Two of the greatest players to ever play the game of basketball are Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson. Obviously, the most common debate in regards to who the best player ever is comes down to Jordan and LeBron James. Still, Iverson is one of the best to ever do it as well, and that’s what Jordan tried to tell him at a Charlotte Hornets game in the past.
Michael Jordan is one of Allen Iverson’s idols, and because of that, it was a special moment for Iverson when Jordan invited him up to his suite at a Hornets game. Iverson wouldn’t stop praising Jordan, so he had to pull Iverson aside for a quick chat.
“I remember I went to a Charlotte game when he was doing his thing in Charlotte,” Allen Iverson said on The Knuckleheads Podcast. “I went to the game and he took me up in his suite or whatever, and I remember just everybody, I had my homeboys with him, and I was just praising him. And my man (Michael Jordan) pulled me aside he was like, ‘Chuck man stop that s**t man, like man you a superstar too man don’t do that.’ You know what I mean and I was like man I just can’t help it, I love this dude. He was like man you don’t love me, because you wouldn’t have crossed me up like that.”
Jordan was referencing the famous moment when Iverson crossed him up back in March of 1997. It was a dirty crossover, and one that will live on forever.
Iverson and Jordan were also both at the NBA’s 75 Greatest Ceremony, and Iverson talked about what it was like when everyone there saw Jordan.
“I just remember the reaction from everybody else, all the other 74 you know what I mean, and I remember the reaction from them, like I was looking at it like yo this man is the man for real,” Iverson said. “I hear all the comparisons and all that you know what I mean and I have to be biased. I have to be because he made me want to be me.”
Allen Iverson weighs in on the Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James debate
There are some NBA fans that think Michael Jordan is the GOAT, and there are others that think that LeBron James is the GOAT. Allen Iverson talked about the debate during the podcast, and he loves James, too. He appreciates the greatness that both players have.
“I love LeBron as a basketball player, everything he did for basketball,” Iverson said. “The man he is off the basketball court, all the things he’s accomplished, he’s it. They are always putting them together. LeBron is on Mt. Rushmore, that’s enough.”
Iverson didn’t specifically say it there, but from the rest of the conversation, it seems pretty clear that Jordan is his GOAT. Iverson is up there as well when it comes to the best NBA players of all-time, but he can’t help but to get excited when he’s around his hero, Michael Jordan.
Scotty White serves as ClutchPoints’ Chicago Bulls reporter and also as an Associate Editor covering NCAA Football and Basketball. Scotty is a graduate of the University of Michigan and has been in the sports journalism industry since 2020. He has covered athletics at Michigan and USC.