Best Player to Wear #3?

[RollWithEm]

Originally Posted by E.H. Munro

Good stuff! I had no idea this happened.

[Jamel Irief]

Originally Posted by Najee

I saw Allen Iverson's entire career, from high school into the NBA (and as an adult, no less). No one is saying Iverson was not a prominent NBA player. But that is totally different from trying to claim he had a cultural impact on the sport in terms of increased viewership from multiple demographics, elevated brand awareness and perceived excellence and dominance across the board to the point of being seen as a universal influence and reference point (see Michael Jordan).

The point is you can make a more credible argument by citing concrete facts than citing unfounded hyperbole based on the fact he was a popular player with certain segments (not to mention it wasn't like Iverson was universally considered the best player in the NBA, unless we're now acting like people such as Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant didn't play in that period).

Not sure if this is what he means, but Iverson was the first street guy to become a household name. Remember the uproar from when Stern airbrushed out Iverson's tattoos for a magazine cover? Now a majority of all-stars have numerous tats and no one cares. He and Spree had cornrows before white people even knew what they were.

I'm not speaking for the people that said it, and either way it's irrelevant towards the subject.

[E.H. Munro]

Originally Posted by RollWithEm

Good stuff! I had no idea this happened.

The best part of that is Sessions reaction which appears something along the lines of "Yo, man, I'm already the backup PG for the ****in' Bobcats, why you gotta kick me in the balls too?" Second best is James initially rushing in to protect Wade before turning around and saying, "Yo, you got yourself into this now you get yourself out"

[Najee]

Originally Posted by Jamel Irief

Not sure if this is what he means, but Iverson was the first street guy to become a household name. Remember the uproar from when Stern airbrushed out Iverson's tattoos for a magazine cover? Now a majority of all-stars have numerous tats and no one cares. He and Spree had cornrows before white people even knew what they were.

I'm not speaking for the people that said it, and either way it's irrelevant towards the subject.

That doesn't make you a "cultural icon;" it means you merely helped popularized a fashion statement that was being introduced to the mainstream. He was the first pop culture reference you associate with a certain hairstyle, not the guy who created it.

Let's not act like Allen Iverson was a "street guy." He was one of the most decorated players in the country when he was in high school (before his incarceration) and an all-American at Georgetown before being the No. 1 pick of the 1996 draft. Let's not act like the guy was Hot Sauce from the And1 tour.

Like I said, being emblematic of the backlash the NBA received from the late '90s to the mid-2000s doesn't sound like a "cultural icon" to me -- at least, not a positive one.

[Jamel Irief]

I don't think you get what I meant by street guy.

Would urban player make more sense to you?

[Mattsanity]

Originally Posted by Jamel Irief

Not sure if this is what he means, but Iverson was the first street guy to become a household name. Remember the uproar from when Stern airbrushed out Iverson's tattoos for a magazine cover? Now a majority of all-stars have numerous tats and no one cares. He and Spree had cornrows before white people even knew what they were.

I'm not speaking for the people that said it, and either way it's irrelevant towards the subject.

I didn't know mentioning Allen Iverson's influence would provoke a slightly off topic discussion.

[XxIrvingxX]

Originally Posted by Mattsanity

I didn't know mentioning Allen Iverson's influence would provoke a slightly off topic discussion.

Mentioning what you had for breakfast this morning would trigger an off topic discussion. It's nearly impossible to avoid.

[Mattsanity]

Originally Posted by XxIrvingxX

Mentioning what you had for breakfast this morning would trigger an off topic discussion. It's nearly impossible to avoid.

I'm not sure if you're saying that for or against me but it is indeed impossible to make a post without pissing someone off.

[Najee]

Originally Posted by Jamel Irief

I don't think you get what I meant by street guy.

Even if you're going by the argument that Allen Iverson's game and persona somehow translated well with streetball-type players, he wasn't the first by any means.

I mean, unless you were 10 years old in the mid-1990s and didn't associate that style with Julius Erving, Tiny Archibald, Earl "The Pearl" Monroe and numerous others who actually played in that environment. And yes, those guys had the swagger (albeit in a much more positive fashion than Iverson).

Just say Iverson "was the first NBA I can recall in my life who looked like the hoodrat on the corner" and leave it at that. But let's not try to make him out to be some sort of revolutionary in that respect.

[Mattsanity]

Originally Posted by Luke

This is still probably Wade though, at least as far as impact on the court. If we're talking about overall influence then it's Iverson and this isn't even a real debate.

Yo Luke, show them what you mean brother.

[e-monk]

Originally Posted by Jamel Irief

He and Spree had cornrows before white people even knew what they were.

Bo Derek

[RollWithEm]

"They even put a zone in the league to try to stop him."

[Mattsanity]

Originally Posted by e-monk

Bo Derek

LOL I'm sure the average person knows who Bo Derek is.

[e-monk]

Originally Posted by Mattsanity

It wasn't a travesty. The 2001 race was a coin flip. Shaq may have deserved it, but so did AI.

nope, sorry - you have now been disqualified from further contributions

it's not close, not debatable, not even a little bit - one guy was the best player in the league on the best team in the league who dominated the league like no one since Wilt

and the other was a ball hog who shot a lot on a team built to let him do it that wouldnt have been good enough to get into let alone out of the second round in the west

SO 29ppg 12.7rpg 3.7apg 2.8bpg PER 30.2 TS% .574 efg .572 WS% 14.9

AI 31ppg 3.8rpg 4.6apg 2.5spg PER 24.0 TS% .518 efg .447 WS% 11.8

even without the clearly dominant efficiency numbers Shaq simply had better stats, was the better player on a better team - it was a travesty and any clear headed unbiased individual with knowledge of the game will tell you so

[e-monk]

Originally Posted by Mattsanity

I'm not sure if you're saying that for or against me but it is indeed impossible to make a post without pissing someone off.

it's the internet, off topic is half the point - not sure why people see that as a negative - think of it as conversation at a sports bar and let it go where it will - that's what I do