Paul Pierce On Guarding Allen Iverson: ‘I Was Scared To Death’
Allen Iverson was considered a menace for any defender who tried to match up with him. The Answer had a big repertory and he didn’t hesitate to use his best moves on any player, regardless of their quality or status in the league.
Iverson was so cold that he crossed Michael Jordan over during his rookie season, so you know he had that smoke and not everybody was willing to deal with that. One of those who didn’t want to know anything of that was Paul Pierce, as he revealed that guarding Iverson was scary.
Back in 2020, the former ESPN analyst detailed how he felt when going against Iverson. They didn’t clash always on the court because they weren’t each other’s match but Pierce always afraid that he had to switch to the guard (2:33).
“I didn’t match up with him, but I knew I was in situations in pick-and-roll where I switched out on him. I’m not gonna lie, I was scared to death — I could play defense and all, but I knew I couldn’t slide my feet with Allen Iverson. Every night when you looked at the ‘SportsCenter’ highlights, he was crossing somebody up. All I know is when I switched on him, I was gonna give him that ole defense — I’m gonna let him do his move and I’m gonna let him go. Hopefully I can send him to the baseline because I was not trying to slide my feet with that guy. I didn’t want to end up on anyone’s ‘SportsCenter’ highlights. Period.”
These two had big battles over the year, including one in 2002 that saw the Celtics beating the Sixers, 3-2, thanks to Pierce and Antoine Walker.
Iverson was something else on the court. He was a man that didn’t care if he was carrying the team; he lived for that and with that mentality, he took the Philadelphia 76ers to the 2001 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. That man was a nightmare for a lot of people around the league and it seems like The Truth couldn’t handle The Answer, either.
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