The Allen Iverson Era

[mksp]

Just making a new topic to talk about how fun the Allen Iverson era was. We've had better teams since then, but I never had more fun following sports than when when Philly made the 2001 finals run with AI.

There will never be another AI in our lifetimes.

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[ProcessDoctor]

AI is the reason I became a Sixers fan.

Also, ironically, this was just released.

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[Sixerscan]

AI is the reason I became a Sixers fan.

Also, ironically, this was just released.

Watch on YouTube

Lol

Feel like that would be one situation where Kyrie's nonsense metaphysical questions would be warranted.

[Skates]

Being the old man on the Board, or one of them, it was fun to watch, but frustrating and sad too. Guy could ball out, threw his body around like he was indestructible, was the fastest player with the ball I ever saw, but having seen the the Erving/Cheeks/Jones/eventually Malone era teams, and the best and worst parts of the Barkley era, I would rank the Iverson era third out of those three...but there is no denying the man's guts or skills or that he opened up Sixers basketball to a whole new era of fans that make up most of the posters here. They had that one magical year before FO incompetence and LB's ego sank our hopes, but Iverson and Barkley were both incredible talents that were very tricky to build around.

[mjkvol]

Being the old man on the Board, or one of them, it was fun to watch, but frustrating and sad too. Guy could ball out, threw his body around like he was indestructible, was the fastest player with the ball I ever saw, but having seen the the Erving/Cheeks/Jones/eventually Malone era teams, and the best and worst parts of the Barkley era, I would rank the Iverson era third out of those three...but there is no denying the man's guts or skills or that he opened up Sixers basketball to a whole new era of fans that make up most of the posters here. They had that one magical year before FO incompetence and LB's ego sank our hopes, but Iverson and Barkley were both incredible talents that were very tricky to build around.

As a fellow 'old man', you have echoed my feelings exactly. As great and unique as he was, the Iverson era is a very distant third to the glorious Julius>Moses era. I would even include George McGinnis in there because it was his three years here, the first two of which were two of my favorite Sixers seasons ever and pulled us out of that 9-73 mess and led to the Julius signing and Bobby Jones trade that made the Sixers relevant again.

Barkley was tricky to build around, but they almost had it right in the Dawkins/Hawkins/Mahorn years where lack of depth killed them, but complete mismanagement led to the eventual sad ending here of a player who was born to be a Philly legend.

Regarding Iverson, he is one of the most unique and amazing talents the game will ever see, but at a time where big men still ruled, an impossibility to build a championship team around. It's a miracle they got to that Finals, and is due completely to Iverson's brilliance and Brown's masterful work with a roster full of spare parts. It couldn't last, but what a ride that one season was.

[Kobblehead]

The win percentage during the Iverson era was kinda underwhelming, tbh. Only one season with a win percentage above 60%.

Best seasons of the Iverson era:

1999: 56%
2000: 59.8%
2001: 68.3%
2003: 58.5%

All other seasons range from hot garbage to subpar.

The Embiid era we're in right now is far superior, IMO. Five years straight of dominance:

2018: 63.4%
2019: 62.2%
2020: 58.9%
2021: 68.1%
2022: 58.5% so far

[mksp]

Joel is a better basketball player than AI and we've had better teams during this era.

But the AI era was special and it was fun and it was different.

I"m too young for anything pre-Barkley though.

[Bum Adebayo]

Iverson didn't have to overcome the Bum Simmons hurdle though, what Embiid has done is insane.

[Sixersftw]

Joel is better and, despite the finals runs, the Embiid teams felt closer. However, Iverson is the only time in my entire sports life that I got to follow and cheer a cultural phenomenon. That was cool and most fans don't get to experience that. Even fans of championship level teams.

[mksp]

Joel is better and, despite the finals runs, the Embiid teams felt closer. However, Iverson is the only time in my entire sports life that I got to follow and cheer a cultural phenomenon. That was cool and most fans don't get to experience that. Even fans of championship level teams.

Feel the same way.

The city also really embraced that team in a way that jus felt different. I remember going to those playoff games in 2001 - the 54 point game where AI rained threes after receiving the MVP trophy was unreal - and the energy in the arena was unlike any i've ever experienced at any sporting even before or after. Just unreal.

[freshie2]

I’m on the old man wagon as well. Tremendous talent but so misguided. Could have been one of the best PGs of all time, instead is a cultural legend but a disappointment as an NBA player. The 2001 run was amazing, but that era was very meh otherwise.

[Kobblehead]

I've said it in the past, but I think this era could have been special if we kept Iverson and Stackhouse together. Personalities and immaturity got in the way, though.

[mksp]

Yeah I mean the what ifs are many for the era. AI and Paul Pierce for a decade would have been nice.

[Sixerscan]

Yeah I mean the what ifs are many for the era. AI and Paul Pierce for a decade would have been nice.

Even if they just would have stated patient with Hughes that would have been a good backcourt eventually. They traded him when he was 21 halfway though his second year. Threw in Bruce Bowen in that trade as a bonus. King and Brown got that 01 run but the way they churned through first round picks and young players was nuts, unsurprisingly it resulted in a pretty short peak and bad rosters during the second half of AI’s time as a Sixer.

[Arsenal]

Yeah I mean the what ifs are many for the era. AI and Paul Pierce for a decade would have been nice.

Or AI and Dirk for a decade. We picked Larry Hughes #8 overall, right before Nowitzki and Pierce.

That 1998 draft sealed our fate in the Iverson era.

[Arsenal]

Yeah I mean the what ifs are many for the era. AI and Paul Pierce for a decade would have been nice.

Even if they just would have stated patient with Hughes that would have been a good backcourt eventually. They traded him when he was 21 halfway though his second year. Threw in Bruce Bowen in that trade as a bonus. King and Brown got that 01 run but the way they churned through first round picks and young players was nuts, unsurprisingly it resulted in a pretty short peak and bad rosters during the second half of AI’s time as a Sixer.

The final in that series of shortsighted moves was the Mutombo trade. We were never a contender after that deal.

That 00-01 team was special with Ratliff and Kukoc, not with Mutombo.

[Kobblehead]

Yeah I mean the what ifs are many for the era. AI and Paul Pierce for a decade would have been nice.

Even if they just would have stated patient with Hughes that would have been a good backcourt eventually. They traded him when he was 21 halfway though his second year. Threw in Bruce Bowen in that trade as a bonus. King and Brown got that 01 run but the way they churned through first round picks and young players was nuts, unsurprisingly it resulted in a pretty short peak and bad rosters during the second half of AI’s time as a Sixer.

Why did they trade him so quickly? Weren't he and Iverson fairly tight?

[Sixerscan]

Yeah I mean the what ifs are many for the era. AI and Paul Pierce for a decade would have been nice.

Even if they just would have stated patient with Hughes that would have been a good backcourt eventually. They traded him when he was 21 halfway though his second year. Threw in Bruce Bowen in that trade as a bonus. King and Brown got that 01 run but the way they churned through first round picks and young players was nuts, unsurprisingly it resulted in a pretty short peak and bad rosters during the second half of AI’s time as a Sixer.

Why did they trade him so quickly? Weren't he and Iverson fairly tight?

It was just a different era, Brown was the dictator of that team and he had no patience for young players. Stackhouse traded at 23 years old, Tim Thomas and Hughes traded at 21 years old, all for role players (though Ratliff for a brief moment there was arguably more than that). Even Jumaine Jones who probably wouldn't have ever been anything got traded after he was starting in NBA finals games as a 22 year old. And of course he would have traded Iverson before 01 if not for Geiger not waiving his trade kicker and Iverson begging to stay.

Brown built his team full of vets that "played the right way" which worked in 01 and in some of the years around it but then those guys got old and the team was saddled with bad contracts and owed draft picks, which led to the ~decade of mediocre basketball that eventually led to the Bynum trade and the Process. Of course right around that time Brown left to coach the Pistons.

[Sixerscan]

That 01 team could really play defense though and that run was a lot of fun. Had to fight through so many injuries. Lynch, Snow and McKie all broke bones at various points during the playoffs, with Snow and McKie playing through it and Lynch eventually getting back for the finals. Mutombo had a knarly broken finger.

Iverson had like 20 different things, including a hip that really bothered him towards the end of the Raptors series (McKie really won that Game 7) then finally had to sit Game 3 of the Bucks series before finally getting in a groove towards the end of it, culminating in him and Mutombo just dominating Game 7.

IDK if they ever would have had a chance against that Lakers team but it sure didn't help that like every guard and wing on the Sixers could barely walk by the end of it. Kevin Ollie and Raja Bell playing real minutes, which in retrospect seems fine but at the time it felt like Charlie Brown Jr. was getting crunch time NBA Finals minutes.

[Jailblazers7]

Iverson was really the reason I fell in love with basketball (and became a Sixers fan). He was such an incredible player to watch and his force of personality was truly unique.

In hindsight, it probably would’ve been more productive for me to idolize a different player during my teenage years lol. At least a younger kid can theoretically replicate Steph Curry’s game but trying to be like AI is just never gonna happen.