Allen Iverson is an NBA legend, but he never had the opportunity to play with his dream teammates in the league.
Allen Iverson, the No. 1 overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft, was expected to be the next big thing in the league.
Iverson won several honors, including NBA MVP, but never won the Larry O’Brien trophy.
The main reason for that is the lack of elite teammates during his prime with the Philadelphia 76ers. Speaking of teammates, AI recently revealed that the Los Angeles Lakers legend is his dream teammate.
That legend is none other than Shaquille O’Neal, who was also active during Iverson’s NBA days.
However, Iverson clarified that he never teamed up with O’Neal. That’s what LeBron James did with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh with the Miami Heat.
“First of all, I would never (make a team like LeBron). People will think I’m crazy, but that’s the truth. I would have loved to play with Shaq, that was definitely my dream,” Iverson said.
“But I always felt like I was on a super team. I’m on the court with four other pros, and I’ve never been on the court with a pro before,” he added on The Stephen A. Smith Show.
It was this mentality of Iverson that made Michael Jordan a fan of the 76ers legend. He didn’t want to take the easy route, even if it meant retiring without winning an NBA championship.
Iverson never played with Shaq in the NBA, but he played against him and Kobe Bryant in the 2001 NBA Finals.
It was the perfect matchup of David vs. Goliath. Despite this, Iverson managed to win Game 1 of the series and stop the Lakers from going 15-0 in the 2001 playoffs.
If he had won a ring from another team, Iverson said, “Absolutely. We ran into a huge player. We ran into a team that had never lost in the playoffs.”
“If we didn’t win Game 1, they definitely would have gone down in history as the greatest of all time,” the 76ers legend concluded.
Despite retiring without a ring, Iverson’s impact on the NBA will never be forgotten, and he will continue to be an iconic star.