Allen Iverson's determination was a gift to the world.
He was the ultimate little man refusing to back down in a tougher era in the NBA. How many times did he get knocked down? How many injuries did he play through? The guy was ridiculous and always got his buckets.
What he never got was a ring, so he isn't listed among many of the greats, especially not the names LeBron James is compared to like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson.
But Iverson didn't escape LeBron's eye, despite the fact that they don't have much in common on the court, as he told Chris Broussard for ESPN The Mag:
"I watch [Michael] Jordan more than anybody, for sure," James told ESPN's Chris Broussard for a story in the upcoming issue of ESPN The Magazine. "But I'll watch tapes of AI [Allen Iverson] too. I don't take anything from AI. Well, I do — his will. They say he was six feet, but AI 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. AI was like my second favorite player growing up, after MJ."
And no doubt, this was one of his favorite tapes to watch.
