Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson are two of the league’s most iconic figures, dominating on the court through the 2000s and each being named MVP for some incredible individual campaigns.
Bryant retired with five championships to Iverson’s zero and is considered to be the best player in that stacked 1996 Draft class. But watching Iverson made Kobe push himself more and more, as he once revealed in an interview.
“You know, AI is a competitor. He drove me to be as obsessive if not more obsessive about the game because I had to figure out how to solve that problem. I told him, ‘You don’t realize how much you push me. People nowadays realize how great you were as a player and how big of a problem you were for defenses.'”
Iverson was drafted No. 1 overall in the 1996 NBA Draft, with Kobe being drafted at the end of the lottery with the 13th pick. Iverson was headed into a situation in Philadelphia that he could never single-handedly turn around into a title, despite his best efforts.
Kobe was traded on draft night to the Los Angeles Lakers, a team that also acquired Shaquille O’Neal that offseason to create one of the greatest duos the game has ever seen.
Kobe Bryant And Allen Iverson Had Some Legendary Battles
Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson were draft classmates and spent the majority of their careers matching up against each other. They met in 29 regular season contests and nine playoff matchups, with Kobe holding a 24-14 record over Iverson. This includes a dominant 8-1 playoff record against Iverson.
Iverson’s only playoff win over Kobe is one of the most historic Finals games ever, as AI scored nearly 50 points to single-handedly carry the 76ers to become the only team to take a game off the 2001 Lakers in the playoffs. Iverson averaged 35.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists in the 20001 Finals as compared to Kobe’s 24.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 5.8 assists.
Iverson ended his career with averages of 25.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 7.1 assists in the 29 regular season games against Kobe, while the Black Mamba had averaged 24.0 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 5.3 assists in those games. Regardless, both are Hall of Fame legends who won MVPs, an incredible achievement for both guards that overcame adversity to become the legends they became.
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