The great Allen Iverson dropped plenty of jewels when he grabbed the mic for the latest episode of “The Big Podcast” with Shaquille O’Neal.
In addition to saying he would average 43 per night in today’s NBA, AI also kept it a buck about the players that gave him the business during his illustrious career, like Phoenix Suns All-Stars Kevin Johnson, Steve Nash and Stephon Marbury.
Allen Iverson Thinks Luka Doncic Plays Like A Brother
While Iverson credits Ja Morant for being a player in today’s NBA with a high-flying, stylistic game, The Answer’s favorite player is Luka Doncic of the Mavericks. A devastating scorer from Slovenia, who Iverson blessed with the greatest cultural praise that can be bestowed upon a white basketball player.
“What the hell is wrong with Luka?” asked Iverson. “I’m talking about his style like it’s kind of like streetball mixed … like mixed in with the streetball and then I don’t want nobody to take this the wrong way: He plays like a black guy. He got swag. … He’s so cool out there. Everything is just slow images, just major moves and a wet ball. I mean, he shoots the blood out of that thing. Man, Luka is …”
Luka Went Crazy Against Suns
Luka wasted no time proving Iverson right. The multi-talented assassin had a 41/9/11 slash in a convincing 123-113 win over the Phoenix Suns. The win was the seventh in a row for the Mavs who moved to a season-high 10 games over .500.
Ironically, Iverson’s enthrallment with Luka is driven by a lack of understanding pertaining to Luka’s unprecedented package. He’s literally something Iverson has never seen before in all his years of balling hard against the best players in the world. Iverson had that same effect on the unfamiliar eye back when he was a one-man-wrecking crew in the nasty ’90s and wildin’ 2000s. Just in a different way, as far as how he was off the court.
Luka is one in a million because he is not only one of the most lethal players in the league and has been since entering as the third overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft. He’s already won Rookie of the Year, he’s been an All-Star every year from 2020 to 2024 and he’s already been an All-NBA First Team selection. Let’s not forget the deep run to the Western Conference Finals in 2022.
There haven’t been many white superstars NBA players with game and swag since Larry Bird won two NBA Finals MVPs and three consecutive MVPs from 84-86, making him the only forward in league history to achieve that honor.
Not since Bird, has a white player garnered so much respect from the Black hoops community. Steve Nash won two MVPs, but he was never better than Kobe or LeBron. Dirk Nowitzki was the European GOAT in Dallas and brought the franchise its only title, defeating the Dynasty Miami Heat’s Big Three (LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh).
He has an MVP and is a Hall of Famer. Nikola Jokic is a superstar, but his style of play doesn’t resonate with the OGs who love the fundamentals but with some flair to it. And he doesn’t embrace the BS like Luka. Or want to be “that guy” in America beyond the court.
Jason “White Chocolate” Williams is the swaggiest, and his entire game looked like it was honed on the project courts of Brooklyn, but he was never considered a superstar of the league. More like a novelty.
Is Luka On Level Of MJ, Kobe, Magic, LeBron?
Luka has the entire bag. His coach, Jason Kidd, a Hall of Famer in his own right, straight up said Luka is better than Dirk already and should be put in the “atmosphere with Michael Jordan, Kobe Brant and LeBron James” despite not having advanced to an NBA Finals yet.
So it’s not like Iverson is just embellishing Luka’s standing in the game. Luka seems to get everybody excited. He’s not just setting records, creating an exciting atmosphere in Dallas and putting it down for all of the Euro-ballers, but he does it while receiving the greatest compliment known to white ball players in America.
“He plays like a Black guy.”
If anybody would know how the game should look culturally it’s Iverson who was a face of the league with a chokehold on the culture during a transformative time in the NBA.
