Tyronn Lue On Allen Iverson's Iconic Step Over: "You Play Hard, You’re Gonna Get Dunked On, You’re Gonna Get Crossed Over... I’ll Always Be In NBA History.”

Tyronn Lue recounted that iconic moment when Allen Iverson stepped over him in the 2001 NBA Finals.

Credit: Fadeaway World

Allen Iverson ultimately fell short in his quest to win an NBA title, but there are few players in NBA history who were as iconic as him. For a man his size, Iverson achieved so much in this league, and pound for pound, he is regarded by many as the greatest scorer ever.

Iverson won 4 scoring titles during his career, which is just unbelievable for a man his size and he delivered so many epic moments while on the court. The crossover on Michael Jordan was just legendary, and there is one more moment that always gets brought up when it comes to AI.

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Tyronn Lue On Allen Iverson's Iconic Step Over

The moment we are talking about, of course, is Iverson stepping over Tyronn Lue in Game 1 of the 2001 NBA Finals. With the Sixers hanging on to a lead late in the game, Iverson managed to score over Lue, who fell down after contesting the shot. Iverson then proceeded to step over the fallen defender and it is one of the more unforgettable moments in NBA history. Lue was on the Old Man and the Three podcast recently where he was asked about it and it's an interesting listen.

"It’s crazy because I’ll say, first of all, just growing up, and he’s only like two years older than me, but I still idolized him. Just coming into the league, he was already in the league two or three years before me. It was Jordan then it was AI. That’s who I looked up to. 6-foot, braids, fast, so I don’t think I’ve ever said that, but I looked up to him. So having an opportunity, a chance to play against him in the Finals, and he made the move and the step over, but it wasn’t really a big deal."

"Like, people go crazy. He crossed me over, I fell down, then he shot, and he stepped. I mean, he snatched it back, I contested it, I fell and he stepped over me... I fell into his foot, like, I rolled my ankle a little bit, fell down, he made a shot, and stepped over me like ‘Oh! That’s a step over!’ I’m like, ‘Okay, well, I mean, it’s AI.’ That’s my guy, but like it’s not—he crossed me over, I fell, rolled over, he shot it, stepped over me. I mean, but no, it is what it is, but I think Doug Collins put a lot on it too though. Like ‘Oh! He stepped over him!’ and that add an extra to it and it became more and more but you know, it is what it is."

"You play hard, you’re gonna get dunked on, you’re gonna get crossed over, you’re gonna get a lot of things. And then guess what? I’ll always be in NBA history. They’re gonna show it all the time. So I’m always gonna be relevant no matter what happens!"

Well, as he says, Lue has gone down in history himself and everyone knows his name because of it. To be fair to him, though, Lue also has a chance to go down in history as one of the better coaches this game has seen. It is still too early for serious conversations on the matter, but he certainly is capable of one day being talked about as one of the greats.

His greatest moment as a head coach obviously came when the Cavaliers overcame a 3-1 deficit to beat the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 Finals. During this episode, he also hilariously recounted how he took money from the team after Game 5 but didn't return it even after they won it all in Game 7.