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Darius Acuff Jr. grew up watching film of Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury, dreaming about starring in highlight reels of his own. "We feel like we can go out there and play against anybody," Acuff told ESPN about the mentality of 6-foot-2 Brunson. "I feel like I can hopefully do the same thing one day and it's definitely inspiring to see."
Those comments have generated some buzz after Brunson received the Larry Bird Trophy for MVP of the Eastern Conference finals after the Knicks swept the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night. He averaged 25.5 points and 7.8 assists in the series. The Knicks will face defending champion Oklahoma City or San Antonio in the finals. “I speak from experience,” Hammon said Tuesday. “Allen Iverson got MVP and he lost in the finals. I think the two best teams are probably in the West, but I’m up for being proven wrong. That’s the other thing, I think Jalen Brunson’s a hell of a player, a hell of a player. I’m speaking historically on the NBA with what I said. I don’t know why everybody’s so stuck on that. I said it two years ago. “I said what I said. If he proves me wrong, he proves me wrong.”
“I speak from experience,” Hammon said Tuesday. “Allen Iverson got MVP and he lost in the finals. I think the two best teams are probably in the West, but I’m up for being proven wrong. That’s the other thing, I think Jalen Brunson’s a hell of a player, a hell of a player. I’m speaking historically on the NBA with what I said. I don’t know why everybody’s so stuck on that. I said it two years ago. “I said what I said. If he proves me wrong, he proves me wrong.”
Charlie Villanueva on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: I wouldn't even put him in the top 10. Q. Give me 10 point guards, combo point guards, it doesn’t matter. Villanueva: Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, Stephen Curry, Allen Iverson, John Stockton… I wouldn't put him up past John Stockton, fam. Q. But that's only five you've named so far. Villanueva: Okay, let me get there! Steve Nash, Chris Paul… Okay. I'm cool. I'm cool with all these… Oh, also Tony Parker. (…) He’s not in front of Jason Kidd. (…) Bob Cousy. Pistol Pete.
There’s a fine line between fans being deemed passionate vs. obnoxious, and the Celtics’ loyalists are apparently walking it quite well. The former race wasn’t nearly as close as the latter, though, with the TD Garden crowd winning this one going away. As for the Philly fans being pegged as the over-the-top type, it’s hard to blame them for taking out all these decades of frustration on visiting teams. The Sixers haven’t won a title since 1983, and haven’t been to a Finals since the Allen Iverson-led 2000-01 team fell in five games to the Shaq-Kobe Lakers. That was their last conference finals appearance, too. More recently, they’ve now lost in the second round in six of the past nine seasons.
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Baron Davis: Jalen Brunson to me is like Allan Iverson in this era. Like nobody can guard him. No matter what you do, he going to get his shot off. He gets hot. You know, it's on Fuego and he can play to the moment.
So, what was the advice he gave you going into this experience? Kingston Flemings: Yeah, definitely just putting my head down and working and just being me at the end of the day. You can't be someone else. He had a talk with me during the year that I was trying to be to Allen Iverson. Don't be Allen Iverson, be Kingston Flemings. So really just being myself and if myself is going to be good enough for a team and when that team drafts me, I'm going to show them who I am. So that's really what coach Sam talked to me about for sure. Q. Who would your comp be? Like you talk about like trying to be Allen Iverson, who would you comp yourself to if you were an NBA team and they said, "Okay, what's the best comp for Kingston Fleming?" Flemings: I think a little bit of Tyrese Maxey, a little bit of De’Aaron Fox. They play really fast. They're not huge guards. They get downhill. They're really physical and they're getting to the rim. I think that's definitely why I need to add weight and get a little stronger because Tyrese Maxey is a strong guy, but like him in college, he didn't shoot a lot of threes, but when he got there, when he got to the NBA, he really expanded his game. And that's me. I think every single year I'm in the NBA, I'm going to be better and better.
When we type in LeBron James’ résumé and apply the model, we can calculate the Hall of Fame probability based on his production in those eight seasons. So, what was his Hall of Fame probability as a Laker, according to Basketball Reference’s handy HOF probability calculator? Would he be a HOF in purple and gold only? Without further ado … Yup, Hall of Famer. It’s 86.5%. A near lock. We can say with pretty good certainty that James would be a Hall of Famer if we just looked at his Lakers run. That’s a crazy notion on the surface. Then we peel back the layers and realize that, since he turned 33, he has as many All-NBA appearances as Tracy McGrady, Patrick Ewing and Allen Iverson did in each of their careers. And they never won a title.
Andrew Lopez: Jeremiah Fears finished with 36 points tonight. His last 3 games - 40, 36 and 36. He’s the first teenager in NBA history to have three consecutive 35+ point games. Only other rookies to do it in last 30 seasons are Allen Iverson and Trae Young.
He is only the third rookie since the NBA/ABA merger to record 50 or more points in a game, joining Allen Iverson and Brandon Jennings. Shooting 63.3 percent from the field, 66.7 percent from three, and 100 percent from the free throw line, Flagg became just the 21st player in NBA history to record 50-plus points while shooting 60 percent or better from the field, 60 percent or better from behind the arc, and 100 percent from the charity stripe. He is the only rookie to accomplish the feat.
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Q. So, how's that been like being able to talk to the to the big dogs? Cuz a lot of times people don't have that relationship where they could just speak to them on a one-on-one basis. Darius Acuff Jr.: Yeah. No, talking to Allen Iverson, that was crazy. It wasn't even like a practice or nothing. It was at a one-on-one. It was his one-on-one classic. And he just showed up and like he was sitting down and like I'm playing, but I see him over there. I keep looking over there while I'm dribbling though. But no, it was crazy. That was my first time ever seeing him, like seeing him in person. It was crazy. But talking to him was even more like legendary. He gave me great advice to always play hard, like play with heart because that's what he always did. And with Shaq, I haven't spoke to Shaq personally. My dad has though. He but he gave me good advice too. Just keep going, just keep grinding.
Lou Williams when Sixers traded Allen Iverson: So, I had 40 on Monday. I had 40 on Wednesday. I had 40 on Friday. Got on a bus. 9 hours drive to Little Rock, Arkansas. I wasn't in my room 30 minutes. I get to my room in Little Rock, Arkansas. 30 minutes somewhere nearby. The GM called my room from the Philadelphia 76ers. He said, "Hey, there is a noon flight. We got to get you to Philly ASAP." I said, "What's up?" They said, "We ain't got time right now, but turn ESPN on." They had traded Allen Iverson. So the one week that I leave to the D-League, AI had got traded. So they scrambled. I get to Arkansas at 9:30. I'm on a flight at 12:00 going to Philly. I get there at halftime. They playing against the Washington Wizards. I played the whole third and fourth quarter and never turned back.
Adam Aaronson: Tyrese Maxey is the all-time leading three-point marksman in Sixers history. Maxey just made his 886th career three. It took him just 375 NBA games to pass Allen Iverson and set a new franchise record.
How many times have you watched Damian Lillard hit a defender with a dribble jab, create separation and hit a 3-pointer? That bar perfectly encapsulated his hip-hop and basketball skills. “Wasatch Front” was a defining moment for Lillard. “What’s Up Doc? (Can We Rock?)” was a defining moment for O’Neal. When we talk about hip-hop meshing with basketball players, those two provided the blueprint. The list is longer than some may assume. There was Cedric Ceballos in the early 1990s. Gary Payton, Chris Webber and Allen Iverson all dabbled in the genre. The late, great Kobe Bryant put out a memorable collaboration with R&B superstar Brian McKnight, “Hold Me,” in 1997.