Never besmirch Allen Iverson’s name.
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, if Allen Iverson, the former Philadelphia 76ers star, played in today’s NBA, he would face heavy criticism for his tendency to take a high volume of shots with poor efficiency.
Windhorst stated, “If A.I. played today, he would be heavily criticized…because he was a low-efficiency player.” He emphasized that Iverson’s style of play, characterized by chucking shots with a relatively low shooting percentage, would not be acceptable in today’s game. Windhorst highlighted the efficiency of modern stars like Joel Embiid, who averages 35 points on 22 shots per game, as a stark contrast to Iverson’s approach.
In response to Windhorst’s comments, former NBA star Jason Williams, also known as “White Chocolate,” took a jab at Windhorst’s appearance, particularly targeting his neck.
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Iverson’s career statistics indeed reflect his propensity for taking a large number of shots, averaging 22.9 field-goal attempts per game with a shooting percentage of 42.1% across 722 regular-season games with the 76ers.
Comparatively, Joel Embiid, who currently averages 35.3 points per game, takes nearly the same number of shots as Iverson did during his Sixers career (22.2 per game), but he does so with a significantly higher shooting efficiency of 53.3%. In contrast, Iverson never achieved a shooting percentage higher than 46.1% during his 12 seasons in Philadelphia.
Despite Iverson’s scoring inefficiency, he remains one of the most prolific scorers in NBA history, leading the league in points per game four times during his tenure with the 76ers and averaging a career-high of 33.0 points per game during the 2005-06 season.
