Which secondary star would you have surrounded Allen Iverson with?

[SelakStreet]

Allen Iverson was said to have been a one-man show when he was the superstar for the Philadelphia 76ers, when most of his teammates were strictly defensive-minded players like George Lynch, Tyrone Hill, Theo Ratliff, Dikembe Mutombo, etc. It's impressive that he even took them to the 2001 NBA Finals to go up against the L.A. Lakers, led by Shaq and Kobe where they ended up losing the series.

Looking back, it seemed like Iverson needed a secondary star to not only help him shoulder some of the scoring load for the Sixers, but to continue letting him play his game. The best secondary star Iverson ever played with at his absolute peak was Toni Kukoc, and he was able to chip in some scoring without outshining stars like Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Iverson; yet they moved him with Theo to Atlanta to get Mutombo.

Other secondary stars that come to mind are Clifford Robinson, Rodney Rogers, Jamal Mashburn, Eddie Jones, Glen Rice, etc. Who would have been the best fit for Iverson in terms of helping him shoulder the scoring load without outshining Iverson?

[Owly]

Without diving deep I'm pretty confident Jones is the best player here. He doesn't compromise defensive identity, either.

Without diving really deep into who would take who's minutes he seems the clear candidate.

Not sure I agree with the characterization of him "taking" the 76ers to the finals. If you want to put a lot on a team level playoff run then it's probably fair to look at on-off stuff and his is ... let's say pedestrian (-5.2 on-off, -0.3 on) and certainly inferior to Mutombo's.

[TheGOATRises007]

Allen Iverson should be the secondary star on a team.

[SHAQ32]

AI and EJ would put a lot of pressure on opposing backcourts.

[Jaivl]

Eddie Jones, then trade AI.

[Doctor MJ]

Allen Iverson was said to have been a one-man show when he was the superstar for the Philadelphia 76ers, when most of his teammates were strictly defensive-minded players like George Lynch, Tyrone Hill, Theo Ratliff, Dikembe Mutombo, etc. It's impressive that he even took them to the 2001 NBA Finals to go up against the L.A. Lakers, led by Shaq and Kobe where they ended up losing the series.

Looking back, it seemed like Iverson needed a secondary star to not only help him shoulder some of the scoring load for the Sixers, but to continue letting him play his game. The best secondary star Iverson ever played with at his absolute peak was Toni Kukoc, and he was able to chip in some scoring without outshining stars like Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Iverson; yet they moved him with Theo to Atlanta to get Mutombo.

Other secondary stars that come to mind are Clifford Robinson, Rodney Rogers, Jamal Mashburn, Eddie Jones, Glen Rice, etc. Who would have been the best fit for Iverson in terms of helping him shoulder the scoring load without outshining Iverson?

Building around him with defense and rebounding was the way to go because he was so bad at understanding what shots were bad for him to take. People seem to think that because the new generation of guys can actually hit hero ball shots that a guy like AI would have been able to do it. If he could have done it, he'd have done it. He missed those shots because he wasn't a great shooter. He took those shots because he wasn't a good decision maker.

My ideal teammate for him would have been Garnett. Garnett would have been the best player on the team, and probably the best offensive player on the team, but he would have been able to patch the holes that AI's play left in the offensive scheme and given the team more opportunities off of misses.

[penbeast0]

OF those, I'd probably take Uncle Cliffie though Eddie Jones might be slightly the better player. But the Sixers at their peak had better guards (Snow, McKie) around Iverson than forwards (Lynch, Hill, McKie) so I think he improves the team more, again, without sacrificing their defensive identity. Rice, Mashburn, and Rogers aren't particularly good defenders.

There's also a slight (emphasize slight) x-factor that Eddie Jones seemed to be one of those guys who tended to let someone else take the last shot, Clifford Robinson seemed a less deferential personality though it's tough to tell from the outside looking in.

[penbeast0]

... The best secondary star Iverson ever played with at his absolute peak was Toni Kukoc...

What? Kukoc played less than half a season for the Sixers in 2000 averaging 12 ppg in 29 minutes then another half season with Iverson averaging 8 ppg in 20 minutes on ts% of .512 and .523. Pretty pedestrian stuff.

They had tried putting offensive minded players around Iverson earlier in his career (Jerry Stackhouse and Derrick Coleman but he had problems coexisting with them before Larry Brown decided to try building for defense and just letting Iverson run wild. AFter 2001, they brought back Coleman, then added Keith Van Horn, Glen Robinson, and an aging Chris Webber but it didnt' seem to improve the team offense (miserable except the Van Horn year where they were above average, but then they'd been above average before the playoffs in 2001 too). But all those players scored more for the Sixers than Kukoc did and even in 2001 Kukoc is outscored per minute by the likes of Rodney Buford and Todd Maculloch.

[BenoUdrihFTL]

I'll go Glen Rice pretty comfortably. Prime Rice was an elite offball scorer and he'd stretch the floor so his presence might actually make Iverson better. Rice's defense wasn't great but Philly could afford to lose a little there given what Rice would provide offensively

[Modulate]

I'm legit LOLing@Rodney Rogers. Oh man, that's so funny. "Secondary star" Hahahahha.

[Buckets22]

It is between Eddie Jones and Glen Rice.
I think that Rice would be a better fit tbh because of his amazing shooting ability allowing more space to AI on his drives.