Allen Iverson was a rookie, and Michael Jordan was in the prime of his Airness. The best player in the universe, hands down. He was a God among men,and then Iverson crossed him over. 

Everyone remembers the play, and it definitely was a big moment in Iverson’s career. An I have arrived moment. The funny thing about it, the crossover was years in the making.  

Via the Postgame: 

“I remember that play vividly because Michael Jordan was my hero, everybody knows that,” Iverson said at a recent Thuzio event. “He was my favorite player, my idol, I literally wanted to be like Mike. I used to always tell my family and my friends and my teammates in college and high school and even the guys for the Sixers, if I get the greatest player to ever play the game on me, I’m gonna try my move on him.”

So I remember I came off a screen or something and I heard Phil Jackson say his name, called him to switch out on me. Looking back on it, I’m thinking to myself, ‘Damn, did you get nervous or did you think about it?’ All I saw was him. And I just backed up and gave him a little one and he went for it, and I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I got his ass now.’ And all I was thinking about after the fact was that no one never probably would’ve known anything about that move if I wouldn’t have made the shot afterwards because they don’t do that on ESPN.”

  “I really didn’t know, especially being that young, what I had done,” Iverson recalls. “And all of these years later, you got little kids, 5 or 6 years old, walking up to me like, ‘Hey, you’re the guy that crossed Jordan, right?’ People still talk about it today. I didn’t even think it was a big deal that night. I remember, somebody in here was saying they used to hang with me up in Friday’s. Well, that’s where I was at that night and I’m looking at it like, ‘Damn, I didn’t even know it was like that.’ But that’s where I was at, at Friday’s when I realized what I had done.”  

Iverson was definitely a bad little dude, one of the toughest of all time. Just imagine if hew was 6’6. He would have won multiple championships. Goes to show you, dreams do come true.