Better in his prime: AI or Wade?

[HarlemHeat37]

Iverson was fortunate to have played in the early 2000s era of basketball, tbh..

His image coincided with the peak of the "gangster hip-hop" era, at a time where AND1 basketball was popular, and street ball had a resurgence..Iverson's style of play and image translated perfectly to the NBA demographic at the time, also aided by the media and the post-Jordan hype of individual players..

Iverson's style of play, despite making the NBA Finals, could have never led to an NBA le, tbh..AI's teams were built the same way as Derrick Rose's Bulls, they would have lost to any elite team..fortunately for the Sixers, they played in arguably the weakest era in NBA history..

Iverson's 2001 playoff run is arguably the most overrated playoff run in NBA history..his TS% was an atrocious 48%, the pinnacle of inefficiency on a high usage rate..Dikembe Mutombo's contributions to the 2001 run is one of the top 5 most underrated playoff runs in NBA history..

[Latarian Milton]

AI played at a time when SG's didn't use their body much and that's why some slim/short s (david wesley for another example) could earn livings at this position, if he plays in today's game even in prime version, he'd get bulled by them beefy SG's every night.

[JamStone]

AI played at a time when SG's didn't use their body much and that's why some slim/short s (david wesley for another example) could earn livings at this position, if he plays in today's game even in prime version, he'd get bulled by them beefy SG's every night.

Iverson and Wesley are probably the only two examples of really short SGs in the early 2000s. I wouldn't say it was an era thing. With Iverson, he's just a more natural fit at SG offensively. And with Wesley, I believe he played primarily as a PG early on in his career and only moved over to the 2 when Baron Davis emerged with the Hornets. In both cases, they were paired with guys in Davis and Eric Snow who were capable of defending opposing 2-guards so often times they were still guarding the PG position but playing off the ball offensively.

I think in any era, including now, Iverson would be more of a scoring guard than a PG. In his prime, there weren't really any guards whether they were PGs or SGs who could check Iverson, much less bully him.

[dbreiden83080]

Wade..

Typical AI game..


28 pts on 35% shooting..

[midnightpulp]

Wade. No comparison. A.I. is the most overrated player of all-time. A chucker's chucker.

[Ace]

Wade. No comparison. A.I. is the most overrated player of all-time. A chucker's chucker.

Well you can see why Lkr is a fan...

[PublicOption]

AI and its really not even close.