Lakers: Allen Iverson Gets In On The LeBron Versus MJ GOAT Debate

When looking back at athletes who have paved the way for the current state of basketball, Hall of Fame point guard Allen Iverson is an immediate name that comes to mind. Whether it was his dribble packages that made him look like he had the ball on a string, his fashion sense that quite literally made the league implement a dress code, or the fire he played with every single game despite usually being the smallest guy on the court, we have seen Iverson's influence remain all the way until today's generation of hoopers.

Your Los Angeles Lakers had their fair share of witnessing exactly what the 6'0" guard was made of and were matched up against his Philadelphia 76ers in the 2001 NBA Finals. This was the same season that Iverson won MVP over LA's own Shaquille O'Neal. LA would go on to win the series in five but the Virginia native stole game one in a series that most expected to be a sweep and gave us one of the most iconic highlights when he stepped over then-Lakers guard Tyronn Lue.

18 years ago today ...

Iverson stepped over Tyronn Lue 🤭 pic.twitter.com/bCVgKKdrfZ
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 6, 2019

The retired Hall of Famer joined Andscape for an exclusive interview over All-Star weekend. Having played against some of the top talent that has ever graced the court, one question he dove into was who he believes to be greatest to ever play the game.

Iverson, like many other fans, was in awe watching LeBron James break Kareem Abdul-Jabaar's scoring record just a few weeks ago and applauded the Lakers forward on all of his achievements.

"LeBron, I think, to me is the best overall basketball player we will ever see," said Iverson. "If you look in the dictionary and look up basketball player, there'll be a picture of LeBron."

Iverson got to witness James' first seven years in the league before he was out of the NBA. That means when he wasn't around for The King's first championship in 2012 but he saw enough to give him such a praised label.

However, the former Georgetown Hoya doubled down on the fact that nobody will ever surpass Michael Jordan in his eyes and not just because of his talent, but because of the inspiration he passed down on Iverson.

"I wanted to actually be like, like the commercial, 'Be Like Mike,' said Iverson. "So there'll never be no one at the top of my list besides Mike."

Iverson turns 48 years old soon and the majority of people around his age tend to side with Jordan as the undisputed GOAT. The younger generation has watched James much more and side with him. It will be amazing to see who exactly the fans latch on to once the Laker's superstar decides to hang it up.

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