"That man was a whole movement" - Ex-Warriors guard recalls Lou Williams' story about Allen Iverson's "crazy" aura, contrasts it with Kobe Bryant's
Former Golden State Warriors guard Gilbert Arenas said Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant are true legends of the game but they exuded constrasting auras during their playing days.
Speaking on the Gil's Arena podcast on Friday, Arenas touched on how 'AI' and 'Black Mamba' were received by fans back in the day. He made use of what fellow former NBA player Lou Williams had told him in making his point, highlighting how Iverson had the most aura because pandemonium almost always followed him around.
Arenas shared:
"You know when we get to hotels, there's kids and autographs? Lou said that in his eighteen years of playing, he's never, ever seen what Allen Iverson did. When they showed up at the hotel, it was pandemonium. He said, women. Like, adults. Like, usually it's kids, right? When Kobe came, kids was there. He said he's never seen grown women in the hundreds outside hotel rooms. He said, man, was crazy.
"He said, me with Kobe was like kindergarten. Allen Iverson come in the locker room... This man was a whole movement. He said, I've never seen anything like it. I've seen it outside clubs. When A.I.'s coming in town, better hurry up and get in. Like, literally saw him fight. His bodyguards had to fight to get him in the club. Never seen that..."
Check out what he had to say below:
Williams played with both Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant late in their careers with the Philadelphia 76ers and LA Lakers. He played behind 'The Answer' in his rookie season in Phillly in 2006 while he was with Bryant during his farewell tour in 2016.
Allen Iverson considers Kobe Bryant one of his favorite players of all time
Allen Iverson was always pitted against contemporary Kobe Bryant but he said he always had high respect for 'Black Mamba' and considers him one of his favorite players of all time.
Both were selected in the 1996 NBA draft and was part of the generation of players who helped the NBA reach greater heights in the late 1990s and in the 2000s. For their exciting style of play, they often found themselves as rivals in the eyes of many fans, which they embraced on the court, foremost during their lone NBA Finals encounter in 2001, where Bryant and the Lakers won.
In an interview in December 2023 with Rachel Nichols of Showtime, Allen Iverson spoke about how he viewed the late great Bryant with a lot of respect. He said:
"I've never seen nobody as competitive as him but Mike [Michael Jordan, his favorite player growing up]. Like, when people talk about you favorite players, or the best players in the world, I say Mike, and I say Kobe, you know what I mean? And then everybody else."
Check out what he had to say below:
For their legendary careers, both Iverson (2016) and Bryant (posthumously in 2020) were enshrined to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.