Allen Iverson or James Harden?

[Drygon]

I think I have to go with AI. Harden's numbers are a little better but he also plays in an era of inflated stats. Iverson spent his prime in an era of suppressed stats and was still able to put up historically high numbers. Despite Hardens gaudy scoring avg's Iverson still has more scoring titles than him. He led his team to the finals as the number one option while Harden got there as a 6th man. And finally Harden is defined by repeatedly folding in the playoffs while Iverson's is defined by his playoff heroics.

AI was ridiciouslsly inefficient even compared to other wing players from the 2000s. The only reason for AI's high scoring averages (despite his inefficiency) is because he took more shots than any player in his era. AI is a glorified version of Jerry Stackhouse.

His 2001 playoff-run is super overrated. The Eastern Conference was all-time low. AI was outplayed by the likes of Shaq, Vince, Ray Allen & old Reggie Miller in every match-up. And 76ers won the ECF after Bucks got robbed by the refs.

There's a great video explaining how Allen Iverson is one of NBA's most overrated players of all-time.

Watch on YouTube

[DCasey91]

Iverson was probably not a top-5 player at his peak in his own era and probably wouldn't be a top-10 player today. His efficiency would go up a little bit with more space to operate, and his defense would be less bad, but I'm not sure he's even as good as Dame.

What AI needed was a really good jump shot to capitalize on those handles and all those teams that went under on screens against him. If AI could shoot like Harden everything would be different. He'd be one of best offensive players ever.

Your still missing Harden’s god given ability as a facilitator/passer/playmaker, being bigger, foul rate, durability. People forget Iverson’s later half to his career he dropped off very quickly (never was a great shooter, smaller, injury toll, efficiency etc.)

Harden could have easily been a multi time MVP winner. In fact his MVP year you can correctly argue two seasons were flat out better lol.

[tarantism]

As far as who I appreciate more and who I'd rather watch play basketball, AI no question. Harden is completely unlikable imo and pales in comparison to an icon like AI.

In the end that's all that matters because all time rankings are subjective and dumb.

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[NADALalot]

Iverson's stats and accomplishments are about the same as Harden's.....but if Iverson played today then Iverson would have WAY better stats and be lot more unstoppable because of how hard it is to guard someone today without fouling....

[Son Goku 25]

Iverson's stats and accomplishments are about the same as Harden's.....but if Iverson played today then Iverson would have WAY better stats and be lot more unstoppable because of how hard it is to guard someone today without fouling....

[cupcakesnake]

You have to ignore so many things to compare these players.

1. Minutes. Iverson's numbers are inflated because he played over 40mpg in his career. Their per game numbers make them seem comparable, but if you look at their numbers per minute or per possession, you realize Harden is a level up in terms of basic boxscore numbers. Per 100 possessions, Harden averages +2.4 points, +1.5 assists, +3.1 rebounds, -0.5 steals, compared to Iverson. It's cool that Iverson played a ton of minutes though. Different eras.

2. Wins. Harden has played in 128 Western Conference playoff games. Iverson has 71 playoff games despite playing most of his career in the worst span of the Eastern Conference.

3. Efficiency. True Shooting percentage has Harden a whopping 10% higher than Iverson. Even without any fancy number, Harden straight-up hit way more of his shots than Iverson.

4. Advanced metrics. Anything from on/off impact stats, PER, Win Shares, blah blah blah paints Harden as being on a different planet as a player than Iverson.

Harden, by a landslide.

[Ballerhogger]

It’s will be harden pretty soon here if you don’t think clear now. Harden for by mile for me

[Ballerhogger]

Iverson's stats and accomplishments are about the same as Harden's.....but if Iverson played today then Iverson would have WAY better stats and be lot more unstoppable because of how hard it is to guard someone today without fouling....

Iverson not the shooter harden is I loved AI and bought his shoes but no

[KembaWalker]

efficiency is overrated and mostly related to era, late prime/early post prime Iverson put up his best efficiency with the Nuggets cause the league was already trending to be easier. Today he'd be a 58-60% TS like everyone else. Vince Carter himself was putting up 5% higher TS at age 42 than he did in some of those early 2000s seasons

[Wolves21]

You can tell theirs a lot of young fans around here and ones who didn't see AI in his prime or his career at all.This isn't even a debate AI clearly was better and did something that Harden will never do and lead a team as the solo star to the NBA Finals.That alone puts him a head of Harden and while not as and effect score in terms of shooting percent could score as well as anyone and more so was a hell of a lot funner to watch then Harden with his 3 point chucking and drawing awful fouls.

Then you take into account the cultural impact AI had on the game and how its still being felt 20 to 25 years later.The hip hop culture and swagger he brought is second to none.The only other player to have a large cultural effect on the game in the last nearly 40 years are the likes of MJ,Kobe & LeBron.

[GeorgeGervin]

efficiency is overrated and mostly related to era, late prime/early post prime Iverson put up his best efficiency with the Nuggets cause the league was already trending to be easier. Today he'd be a 58-60% TS like everyone else. Vince Carter himself was putting up 5% higher TS at age 42 than he did in some of those early 2000s seasons

Well he was the least efficient superstar in his era so it's easy to imagine he would also be that in 2021, especially since he was a poor 3pt shooter.
His efficiency would be similar to Westbrook, if not worse.

[Tor_Raps]

Like others have said, it's Harden and it's not even close.

[infinite11285]

Heart - AI

Brain - Harden

I admit that I subjectively lean towards AI due to his competitive heart and cultural impact on the game, but I'd be lying if I proclaimed those factors made him the better player. Pound-for-pound, give me AI, but, Harden is the better basketball player with a more refined set of skills.

[NY 567]

James Harden, not remotely close.

[Asianiac_24]

Harden is galaxies better

[og15]

Currently, pretty even actually, simple because AI had a faster start as a star and in putting up numbers. Prime Harden is a superior player as he’s simply bigger and better at a lot of things. So depending on how much one is valuing prime/peak vs total career production, it could be even.

Harden of course looks like he has another 3 years of high level play and then maybe another couple still being good, while AI was done pretty early in his 30’s. Harden is also currently in a position to win a championship in the next couple of seasons. Harden will easily be considered the better player, and unless something drastic happens, also to have had the better career.

[og15]

efficiency is overrated and mostly related to era, late prime/early post prime Iverson put up his best efficiency with the Nuggets cause the league was already trending to be easier. Today he'd be a 58-60% TS like everyone else. Vince Carter himself was putting up 5% higher TS at age 42 than he did in some of those early 2000s seasons

Carter is a terrible example, lol, you couldn’t have thought that one through to use it as an example. At 42 he was in a drastically different role as a spot up shooter taking 8.6 3PA/36 and not creating any of his offense.

I agree that Iverson would be more efficient, but if you are inefficient compared to your peers, you not going to be more efficient than them if you all get the same advantages. There was a solid TS% boost in 04-05 and 05-06 when the rules were newly changed and perimeter guys were getting FT’s at will. AI had a solid 54% (53.8) TS in those seasons. Average TS% in 04-05 and 05-06 was about 53-54%, and currently it is about 56%, so we’re talking about a 2% increase on average. So AI from those seasons in that role, we’re looking at around 56% TS as the expected, not 58-60%.

Interestingly, if Westbrook played in the early 2000’s and had a high 40% to low 50% TS, some would likely say that if he played in this era he would be at 58-60%, but actual real life Westbrook is not doing that.

Iverson would be more efficient, but in the super high volume role he’d still be inefficient compared to his peers. Alongside another star like he was in Denver where his usage is down and with more spacing, we’re looking more at 55-58% TS for Iverson

[infinite11285]

And for those saying, "it's not even close," I have no idea how you can come to that conclusion. Prime AI, at 5'11", was the only player that commanded prime Kobe's full respect.

AI and Harden is a very even comparison. Suggesting otherwise reeks of recency bias, imo.

[sikma42]

Harden is much much better. This isn't even close .

AI doesn't really do much better than Harden. Harden even has a better handle.

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[JRoy]

Not a fan of either player but Harden over Iverson by a mile.