By the late '90s, a lot of basketball fans were caught up in Michael Jordan's final (good) years. Meanwhile, a star was being molded in Philadelphia. The Sixers had spent most of the Jordan decade in mediocrity, but Allen Iverson—a hard hitter straight out of Georgetown— would be the man to lead them back to relevance going into the new millennium.
Iverson was part of a new generation of athletes who would come to dominate the sports conversation. His famous crossover of Jordan wasn't a passing of the torch; The Answer tried to snatch it. That's a disrespectful gesture to the GOAT, but that was part of what made his game so entertaining: He'd assert his presence, even if he had to step on opponents in doing so. Except he's 6'0", so he'll just have to jump over them (if their name isn't Tyronn Lue, who got his ankles broken into infamy 12 years ago).
A.I. won the MVP in a year he willed his team to the NBA Finals (2001), won two All-Star MVPs, and earned four scoring titles in addition to many other accomplishments. His highlights also gave something for the little steppers back in the day to look up to. In commemoration of his 38th birthday, peep some of The Best of Allen Iverson and comment below if you have other highlights you'd like to share.
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