Allen Iverson always had the utmost respect for his idol Michael Jordan and the man that prevented him from winning an NBA championship, Kobe Bryant. AI had intense duels with these two, always putting up a show against them, seeing closely why they ended up being considered two of the greatest players of all time.
It’s not the first time that we see Iverson praising MJ and Kobe, as he never hesitates to show love to the players he admires. His relationship with Kobe could have been better, but Iverson always had the utmost respect for the Black Mamba, who always embraced the Philadelphia 76ers legend whenever they saw each other.
So much so that Iverson thinks Kobe is at the highest level when it comes to the greatest players of all time. Bryant repeatedly stated that he modeled his game after Mike, and Iverson thinks that KB24 did everything to emulate the GOAT.
Allen Iverson Says Kobe Bryant Is The Closest Thing To Michael Jordan
During his recent appearance on Vernon Maxwell’s podcast, MaXed Out, the Answer explained how much Kobe meant to him, comparing Bryant to Michael Jordan and the things he could do on the court (15:48 mark).
“Just a colossal amount of respect and admiration [for Kobe],” Iverson said. “The dude was a monster. I hadn’t seen anything like that besides “Black Jesus.” It was kinda like a spitting image. He could affect the game just like my hero. If anybody knows me, Black Jesus is everything to me. He was the one who gave me the vision. He was the one who made me want to be Allen Iverson on that dance floor. Kobe was just the same.”
Iverson lost the 2001 NBA Finals against Kobe, Shaquille O’Neal, and the Los Angeles Lakers, in a loss that still haunts him. He even revealed that it would have been better for him not to make it to the Finals if he knew it would be so painful in every aspect. Still, AI said that going against a player he respected so much meant the world to him.
“The way I created my game, I wanted to jump like Mike. I wanted to rebound like [Charles] Barkley, be dominant like Shaq [Shaquille O’Neal]. I wanted to pass like Magic [Johnson], shoot like [Larry] Bird, fast like Isiah [Thomas], and implement all of that into one game. Being 6-foot tall, there was only so much stuff that I could put in my game to be effective,” he said. “Kobe was 6-foot-6, so he could play with his back to the basket. He could get by you. He could shoot the blood out of the ball. He could do everything on a basketball court. He was fierce on defense. He took that challenge of guarding a 6-foot dude like myself. This man gave me problems, and he was just so mentally tough and such a student of the game.”
During his career, Iverson went against these two many times, having a negative record against both of them, but looking better against MJ, in comparison to Kobe.
After all these years, his love for the Black Mamba and His Airness has grown, and that doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon. We are talking about two of the greatest players to ever exist, and Iverson is well aware of that. Many think that Kobe is the second-best player of all time behind Jordan, but that’s a discussion for another day.
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