Here’s what Allen Iverson said to Isaiah Thomas that almost made him cry
Growing up, Isaiah Thomas’ favorite player was Allen Iverson.
“He was a little guy who changed the way we play the game,” Thomas wrote in the Players’ Tribune. “Pound for pound, the best guy to ever touch a basketball.”
Comparisons have been made between the two point guards for the electrifying and fearless way they drive to the hoop, despite their small statures.
Feeling inspired by the four-time NBA scoring champ — who is 14 years his senior — Thomas has looked to incorporate some of Iverson’s moves into his game, from the infamous step-over to the classic jab and go.
And his efforts haven’t gone unnoticed.
During the 2016 All-Star Weekend in Toronto, Iverson told Thomas, “You have no idea how much I love your game.”
“I thought Isaiah was going to cry,” Reebok’s former director of basketball Brian Lee recalled, via Sports Illustrated. “He said, ‘I felt confident before, but now I’m going to start killing it.'”
The Celtics All-Star certainly followed through on his intentions, as he averaged 28.9 points per game and lit up the TD Garden with fourth-quarter heroics. And Iverson kept tabs on his “little killer” throughout the season.
In November — the night after Thomas had helped his team rally from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves — he sent Thomas a text: “Keep doing your thing. I’m watching.”
“It just motivates me to keep going,” Thomas told ESPN, “Someone like that is watching me without me even reaching out to him, so I guess I’m doing something right.”
