. 5.6 assists (5.0 TOVs)/40 minutes). What made him so special?

Bonus question: Where might Iverson go in this draft, assuming we don't know how his career turned out?

So disrespectful to AI. He was seriously a basketball god in his prime . He was unbelievable one of the greatest players ever to play the game . He was a literally unstoppable scorer , fastest players ever, best crossover, clutch, elite mid range game and anticipated steals with the best of them. Only 5'11 and would go amongst the trees and finish like nothing. Once in a lifetime player. Respect my man Allen Iverson.

I think you mean 1 of the most Entertaining Players. He was probably ended up as the 4th Best Player from his Draft Class.

-Iverson also went 1st since it was back in an era where the importance of efficiency was less well understood and things like PPG!!!!! mattered more.

[BarbaGrizz]

Not sure if this is completely on topic, but for those who were around back then, what was the hype surrounding Iverson then that allowed him, as a (under) 6 foot shooting guard, to be drafted 1st? Looking at his stats, he was a big time scorer in college but never really demonstrated a great (or even good) perimeter shot, didn't really demonstrate a knack for assisting (avg. 5.6 assists (5.0 TOVs)/40 minutes). What made him so special?

Bonus question: Where might Iverson go in this draft, assuming we don't know how his career turned out?

So disrespectful to AI. He was seriously a basketball god in his prime . He was unbelievable one of the greatest players ever to play the game . He was a literally unstoppable scorer , fastest players ever, best crossover, clutch, elite mid range game and anticipated steals with the best of them. Only 5'11 and would go amongst the trees and finish like nothing. Once in a lifetime player. Respect my man Allen Iverson.

I think you mean 1 of the most Entertaining Players. He was probably ended up as the 4th Best Player from his Draft Class.

-Iverson also went 1st since it was back in an era where the importance of efficiency was less well understood and things like PPG!!!!! mattered more.

AI is the #2 in this class only behing Kobe, stop with the non sense.

[Notanoob]

His sophomore year, per40 he averaged 30.5ppg, 4.1 steals and .5 blocks. He shot 54.6% inside the ark and 36.6% from three on 238 attempts, so at the time you could make a case that he'd be able to knock down 3s on a consistent bases. He competed a lot more on defense too at Georgetown. A guy his size shooting as well inside the ark as he did, in the Big East was seriously impressive, and 4.1 steal per40 is just nuts for a guy playing as much as he did.

[MrPerfect1]

So disrespectful to AI. He was seriously a basketball god in his prime . He was unbelievable one of the greatest players ever to play the game . He was a literally unstoppable scorer , fastest players ever, best crossover, clutch, elite mid range game and anticipated steals with the best of them. Only 5'11 and would go amongst the trees and finish like nothing. Once in a lifetime player. Respect my man Allen Iverson.

I think you mean 1 of the most Entertaining Players. He was probably ended up as the 4th Best Player from his Draft Class.

-Iverson also went 1st since it was back in an era where the importance of efficiency was less well understood and things like PPG!!!!! mattered more.

AI is the #2 in this class only behing Kobe, stop with the non sense.

Almost any team in the NBA today would choose Allen over AI if they could add 1 to their team. A 6-5 3 Point Sniper is much easier to add to a team than a 5'11 super high usage PG. For example, let us look at the top teams in the Playoffs and which 1 they would rather add to team:

GS- Obviously Allen. They aren't going to let AI dominate the ball instead of Curry
CLE- Obviously Allen. They aren't going to let AI dominate the ball instead of Lebron (and Kyrie)
LAC- Obviously Allen. They aren't going to let AI dominate the ball instead of CP3.
Spurs- Obviously Allen. AI's super high usage % and lack of efficiency goes entirely against Spurs System
ATL- Obviously Allen. AI's super high usage % and lack of efficiency goes entirely against Spurs/ATL System
MEM- Allen. Allen provides desperately needed 3 Point Shooting and spacing.

etc

Out of All 16 Playoff teams this year, only maybe MIL would rather have AI since they have nobody to reliably break down Defense. BKN might go AI also. At minimum 14/16 of Playoff teams would prefer Allen over AI.

-------

The real debate is whether Nash or AI for 3rd in the Draft Class. Nash beats AI in MVPS 2-1, had far more longevity than AI, and made as many ALL NBA teams as AI. Nash leads in almost any metric if you compare their careers.