2017 Isaiah Thomas is better than any version of Iverson.

[HeartBreakKid]

?? It's not my words, there's a direct quote from Chris Paul saying he had a bigger impact than Jordan...

Well, I'd quote Chris Paul if I could to tell him that's insane.

It really isn't considering Paul is not the only one saying it , everyone wanted to be like iverson. Even isaiah thomas

Allen Iverson is incredibly popular among the millennial generation, this isn't breaking news. Of course CP3 and Thomas are going to like the smallest star of any respective era.

The great 5'11 players of the next generation will grow up with CP3 and Thomas as their idols as well. Perimeter players in general are more popular than bigs because they're easier to relate too.

[Patches Perry]

By the way, I seem to recall Shaq eating and spitting out the DPOY.

I seem to remember him eating and spitting out the MVP too.

[OkcSinceSGA]

That team was loaded with guys who couldn't put the ball in the basket. Yeah it makes sense that his supporting cast sucked.
By the way, I seem to recall Shaq eating and spitting out the DPOY.

When you build around a volume guy who takes 30 shots a game nearly and plays 40+ mpg, you don't add a bunch of scorers. You add a bunch of defenders, enforcers and utility guys. That's exactly what the Sixers did. As me and others are arguing here, the Sixers had a better supporting cast than the teams they played in the east. So the argument of "weak supporting cast" doesn't hold up. As for Shaq... well considering hes arguably the most physically dominant force ever, I don't think it's a knock on Mutumbo to get destroyed.

So you bring up the fact that the team had the DPOY and when I bring up Shaq, I should just ignore Shaq dominating him because he is Shaq? Yeah, that makes sense. I seem to Recall a guy named Olajuwon handling a Shaq lead team to a sweep, but you will find a way to sweep that bit of fact under the rug as well.

What lol? Shaq that year was a top 5 force of all time probably. Just because Mutombo won DPOY doesn't mean he failed because Shaq killed him. Olajuwon is arguably a top 5 all time center and much better defender in his prime than 01 Mutombo. The point was RELATIVE to the league and competition Iverson had a better supporting cast. Not sure how that got turned into Hakeem vs Shaq or Shaq vs Mutumbo lol.

[HeartBreakKid]

Just saw this thread. What blatant disrespect for one of the greatest scorers this league has ever seen.

Iverson did it without having to carry the ball like IT does.

I think Iverson would be better than Thomas today based on what I've seen, but this is hilarious.

Iverson was the guy players from older generations picked on for traveling. The whole And 1 era was constantly parodied for carrying the ball.

[OsuCavsfan103]

I would respect IT's game a lot more if he wouldn't flail around and act murdered anytime he goes inside. Nobody in the league gets that easy of touch fouls on a consistent basis. Only person who is pretty close is Harden.

IT is a great player, but it gets old. The NBA refs have made it almost impossible to guard him. He is very small and quick so it's hard for anyone to stay in front of him. You come near him defensively inside and he flails and falls over and gets the call almost every time. All NBA players embellish inside from time to time, even my boy freight train of a man LeBron does at times. He actually kinda has to because of how big and strong he is, otherwise he would rarely ever get calls. IT is shameless in it. He cries at the refs too anytime they see through his BS and don't call it.

If IT played in the era Iverson D where more contact was allowed, he wouldn't be quite so high numbers wise. Plus, before anyone crowns IT lets remember that this is one year, you cannot compare him to Iverson til he is putting up these numbers many years in a row.

So pathetic how quickly some people on these forums overreact over one season. Reminds me of the overreaction for Curry last year, only this time it's for IT.

[RaptorRed]

Iverson 34% FG for the Eastern Conference finals 7-game series. Mutumbo averaged 17ppg and 16 rpg for the series and Mckie averaged 17ppg, 7apg and 5prg for the series. And Mutumbo, Hill, Mckie and Snow were defensive beasts. A better argument could be made that they carried Iverson and his chucking.

Iverson had his games but generally was atrocious to watch. Even that series, he singlehandlly chucked away games and even despite that the Sixers sometimes won games just because of their defense.

Game 2: 5-26 @ 19% FG
Game 4: 10-32 @ 31% FG and Philly still won
Game 5: 10-27 @ 19% FG and Philly still won



What exactly did Iverson accomplish or do for the game? Are we talking about the same Iverson that chucked away at 40% for his career and got dragged into the finals chucking multiple games at 19% shooting? The same Iverson who made it to the 2nd Round a total of 4 times in his career? Iverson was a icon for a generation of kiddies who didn't know what good basketball was but wasn't a Jordan/Bird/Magic who brought in waves of non-casual basketball fans to game, grew the game or popularized the game internationally. On the contrary, ratings were dismal and most viewers were turned off his chucking, lack of respect for the game and lack of professionalism.

Growing up in the Bird/Magic/Jordan era, it was painful to watch a media narrative that pushed Iverson as the MVP and it's ridiculous that those who worshiped Iverson as kiddies preach to a younger generation how great he was.

You don't know the impact he has had on the game ? Come on man take your hate goggles off. This is from Chris Paul who is from north carolina yet even he admits Iverson had a greater impact than Jordan.

http://clipperholics.com/2016/09/10/chris-paul-allen-iverson-nba-culture/

Every generation idolizes the generation before it. Michael Jordan idolized David Thompson. Magic Johnson idolized Earl the Pearl. That doesn't magnify David Thompson or Earl the Pearl's impact on the game when you talk about what they did for the game. When we talk about what they did for the game, we're talking about how successful they made their teams, how they increased the popularity of the game, brought in more fans, helped internationalize the game, revolutionized the way the game was played for the better, etc.

Iverson did none of that. Ok, he had more of an influence on Chris Paul and Paul's generation of NBA players but Chris Paul was only around 11 when Jordan played his last season with the Bulls. He's going to grow up 13-17 worshiping choices between a young Iverson, Carter and Kobe. Iverson because of his swag, hip-hop culture and his size.

" When we talk about what they did for the game, we're talking about how successful they made their teams, how they increased the popularity of the game, brought in more fans, helped internationalize the game, revolutionized the way the game was played for the better, etc."

Iverson DID all of this , did you not read the article ? There's tons of articles like this. Everyone wanted to be like Iverson , from his crossover , to his clothing , to his tattoos and sleeves. You're just being ignorant if you deny this.

[OkcSinceSGA]

Just saw this thread. What blatant disrespect for one of the greatest scorers this league has ever seen.

Iverson did it without having to carry the ball like IT does.

Iverson carried the ball literally more than anyone in NBA history arguably. This is a weird post.

[GreenBloodedC]

I would respect IT's game a lot more if he wouldn't flail around and act murdered anytime he goes inside. Nobody in the league gets that easy of touch fouls on a consistent basis. Only person who is pretty close is Harden.

IT is a great player, but it gets old. The NBA refs have made it almost impossible to guard him. He is very small and quick so it's hard for anyone to stay in front of him. You come near him defensively inside and he flails and falls over and gets the call almost every time. All NBA players embellish inside from time to time, even my boy freight train of a man LeBron does at times. He actually kinda has to because of how big and strong he is, otherwise he would rarely ever get calls. IT is shameless in it. He cries at the refs too anytime they see through his BS and don't call it.

If IT played in the era Iverson D where more contact was allowed, he wouldn't be quite so high numbers wise. Plus, before anyone crowns IT lets remember that this is one year, you cannot compare him to Iverson til he is putting up these numbers many years in a row.

So pathetic how quickly some people on these forums overreact over one season. Reminds me of the overreaction for Curry last year, only this time it's for IT.

Weird because the question was not really about whether or not IT is better than AI but whether or not THIS version of IT is better than prime AI.

[casketball]

I would respect IT's game a lot more if he wouldn't flail around and act murdered anytime he goes inside. Nobody in the league gets that easy of touch fouls on a consistent basis. Only person who is pretty close is Harden.

IT is a great player, but it gets old. The NBA refs have made it almost impossible to guard him. He is very small and quick so it's hard for anyone to stay in front of him. You come near him defensively inside and he flails and falls over and gets the call almost every time. All NBA players embellish inside from time to time, even my boy freight train of a man LeBron does at times. He actually kinda has to because of how big and strong he is, otherwise he would rarely ever get calls. IT is shameless in it. He cries at the refs too anytime they see through his BS and don't call it.

If IT played in the era Iverson D where more contact was allowed, he wouldn't be quite so high numbers wise. Plus, before anyone crowns IT lets remember that this is one year, you cannot compare him to Iverson til he is putting up these numbers many years in a row.

So pathetic how quickly some people on these forums overreact over one season. Reminds me of the overreaction for Curry last year, only this time it's for IT.

Member when Lebron got tapped in the face by Tristan Thompson and he acted like he got taken out by a sniper? I remember.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

[The_Hater]

Iverson was woefully inefficient even for his era. He has the aura of being a great player without really being one.

That makes no sense. IVERSON was a great player, you numbers guys are taking this to another level.

So his biggest strength was scoring but he missed shots at an alarming rate. And other than one great defensive team coached by a HOFer, he never had any team success. Yet he was a great player.

Iverson was grossly overrated and your post only reaffirms my opinion

[Xherdan 23]

?? It's not my words, there's a direct quote from Chris Paul saying he had a bigger impact than Jordan...

Well, I'd quote Chris Paul if I could to tell him that's insane.

It really isn't considering Paul is not the only one saying it , everyone wanted to be like iverson. Even isaiah thomas

Actually, everyone wanted to "be like Mike", hence the slogan.

Jordan effectively retired almost 20 years ago but everyone are still buying the Jordan brand shoes.

I don't care what Chris Paul says, my 65 year old mother, who doesn't speak a word of English, never been to USA and never watched a basketball game in her life, knows not only who Jordan is, she also knows he played in Chicago (although, she didn't know they were called the Bulls).

I love AI and I know he's had a lot of impact but this isn't even close.

[slothrop8]

Those citing fouls today as a point in AI’s favor – when was this glorious era of basketball with no fouls called you are all remembering? There was more FTA per game, more PF’s per game, and a higher FTr in 2001 than in 2017. Obviously the number of free throw attempts is skewed by how many 3s are taken now – but even the ratio of 2ptFG attempts : Free Throw Attempts is very comparable between the eras – 2.68:1 in 2001 vs 2.53:1 now. That doesn’t control for FTA resulting from 3PtA – but if anything that’s just going to make the eras more similar in terms of free throw attempts resulting from a 2PTA.
Essentially, there is no evidence to suggest that you were more likely to get free throw attempts from a drive now vs then. Allen Iverson shot tons of Free Throws – top 10 in the league 11 times, 4 seasons with more FT/100 than IT shot this year - and Iverson would have shot lots more free throws if he didn’t take an outrageous number of mid-range jumpers. When he drove – he got to the line lots.

[jonjames]

Yes he is..the efficiency in which he scores at high clip is simply too much to ignore and leading that marginally talented Celtics team as #1 seed over a stacked cavs team led by arguably the best player in basketball is impressive to say the least. Iverson is obviously the bigger name and nostalgia may cloud ppls judgment and have some bias towards him..but back to original premise if looked at facts objectively..Thomas is slightly better than Iverson best season (01) and thats only bc Iverson went to the final that year.

You see here you have to either admit that you aren't a good judge of what good talent looks like, or you haven't paid attention to their roster because this is false

I attribute that more to Thomas making them look better than they actually are. Those players aren't super talented by any means they are good at their specific specialized role (defensive stoppers who aren't ball dominant and can make the open shot). Their talents compliment off each other very well and Thomas is their engine, the catalyst that makes that team go.

[Zombiesonics]

Lots of IT hate in this thread, he gets calls when he gets whacked ...he's no james harden. OP spitting facts

[smallgains]

Iverson also led the league in steals three times. Once in the PO too I believe. Let's not even talk about that huh?

[HeartBreakKid]

Iverson also led the league in steals three times. Once in the PO too I believe. Let's not even talk about that huh?

Well, yes, he gambled a lot. I hope you're not implying Iverson was a great defender.

[DoItALL9]

Last full season in Philly, which was after the rule changes and prob the last bit of AIs prime, he averaged 33 points 7 assists on 45% shooting.

That season was better than any of his previous seasons including his MVP. Guess it's just a coincidence that his scoring just jumped up along side all the other perimeter players. He would have been an entirely different beast at 25 playing under these rules.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

(Claps)

[smallgains]

Iverson also led the league in steals three times. Once in the PO too I believe. Let's not even talk about that huh?

Well, yes, he gambled a lot. I hope you're not implying Iverson was a great defender.

lol

[Zombiesonics]

Iverson also led the league in steals three times. Once in the PO too I believe. Let's not even talk about that huh?

Lemme guess Larry Hughes was an elite defender too?

[True Story]

Making it sig official. Over paying IT will be the downfall of the C's.