Bill Simmons says he'll take Nash ahead of Iverson

[10bandz]

AI was a fierce competitor, tough, athletic & relished big moments. He put asses in seats & he was an icon. He took a team with few offensive options through The East to Staples against The Lakers and delivered one of the most indelible moments in Finals history

He was also inefficient with a style that wasn’t necessarily conducive to sharing the offensive load even if he actually had help. He was also embroiled in front office issues & a myriad of off the court shyt (allegedly) that cant be discounted if you were running a team

Nash & Ray never made it to the Finals as top dogs. Nash didn’t play a lick of D & Ray didn’t lead a team deep in the playoffs outside of 01...ever

You also knew what you were going to get from these guys in terms of personality & fit. These guys only made the news for playing ball...that’s it

Had AI had more playoff success this would be a tougher one to put over. The fact is some will prefer AI’s 01 peak versus Ray’s/Steve’s consistency & professionalism and vice versa

He shared the ball with Melo and he got a ton of dimes in Philly, y’all always make it seem like guys who shoot a lot don’t have playmaker abilities if AI had better teammates he would’ve took less shots

 

[KamikazePilot]

if that raptors team take Nash #2 overall then the raptors would have folded

 

[AlbertPullhoez]

nikkas gonna overrate that 2001 season until the end of time for Iverson

 

[Devil Plisken…CMS]

He shared the ball with Melo and he got a ton of dimes in Philly, y’all always make it seem like guys who shoot a lot don’t have playmaker abilities if AI had better teammates he would’ve took less shots

Stackhouse got his too during them days. It doesn’t take away from the idea that AI simply wasn’t efficient enough nor did the 76ers have enough playoff success outside of 01 for AI to be above reproach

 

[Rell84shots]

No one in their right mind would've taken Nash over Iverson.

 

[Lord_Chief_Rocka]

Those suns teams might not be as good with Iverson either, Nash was the perfect PG to run the 7 seconds or less offense with

Iverson isn’t a better shooter or playmaker than Nash

I agree but the suns would’ve been better with AI than the 6ers would’ve been with Nash

 

[AJtheOne]

It took awhile for Nash to become Nash. Then you have to factor Dantoni, he was a big part of Nash success. He was a good player in Dallas but he really became what he was in PHX. Those Suns teams had a lot of talent, more talent than AI ever had. Not taking anything away from Nash but he really don't deserve those MVP awards


Ray Allen was nice but he was not on Iverson's level. Bucks had a better roster than Philly but they still lost. He's just wasn't the impact player that AI was.

 

[Long Live The Kane]

nikkas gonna overrate that 2001 season until the end of time for Iverson

His resume does look awfully thin without that finals run....but Nash basically did jack shyt in the post season either...he was in the west granted, but also had consistently better teams

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

So Nash would have turned Aaron McKie and Todd McCollough into 20 point scorers?

 

[Young Fab]

......

 

[AlbertPullhoez]

His resume does look awfully thin without that finals run....but Nash basically did jack shyt in the post season either...he was in the west granted, but also had consistently better teams

So is Iverson getting past those Spurs teams

 

[Brozay]

Off topic but Bill Simmons selling The Ringer for 200M right before covid was an UNREAL come up

 

[Juggalo Fred]

I'll take Ray Allen over both

 

[10bandz]

Stackhouse got his too during them days. It doesn’t take away from the idea that AI simply wasn’t efficient enough nor did the 76ers have enough playoff success outside of 01 for AI to be above reproach

hes still better than Steve System Player Nash

 

[Verbal Kint]

Its impossible to talk AI rationally. He meant so much to so many of us culturally that folks love him straight up. Plus from a hooping standpoint he was one of the most fun players to watch and everybody wanted to hoop like him more than anyone since Jordan IMO.

I always rooted for Philly with AI.

All that said, it's not really that deniable now that AI was also a pretty inefficient gunner and refused to adapt his style for anyone or anything so the only way his teams won was if he was surrounded by guys who were ok with him taking 30 shots and only kind of playing D. I like AI way more than Nash but it's not crazy at all to say that if you're starting a team from scratch Nash is possibly a better choice.