Allen Iverson

Allen Iverson won the 2000-01 NBA MVP award at six feet tall and 165 pounds — the smallest player in league history to win the award, and arguably the one who had to overcome the most institutional resistance to earn it. The Philadelphia 76ers finished 56-26 that season and reached the NBA Finals. Iverson averaged 31.1 points per game, led the league in scoring for the second consecutive year, and outscored Shaquille O'Neal by six points per game in a Finals that the Lakers won in five games. His Game 1 performance — 48 points, a crossover that put Tyronn Lue on the floor, a step-over that became one of the defining images of the era — remains one of the most watched individual Finals performances in league history.

His crossover dribble was studied and copied at every level of the game for two decades. The mechanics are simple to describe and nearly impossible to replicate: Iverson would shift the ball from his right hand to his left with a single motion that moved his hips toward the right side of the court while his actual path continued left. Defenders who anticipated the shoulder-level movement were two steps behind when he reached the rim.

His four scoring titles — in 1999, 2001, 2002, and 2005 — came with field goal percentages in the low forties, which made the raw scoring totals more difficult to explain than they appeared. Iverson created shots under heavy defensive pressure, in late-clock situations, at the end of drives where he was the smallest player in traffic, and on pull-up jumpers from ranges most guards could not reach. He averaged 26.7 points per game across his career, sixth-highest average in league history.

He attended Georgetown University, where he played one season for John Thompson before entering the draft. He was the first overall pick in 1996.