By Cardell Dudley
Talking to players from previous generations about which player influenced them the most in basketball, you will hear a wide variety of names. If you were born in the civil rights era Russell, Chamberlain, Robertson, Baylor and West will come out. In the 70s, Clyde Frazier, Earl Monroe, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and of course the Doctor Julius Erving will stand above the rest. In the 80s/90s, Magic, Bird, Jordan, Thomas are the kings. At the turn of the century, Duncan, Shaq, Garnett, Kobe, Kidd were at the top list for players who now dominate the NBA today. Ultimately the player who influenced the current NBA the greatest...was the answer himself, Allen Iverson. Don't take my word for it, just look at the NBA right now. What is the deepest most competitive position in the NBA? Point Guard. How many pass first traditional point guards are in the NBA right now playing at a high level? Go head I will wait..........EXACTLY! Now how many point guards are combo guards? Guards that can set up teammates but score with best two guards as well? Pretty much all of the point guards in the NBA. And that can be traced to Allen Iverson dominating the NBA at 6'0 165. Westbrook, Rose, Lillard, Wall, Irving, Curry, Kemba Walker, Kyle Lowry, Teague I mean I can go on for days, if you pay close enough attention to them, you can see Iverson's game pouring right out of them. Like I said don't just take my word for it, listen to what some of these players had to say on AI's impact on their game for yourself.