permaximum wrote:As someone who watched all three of them in prime:
Career:
1. MJ
2. Kobe
3. Iverson
Peak
1. MJ
2. Iverson
3. Kobe
Young people don't know that until Kobe's 81, Iverson was considered the better player.

From my memory of the discussions we were having then, both here and other places, I don't remember this being the case if we're talking about individual seasons. Career to date? Well, sure, Iverson had a head start.
Peak Iverson above peak Kobe? What's the argument there?
In his MVP season, Iverson was ranked higher than Kobe and in the top 5, but after that, Kobe was generally ranked in the top 5 while Iverson would be in the top 10-15 and was most seasons ranked below Kobe.
Again if you're talking about career as a whole at that point, then sure, Kobe truly became a star in 99-00 when he was the same age as rookie AI. Iverson already had an MVP and more All-Star, All-NBA, etc as he was 3 years older that Kobe. Thays what is used when comparing career to date. It wasn't the 81 point game that put Kobe ahead of AI career wise, it was just Kobe catching up. He was already considered better for about 4-5 seasons by 05-06 and now building up his own set of career accolades while Iverson was not amassing as much anymore and moving below other guys too on a yearly basis.
Kobe beat him in MVP votes in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2006. Team wins can affect that, though that affects who wins more than who else gets votes, but so can playing with a guy like Shaq. Let's look at All-NBA teams.
2000: (1st) Kidd, Payton, (2nd) Iverson, Kobe
2001: (1st) Iverson, Kidd (2nd) Kobe, Carter
2002: (1st) Kobe, Kidd, (2nd) Iverson, Payton
2003: (1st) Kobe, McGrady, (2nd) Iverson, Kidd
2004: (1st) Kobe, Kidd. Iverson didn't make it, injuries
2005: (1st) Iverson, Nash, (3rd) Kobe, McGrady
2006: (1st) Kobe, Nash, (3rd) Iverson, Arenas
2007: (1st) Kobe, Nash, Iverson didn't make it
2008: (1st) Kobe, Paul, Iverson didn't make it