Allen Iverson has never been one to let a basketball conversation pass without making his feelings known. And when it comes to the players who shaped his view of the game, the Hall of Famer has been remarkably consistent.
On September 16, Iverson shared an Instagram carousel featuring Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal, and Stephen Curry. His caption read, “With all due respect to YOURS, this is MY top 5. #AintNobodyWrong! #ToEachHisOwn.” The post did not include any further explanation or an explicit numerical ranking.
But this was not the first time Iverson had put these five names together. In a December 2018 essay for The Players’ Tribune, he listed the exact same group as his all-time starting five, writing: “9. ALL-TIME NBA STARTING 5 (EXCLUDING MYSELF): STEPH MIKE KOBE BRON SHAQ.” Nearly eight years later, his latest post has brought that same selection back into the spotlight.
The list also offers a glimpse into the players who shaped Iverson’s own basketball journey. He shared the NBA with Jordan, Kobe, Shaq, LeBron, and Curry, though his time against Curry came near the end of his career. His most memorable connection to the group, however, came through Jordan and Kobe, two players he has spoken about with a level of admiration that goes beyond their résumés.
During a December 2022 appearance on MaXed Out, hosted by former NBA guard Vernon Maxwell, Iverson explained what Kobe meant to him.
“Just a colossal amount of respect, admiration… The dude was a monster. I hadn’t seen anything like that besides Black Jesus, Michael Jordan. And it was kind of like the spitting image. He could do and affect the game just like my hero. Anybody know me, Black Jesus is everything to me. He was the one that gave me the vision, he was the one that made me Allen Iverson on that dance floor. And Kobe was just that same [level of player].”
Iverson also spoke about the difficulty of playing against Bryant, who entered the league in the same 1996 draft class.
“Kobe was 6-foot-6, so he could play with his back to the basket. He could get by you. He could shoot the blood out of the ball. He could do everything on a basketball court. He was fierce on defense. He took that challenge of guarding a 6-foot dude like myself. This man gave me problems, and he was just so mentally tough and such a student of the game.”
That respect was not limited to Kobe. Iverson’s 2018 comments about Jordan and LeBron also showed where the two stood in his personal view of greatness.
“Mike is the GOAT!… I’m hearing a lot of people these days fronting like they have LeBron over Mike!! Man….. listen. First of all, I love LeBron. I have nothing but love for LeBron. That’s the best player of his generation, one of the best ever… But y’all. We’re talking about Mike.”
The remaining names in Iverson’s five bring a different kind of history to the group. Shaq was the dominant force who led the Lakers past Iverson’s Philadelphia 76ers in the 2001 NBA Finals. O’Neal averaged 33.0 points and 15.8 rebounds in that series, even as Iverson opened the Finals with a 48-point performance in Game 1.
Curry, meanwhile, represents a player Iverson openly admired despite their limited overlap on the court. In December 2021, after Curry passed him on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, Iverson wrote:
“Congrats to my lil bro (Stephen Curry)! It’s been amazing to see you rewrite the game. Respect to the greatest shooter to ever do it! Well Deserved! #MyFavoritePlayer”
Taken together, Iverson’s latest post is less about settling the GOAT debate and more about showing the basketball world the five players he continues to hold in the highest regard. And unlike many rankings that change with every new era, this particular five has been part of Iverson’s public basketball view for years.