In an appearance on ABC’s pregame show prior to Saturday night’s game in Philadelphia, former 76ers guard Allen Iverson offered significant praise for current Houston Rockets guard James Harden.
The conversation began by comparing greats from Iverson’s peak years, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, to top scorers of the current era.
Iverson, an 11-time All-Star and four-time NBA scoring champion, was asked if he thought criticism of Harden’s playing style was warranted.
The 2001 MVP responded:
No way. No way. That man has so much talent. He’s so great. He deserves all the praise that he gets. There’s always going to be a critic out here. There’s always going to be somebody out there saying he could do something else better than what he’s doing. I think he just keeps his foot to the pedal. … Because I know his teammates love having him in that foxhole and rocking with him night in and night out. So, James, keep doing your thing, man.
(The Harden conversation begins at approximately 5:25.)
Harden is leading the NBA in scoring at 36.1 points per game in the 2019-20 season, identical to his total from a year ago. Prior to Harden’s last two seasons, no NBA player had averaged that many points in over 30 years.
Now a Hall of Famer, Iverson played more than 10 of his 14 NBA seasons with the Sixers organization. His career concluded in the 2009-10 season, which was Harden’s first year in the NBA. Over his 14 seasons, Iverson averaged 26.7 points and 6.2 assists in 41.1 minutes per game.
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