One of the most iconic plays in the history of the Philadelphia 76ers is Allen Iverson stepping over Los Angeles Lakers guard Ty Lue in the 2001 NBA finals. Iverson was sensational as he led the Sixers to a Game 1 win on the road.
The play everybody remembers came in overtime when Iverson was defended by Lue in the corner with Philadelphia leading by two points. Iverson then crossed over Lue, stepped back, drilled a tough jumper and then stepped over Lue as the Sixers went on to win.
Lue joined former Sixers guard JJ Redick on his “Old Man and the Three” podcast as he recalled the play:
It’s crazy because I’ll say, first of all, just growing up, and he’s only like two years older than me, but I still idolized him. Just coming into league, he was already in the league two or three years before me. It was Jordan then it was AI. That’s who I looked up to. 6-foot, braids, fast, so I don’t think I’ve ever said that, but I looked up to him. So having an opportunity, a chance to play against him in the finals, and he made the move and step over, but it wasn’t really a big deal. Like, people go crazy. He crossed me over, I fell down, then he shot, and he stepped. I mean, he snatched it back, I contested it, I fell and he stepped over me. I fell when I contested it. I fell into his foot, like, I rolled my ankle a little bit, fell down, he made a shot, and stepped over me like ‘Oh! That’s a step over!’ I’m like, ‘Okay, well, I mean, it’s AI’. That’s my guy, but like it’s not—he crossed me over, I fell, rolled over, he shot it, stepped over me. I mean, but no, it is what it is, but I think Doug Collins put a lot on it too though. Like ‘Oh! He stepped over him!’ and that add an extra to it and it became more and more but you know, it is what it is. You play hard, you’re gonna get dunked on, you’re gonna get crossed over, you’re gonna get a lot of things. And then guess what? I’ll always be in NBA history. They’re gonna show it all the time. So I’m always gonna be relevant no matter what happens!
Iverson mentioned he doesn’t like the video of him stepping over Lue because they are good friends. It’s good to see both sides are such good sports about the play in NBA history.
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