More stories are coming to light with Allen Iverson‘s induction to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
His former teammate Aaron McKie, who played with him in Philadelphia for eight seasons, recalled one of the signature moments of Iverson's career in a post-induction piece in The Players Tribune.
“Allen is a student of the game,” wrote McKie. “People don’t understand that. Everyone knows Allen would read the newspaper, and that he and Phil Jasner, the Daily News columnist who was usually critical of him, had a special relationship. But Allen also studied the game, too. Allen read the comments — all the comments. He knew going into games which people had said they were going to stop him, and he’d have done his research on how to destroy them. He relished that. If you talked to the press about Allen before a game, that put a target on your back.
Take Game 1 of the Finals in 2001. Allen got all the pregame notes and clips, read how different guys were playing and what they were saying about him. He knew what to prepare for. He knew that the Lakers were going to use Tyronn Lue to try to shut him down. Allen took exception to that sort of thing. He’d say, “You know what? I’m going to destroy this motherf***er.”
This bit is as epic as Michael Jordan‘s dunk over Mel Turpin, mouthing off to the Utah Jazz bench “was he big enough?”, or Larry Bird‘s “which of you guys is gonna finish second” at the 1986 NBA Three-Point Contest.
‘The Answer' finished Game 1 of the NBA Finals with 48 points, five rebounds, six assists, and five steals while going a perfect 9-of-9 from the free-throw line.
To have predicted one of his most memorable games in his career and do it at the stage in which he did reinforces his status as an all-time assassin on the court.
Though he ultimately felt short of the title, losing four-straight games to the Lakers, it wasn't for his lack of effort. Iverson had totals of 35.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.8 steals through five games in the Finals.
McKie proved that while having immeasurable talent, Iverson would pick his opponents apart before the game and put the plan in motion in the most devastating of ways.
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