Allen Iverson Was Greatest Pound-For-Pound Player, Says LeBron James
Allen Iverson doesn’t typically get mentioned in conversations about the greatest basketball players of all-time but LeBron James believes that the retired 76er deserves a little more credit.
According to James, Iverson is the greatest pound-for-pound player the NBA has ever seen.
James said: “Pound-for-pound, probably the greatest player who ever played.”
According to NBA.com, Iverson stood at 6-foot flat and weighed just 165 lbs. That’s a little smaller than guys like Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Russell. In fact, the shortest guy to make Charles Barkley’s “Top Five” list is Robertson at 6 foot five.
Allen Iverson may have not been the biggest guy on the court but James said that AI played without any fear.
James said: “I watch Jordan more than anybody for sure… But I’ll watch tapes of A.I., too. I don’t take anything from A.I.. Well, I do — his will. They say he was 6 feet, but A.I. was like 5-10½. Do we even want to say 160? 170 [pounds]? Do we even want to give him that much weight? And he played like a 6-8 2-guard. He was one of the greatest finishers we’ve ever seen. You could never question his heart. Ever. He gave it his all. A.I. was like my second-favorite player growing up, after MJ.”
Allen Iverson will officially retire this Wednesday when the Miami Heat take on the Philadelphia 76ers.
Iverson’s career didn’t end the way he wanted and he even talked about a comeback as recently as this spring. Unfortunately, the future hall of famer never found his way back to the NBA and will be hanging up his jersey this week.
