Philadelphia 76ers: How good would Allen Iverson be in today’s NBA?

Verdict

Iverson finished his career with an average of 26.7 points per game, leading the league in field goals attempted, field goals made, and points per game all at least two times. Iverson shot mid-range shots with over 50 percent frequency for over seven straight seasons and for most of those seasons, less than 20 percent of his mid-range attempts were assisted. According to CleaningTheGlass.com, Iverson’s shot chart compared to James Harden’s looks like the following:

In 2000-01, a season where Iverson was the recipient of the Most Valuable Player award, he scored 7.0 fast break points per game which only one player has amassed since then (Russell Westbrook, 2014). Ironically, in almost every season of Iverson’s, less than 14 percent of his points came from three-point attempts, which is half the percentages of top-10 point per game scorers Stephen Curry (44.6 percent), Damian Lillard (34.88 percent), and Harden (32.66 percent).

The game of basketball looks foreign compared to years past and Iverson would have no problem dominating unchartered territory today. Iverson would adapt well to the newly employed style of basketball that favors fast-paced guards and his shooting capabilities were good enough to translate.

Questioning if a consistent scoring champion and defensively stout Hall of Famer would be great in any era of basketball is foolish, because he would. Except, not only would Iverson be great, but he would be among the best guards in basketball today. An increase in team three-point attempts means more opportunities would be present for Iverson to score more. A spaced out floor due to the shooting capabilities of every position would equate to more free throw attempts for Iverson because of his fearlessness driving in the paint.

His ball handling and athleticism is up to par with some of the best active basketball players, and the former Philadelphia 76ers guard would be a nightmare to defend.