Kevin Durant: "Allen Iverson is pound for pound the greatest player ever"

[ralph_i_el]

The thing that separates AI from the quick scoring guards of today is his off-ball play.

The dude was legit Ray Allen/Rip Hamilton level coming off screens. Nobody could follow Iverson around screens he was too quick and had too much endurance.

The dude was just a joy to watch run around. For someone who skipped practices and binged on fast food, he was in PHENOMENAL shape and gave 110% effort in games. Westbrook reminds me of AI in that he makes something out of nothing just purely based off hustle and balls.

[Lebron23]

I agree with Durant.

[jayfan]

Isiah > AI




.

[Optimus Prime]

It was amazing what AI could accomplish with his smaller size and lack of team support. I still don't care for him much, but I can appreciate what he was able to do given the odds.

[kennethgriffin]

heres the problem


pound for pound means "best little man" basically



well iverson is like top 35-40 all time


isiah thomas is top 20 all time


zeke is a legit 3 time champ. 2 time finals mvp ( 1988 refs rigged game 6 at the end. isiah was robbed of the most inspirational finals game ever. one leg. dropped like 20+ in the third q. refs gave kareem a bs call and 2 free throws to win the game )



hes 6-1, 180 pounds. and by nba standards. you know he's more around 5-11


isiah thomas is pound for pound the GOAT... aka .. best little man


stockton should be over AI aswell


nate archibald too

[Smoke117]

The thing that separates AI from the quick scoring guards of today is his off-ball play.

The dude was legit Ray Allen/Rip Hamilton level coming off screens. Nobody could follow Iverson around screens he was too quick and had too much endurance.

The dude was just a joy to watch run around. For someone who skipped practices and binged on fast food, he was in PHENOMENAL shape and gave 110% effort in games. Westbrook reminds me of AI in that he makes something out of nothing just purely based off hustle and balls.

The idea after coming off the screen is to hit the shot...Iverson does not even come close to being the shooter Allen/Hamilton were.

[imdaman99]

Was he like 160lbs? Yes, pound for pound he da bess

[Myth]

This is just another way of saying "He is really good for a small guy."

[kennethgriffin]

This is just another way of saying "He is really good for a small guy."

but he's not even close to being the best small guy

how quickly people forget "tha Canswer" jokes


iverson is taking a solid adrien dantley path to greatness. time heals all wounds i guess

[pauk]

At scoring only perhaps, but even then i would nominate Tiny Archibald aswell at his peak at least, in 73' he averaged 34 ppg on 49% FG (while averaging 11.4 APG!).

[Trollsmasher]

Durant probably weighs the same as Iverson

[Natureland]

The idea after coming off the screen is to hit the shot...Iverson does not even come close to being the shooter Allen/Hamilton were.

Sounds like ralph was referring more to AI's ability to do it and how frequent he would, which doesn't necessarily imply he's as efficient as Allen or Hamilton (does basketball-reference even list %'s for guys coming off screens?).

I know when I rewatched the '01 Finals with my friend over the summer I was almost surprised how much scoring he was generating coming off screens.

[Pointguard]

If AI was officiated like other players, his shooting percentage would be about 8 or 9 points higher in his peak years. Even Shaq said he can't believe the pounding AI takes. And AI didn't complain. Everything would be different if he was called like say Durant. Teams would have been fouling out left and right. There is not another player that blocked out the non-calls and and just kept getting back up, time after time, with even more resolution.

Its something that if you didnt see you would have a real hard time understanding how AI's FG%, and playoff game strategies were affected by refs. He was reffed differently but nothing broke his spirit. He just kept coming back at you.

[jlip]

This is just another way of saying "He is really good for a small guy."

This

[triangleoffense]

Pound for pound greatest offensively but was honestly a liability at times on defense... a contrast would be Gary Payton, who I'm surprised no one mentioned who was a great 2-way player.. shame you don't see a lot of the same these days.