Ranking every first overall pick in NBA history

20. 1996: Allen Iverson, Philadephia 76ers

There are plenty of criticisms to levy against Allen Iverson. He was a mercurial malcontent that didn’t care about practice. He was an overrated high volume shooter. Some of the objections are a bit overblown, but Iverson was doubtlessly one of the toughest and most exciting players in the NBA during his prime.

Outside of making Michael Jordan look like an old man reaching for a rope to keep from falling down, Iverson’s finest work came in the 2000-01 season, when he scored a league-leading 31.1 points per game, won the league MVP and led a Philly team that featured no other scoring threats to the NBA Finals. Sure, the Lakers romped them in five games, but the fact that they made it that far was remarkable.

Sure, you could argue that Iverson was an inefficient shot-chucker that padded his stats on some mediocre teams. Of course, minus the mediocre teams part, you could make the same arguments against Kobe Bryant and yet he has hordes of fans that will dismember your body if you even suggest that Bryant isn’t a top five all-time player (and he isn’t).

Iverson had his share of flaws, but there’s no questioning his skills as a player and the impact he ultimately left on the culture of the NBA.