Top 100 NBA Players: #38 - Allen Iverson

Allen Iverson

Teams

Philadelphia 76ers - 1996-06, 2009-10

Denver Nuggets - 2006-08

Detroit Pistons - 2008-09

Memphis Grizzlies - 2009

Playoffs

Appearances - 8 (1999,2000,2001,2002,2003,2005,2007,2008)

Conference Finals - 1 (2001)

 NBA Finals - 1 (2001)

Championships - 0

Awards and Honors

Rookie of the Year - 1997

MVP - 1 (2001)

All-NBA First Team - 3 (1999,2001,2005,2006)

All-NBA Second Team - 3 (1999,2000,2002,2003,2008)

All-NBA Third Team - 1 (1997,1998,2006,2007)

Hall of Fame - 2016

*(actual in bold, deserved in italics)

All-Time Ranks

Points Per Game - #7

Steals Per Game - #9

Total Steals - #15

Total Points - #30

Total Assists - #48

Assists Per Game - #52

League Leads

Total Points (#1-2005, #2-1999,2001, #3-2003,2006,2008, #4-2000, #5-2002)

Points Per Game (#1-1999,2001,2002,2005, #2-2000,2006, #3-2003,2008)

Steals Per Game (#1-2001,2002,2003, #2-2005, #3-1999, #4-2000, #5-1998)

Total Steals (#1-2003,2005, #2-2001, #3-2002, #4-2008, #5-1998)

Total Assists (#3-2005)

Assists Per Game (#5-2005)

After Allen Iverson averaged 25.0 points per game as a sophomore at Georgetown, he entered the NBA Draft, where he was selected with the #1 overall pick by the Philadelphia 76ers, becoming the shortest player ever (at 6'0") to be the top overall pick.

Iverson proved immediately that he was ready for the NBA, averaging 23.5 points, 7.5 assists, and 2.1 steals per game in his first season, making him an easy choice for Rookie of the Year in one of the best rookie classes in history. The 76ers, however, were still not very good, winning only 22 games on the season.

In his third season, Iverson led the league in scoring with an average of 26.8 per game and was named to the All-NBA First Team, and Philadelphia made the playoffs, even pulling off a first-round upset, but they lost to the Pacers in the second round in 6 games. He finished as the runner-up in the scoring race the next year, and the season ended the same way, with a loss to the Pacers in the second round in 6 games.

Iverson saw his greatest personal and team success in 2000-01. He led the league in scoring at 31.1 per game, steals at 2.5 per game, led the Sixers to the best record in the East, and was given the MVP award. In the playoffs, they were able to fight their way to the NBA Finals, the only one Iverson would reach in his career, where they ran into the Lakers, who had swept through each of the first 3 rounds. Iverson scored 48 in Game 1 to help hand the Lakers their only loss of the playoffs, but without another star, the 76ers didn't have a chance at winning the series.

Iverson won his third scoring title the next year, along with his second steals title, but he missed 22 games during the season, and the 76ers barely made the playoffs, where they lost in the first round. He played in every game the next season and led the league in steals for the third year in a row, but a second-round playoff exit was all they could muster.

The 76ers switched coaches twice in the next season, and Iverson did not get along well with either of them, leading to several suspensions in addition to many games lost to injury, resulting in the worst season of his career to that point and the 76ers missing the playoffs for the first time in 6 years.

After another coaching change, Iverson had his best overall season in 2004-05, winning his 4th scoring title with 30.7 per game and setting a career high with 7.9 assists per game. The addition of Chris Webber helped them reach the postseason, and he played even better in the playoffs, averaging 31.2 points and 10.0 assists, but the team fell to the Pistons in the first round.

He averaged a career-high 33.0 points per game the next year, but that wasn't enough to win a scoring title or earn a playoff berth, and after he was suspended for the team's final home game, it was clear that his time with the team was coming to an end. After starting the next season 5-10, the team announced that they would not play Iverson any more and were looking to trade him.

He was traded a couple weeks later to the Denver Nuggets, where he joined Carmelo Anthony to form a potent scoring duo. Anthony was leading the league in scoring at the time of the trade, and Iverson was #2, but his averaged dropped from 31.2 when he arrived to 26.3 by the end of the season, his lowest since 1998.

Iverson's next season was underappreciated, as he averaged 26.4 points, 7.1 assists, and led the league in minutes played for the 7th time, but he wasn't named to an All-NBA Team. The playoffs were a disappointment again, with Denver losing in the first round, and he was traded just 3 games into the next season to the Detroit Pistons for Chauncey Billups.

His time with Detroit started well, but a lingering back injury eventually caused him to miss a month, and when he returned, the team wanted to bring him off the bench, which he did not want. After 3 games as a reserve, the team announced that he would not play any more that season.

He signed with Memphis before the next season, but after coming off the bench in his first 3 games, he and the team decided to part ways, with Iverson feeling he should still be a starter. He signed again with the 76ers, and started for them for a couple of months before leaving the team to deal with his daughter's health issues. He never returned, and never played another NBA game, though he did not officially retire for more than 3 years.

Iverson averaged at least 20 points per game in each of his first 12 NBA seasons, winning 4 scoring titles along the way and coming in #2 twice. He was also a 3-time steals leader, but his weakness was the playoffs, where he was only able to get past the second round once in his career, that one magical season where he led a team with no other stars all the way to the NBA Finals. Iverson's career scoring average is #7 all time, and his steals average is #9, and there is no doubt that he was one of the greatest to ever play the game.