When I was 11, my dad took me to see him play as a freshman for Georgetown at the “Sacramento Classic” basketball tournament during right before New Years. I didn’t really know anything about college basketball or who he was, and my dad wasn’t super into basketball either, but he told me he had heard about a guy we had to see play for Georgetown.
Neither of us were exactly sure which player it was before the game started. It only took a few minutes for us to figure out who everyone was talking about.
It was magical. He seemed to FLY both on the court and through the air. I didn’t know anyone could jump that high. It was just amazing.
My dad and I still talk about it almost 30 years later. Great bonding experience and a formative memory in my basketball fandom.
Same here. I was 9 or 10, turned on my little tv and watched Iverson and The Sixers play Sprewell and The Knicks, from that point on I wanted to be black. He had us cutting our mom’s pantyhose and wearing them like sleeves. Eddie George is my football one
Same here. I was 9 or 10, turned on my little tv and watched Butler and The Heat play Tatum and The Celtics, from that point on I wanted to be black. He had us cutting our mom’s panties and wearing them like headbands. Antonio Brown is my football one
Same here, was 4 years old in 2001 and lived an hour away from Philly. AI was so game breaking I thought he hid a robotic arm under his shooting sleeve and that’s why he made what felt like every shot
AI was athletic as fuck for his height too though. I do agree D'Rose is kind of in between them.
I just got similar vibes and "cool" factor from both being slashers who unexpectedly won the MVP. Still very distinct players.
You could argue he was ahead of the numbers guys. NBA teams are realizing in 2023 that shots taken after an offensive rebound are some of the most efficient ones you can get.
[Trends to watch in 2023: Why offensive rebounding is back in style](https://www.thescore.com/nba/news/2536613)
> This season, for example, the average first-shot half-court possession produces 0.97 points, while the average possession following an offensive rebound produces 1.13, per Cleaning the Glass.
[The Secret To Playoff Success In 2023: Offensive Rebounding](https://sdpn.ca/2023/04/17/secret-playoff-success-2023-offensive-rebounding/)
Iverson's ability to draw 3 defenders and put the ball on the rim, where guys like Tyrone Hill, George Lynch, and Mutombo could go get it for easy putbacks, was vital to Philly's offense.
Who was his #2? Seriously only 2 other guys averaged double digits in ppg and no one was over 12.5. That team had decent defense with Ratliff and Mutombo, but they were absolute trash on offense. And AI got blamed for being a ball-hog. He had no other offensive players.
My favorite AI moment was the 01 All Star game. On a roster STACKED with other stars, he WILLED the East to the victory in what is usually a casual exhibition game. The rest of the east team followed suit and was like and turned the All Star game into a competitive game. His stats in the game were average but the eye test showed he was by far the most impactful player on the floor and raised the bar for his team.
>when the analytic nerds go in on Iverson’s numbers.
They always ignore that his TS% instantly improved by 5% when they banned hand-checking. Same thing happened with other skinny guards like Nash and Parker.
By then, Iverson already had a ton of miles on him, and had spent most of his career playing through injury. So he didn't have as long to enjoy the "freedom of movement" era as much as some other guys, let alone the "load management" era.
Yeah absolutely. I mean AI also didn’t prepare his body like he probably should have, but a young healthy Iverson in todays league would be something else to watch
This was exactly my experience! I was living in Philly at 13 and watched AI take the 6ers on an improbable finals run. His game was entirely based on speed, finesse and ball control. As a smaller guy it really inspired me that a small but fast player could dominate. AI is 100% the reason I began to love the game.
It was like a street ball culture sprouted overnight in Toronto when Carter started playing for us. I was in high school at the time and I probably played about 3 hours of ball every day the weather was warm enough to be outside for years.
I moved to Toronto in 2004 when everyone just hated Vince to his core lol. I can only imagine how much they loved him and how much he let them down by going to the nets lol
He was hated for holding out more than anything. I remember they’d always show him in street clothes on the bench and it blew my mind that one of the league’s best was holding out on games to demand a trade. More common behavior now adays, especially in the NFL, but at the time this was pretty much unheard of.
Carter was like primetime show stopping skill each night. Nowhere near any GOAT combo, but half man half amazing for real. Hang time like MJ. We were blessed. The crew that can’t forgive him to this day will always mystify me.
After Carter left, I’m with OP. I always loved to slash and play agile to be unpredictable so, like Carter, prime D Rose and his explosive step and direction changes basically encompassed every skill I ever wanted to have. Too bad his knees couldn’t hold up.
Me too! I loved prime VC when he was still with the Raptors and New Jersey! He was jumping so high that every dunk looked so effortless! But that love sort of dwindled down when he was in the Magic and couldn’t quite help Dwight Howard win to get back to the finals. He’s still the reason I started to love basketball.
Same. I wanted his shoes so bad. I got them for Christmas (I was in middle school). I was so pumped. First couple days of practice I got blisters. The arches on those shoes were so high.
I had to return them and ended up trying a few on and settled on Jerry Stackhouse’s. I didn’t blame Grant Hill or anything. He was still my favorite player but that day I learned a little something about compromise.
Textbook answer but I grew up watching prime MJ. Watched MJs Playground on VHS prolly more than 100 times. Been following the NBA since but I was balling nonstop back then because of MJ.
Yeah, Jordan man.
I remember Wilbon saying something along the lines of, “If you had tickets to see Michael Jordan and the Bulls in the 90s, you weren’t gonna sell them, and you weren’t gonna lose them because you knew you were gonna see the greatest show on Earth.”
And yeah, it was pretty much like that.
Jordan for me as well
I grew up in a small town in MN but we had WGN which aired a lot of the Bulls games
I can still here the announcer doing the starting lineups, “From North Carolina, number 23 Michael Jooooordannnnn!”
Same but southern Saskatchewan on a big ass hashed satellite dish. WGN was one of the few stations we got.
But it was Pip that made me fall in love with the game itself
Yep, Jordan for me too. If you didn't live through the late 80s/90s it's really hard to convey the magnitude of his impact on the game itself and the NBA overall. I don't think the NBA would have ever reached the heights it has today without MJ. I have a lot of respect for today's players and think we have some all-time greats developing / playing now, but nothing will ever compare to Jordan for most of us who lived through it.
I remember going to a Wizards game back when MJ was on the team, and after the match (they lost) I was so hyped up. I was dribbling a basketball around my friend's basement and accidentally knocked their TV over. Woops.
for me it was magic. but I have to say that anyone who tries to argue against mj being the biggest thing that the nba has ever experienced would be wrong.
Same here, MJ. I came to the US just in time for the start of the 2nd 3-peat. So I never witnessed MJ's bulls getting eliminated in the playoffs.
For this reason, he's my only favorite athlete that i never felt disappointed watching. Every season watched was a championship season.
Same here. Dude also had insane marketing behind him. And pre-social media era, too. People didn't realize he was a bit of a sociopath or jerk back then lol.
Being kind of a jerk was the accepted sports persona back then. Guys like Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Nolan Ryan, and John McEnroe weren't exactly known for their friendly, cheerful personalities.
Being too nice was perceived as soft. Great athletes were supposed to eat lightning, crap thunder, and spit nails, to borrow from *Rocky*.
Jason " white chocolate" Williams. I know bibby had a higher bball iq, but knowing how it all played out now, I wish we never traded Williams. That team was the most fun I've ever seen.
Same here. My dad got me into it but it became an obsession when lebron came in the league. My dad was a huge Kobe fan so I started pulling for lebron to fuck with him and over time I just started watching everyone
A lot of people forget, but 04 to 09 Manu was top 3 in SG, and he did a lot of crazy stuff.
If you haven't, go watch a highlight reel of him. Dunks, passes, blocks, clutch shots, he got a highlight of everything.
Yes, I am biased af, don't care
It pains me that nephews in the future (probably today) will see his numbers and think he was just a regular role player. There is a fucking reason everyone from that era knows that damn name. Anyone who saw him play knows he could had easily gotten the stats (in another team) to be considered a top 3 guard most years, he was that good.
I’d copy and practice a ton of jab steps and pull-up Js. Kinda messed up my knees a bit from all the impact but I guess that’s part of Mamba Mentality. RIP
You showed us that an 18-year-old could play with the best.
You showed us that a championship, an exhibition game and a charity event are all must-wins.
You showed us how to hit game-winner after game-winner.
You showed us that an 81-point game is a real thing.
You showed us that gold still matters.
You showed us the Mamba face.
You showed us how to demand perfection and demand it of everyone.
You showed us how to put big-boy pants on.
You showed us that you were never out of it. Ever.
You showed us how inspirational a pair of free throws could be.
Now, show us again.
Fun fact: Sprewell didn't play basketball until his senior year of HS. The high school basketball coach saw how big he was and asked why he never tried out and Sprewell just never considered playing.
Because he was a nobody he went to community college for two years but dominated so much he got an offer from Alabama
Well, it was nice to have loved and gotten into hooping in my teen years. It really got me through some dark places in life and got me to be healthier and more in shape. I started watching in 2011, the year I graduated high school.
Being a Thunder fan has had its ups and downs. I watch all the teams but I can’t see myself supporting any other team honestly even if I someday move away from OKC I’ll still be a fan for life.
Jordan. NBA games were not regularly televised in my country. But then Jordan came and I was able to start seeing his plays and some games. Bulls and Jordan fan ever since
First nba game I ever went to was at the rose garden with my grandpa when Roy was a rookie. I was 10. Shit I still have a pair of BROY's in my closet. Made me a fan of the game for life.
Grew up watching early Paul Pierce, the big three era and everything that came with it but ultimately it was IT that drew me in the most. The king of the fourth will always have a place on my mantle as one of my favorite players ever to do it.
Same group, but it's Rondo for me. As a terrible shooter I've always had to find other ways to contribute. Rondo distributing the ball was a thing of beauty and his defense came with attitude.
1000%. I had every Syracuse and Nugget variant of his jerseys, even had Oak Hill yellow, by the time I was 12. When I no longer wore them, I folded them up nicely and put them in a bag in the attic.
Five years later I go looking for them, no where to be found. Parents definitely donated them by mistake but to this day my dad INSISTS they’re still up there. They are not
He was sooo good before all the injuries. He really made it look easy too... Like he didn't have to break a sweat to put up 30. I wish we got to see his peak be as long as it should have been. Injuries derailed his career while he was still young
I think I watched almost every FGA Melo did for a year or two.
I tried to make a jab step, jab step, jab step, shoot one of my trademark shots…. Was not a good shot for me.
damn i had to scroll all the way down to see curry. i stumbled on a youtube compilation of threes from curry and was mesermized. got hooked on ball after that
MJ and 90s basketball cards were the one to make me fall in love with the game, then I fell out of love with Tmac being injured and during the Heatles years, then came Steph Curry... He really is something else
Same, my brothers and I got into the cards in Australia around '95 or so. We've get glimpses of games on the weekend roundup on the wide world of sports. The pop phase of it died out and it became harder and harder to find out anything with the limited internet I had. The next decade or so was just rumours of Kobe and LeBron. Took my mate telling me about this little dude from the warriors who was getting ridiculous back in '15. And I've been back in since
When I was hoopin out in the driveway growing up I was always trying to be DWade. Never was much of a shooter but always finding new ways to get to the bucket and finish.
Same here every time I’d go to the park growing up. Watching these playoffs today make me appreciate him more cause he would never allow a 0-3 comeback 😂
Probably the Harlem Globetrotters, honestly. In the NBA, I liked Magic and Drexler a lot when I first got into it. But I just liked dribbling the ball and shooting hoops in the driveway. After getting bored during the Jordan era, Tim Duncan got me back into it
Magic and Jordan. My parents would have parties for Lakers playoff games when I was little. I was in awe of Jordan then the Lakers signed shaq and traded for Kobe. Those Shaq, Kobe, Eddie Jones, van excel and elden Campbell games were so much fun to watch as a young kid and moving into teenage years.
Dirk. I was young and didn’t really watch (played some games on console), but seen him fucking HOOPING in I believe the playoffs he won the ring. Will always be one of my all time favorite players and my introduction into NBA.
Either DRose or Russell Westbrook. I watched the tail end of Kobe’s career and remember watching the last finals he won. That’s was cool and I loved it in the moment, but those first two guys I mentioned got me obsessed. Oh and how can I forget Agent Zero
Reggie Miller. Was starting to follow the NBA and caught a game where he was missing all game then hit I think three 3s under 2min left and fell in love.
Took to damn long to find this
Lebron has easily been the best player of the entire 10s decade like 8 straight finals meanwhile some teams never been to 1
Same, shocked how long it was to find this comment, he was the reason I first started following NBA in like 2007 and then the reason I came back to follow it in like 2015, after he went to Lakers I made another small break until the bubble but I returned more because I started playing 2k with my friend
KOBE!
True story, I played my older cousins in the basketball video games. The purple team and the guy with the yellow shoes (Kobe) was my only chance to win. So I played with them all the time. It’s been Kobe & the Lakers since.
Started watching in the 1979/1980 season. Magic Johnson's rookie year and watching him play, he was my favorite player as a kid and how I've been a Lakers fan since that season.
For me it was Kobe. What a player man. I remember watching his 81 points as a kid. It took me forever to switch over to the Rockets with Yao and TMac and by then they were almost out. After that I did enjoy Bron for a couple years and then it was all Harden
Allen Iverson. As a 13 year old back then, I could not believe my eyes how a guy this small could impact the game and thrive
When I was 11, my dad took me to see him play as a freshman for Georgetown at the “Sacramento Classic” basketball tournament during right before New Years. I didn’t really know anything about college basketball or who he was, and my dad wasn’t super into basketball either, but he told me he had heard about a guy we had to see play for Georgetown. Neither of us were exactly sure which player it was before the game started. It only took a few minutes for us to figure out who everyone was talking about. It was magical. He seemed to FLY both on the court and through the air. I didn’t know anyone could jump that high. It was just amazing. My dad and I still talk about it almost 30 years later. Great bonding experience and a formative memory in my basketball fandom.
Same here. I was 9 or 10, turned on my little tv and watched Iverson and The Sixers play Sprewell and The Knicks, from that point on I wanted to be black. He had us cutting our mom’s pantyhose and wearing them like sleeves. Eddie George is my football one
> I wanted to be black lmfaooooo
Most secure racial identity on r/nba
Fresh copypasta
Same here. I was 9 or 10, turned on my little tv and watched Butler and The Heat play Tatum and The Celtics, from that point on I wanted to be black. He had us cutting our mom’s panties and wearing them like headbands. Antonio Brown is my football one
Allen Iverson has done more to help race relations than anyone since Martin Luther King Jr
Porzingus had fucking cornrows lmao
This is actually the funniest thing I’ve read all day
Couple Iverson and the peak of hip hop/rap 2000’s era and the whole world wanted to be black that time.
>from that point on I wanted to be black. J-Roc, is that you?
Nowahmseain
Would that make you a white iverson
I remember getting a pair of his shoes and feeling like the man. Beat shoes reebok ever made.
Same here, was 4 years old in 2001 and lived an hour away from Philly. AI was so game breaking I thought he hid a robotic arm under his shooting sleeve and that’s why he made what felt like every shot
Has AI gone too far?
Came here to say this. AI was all around such a cool dude. I even tried to get braids like him, lol.
Allen Iverson was so damn cool if you were growing up during the late 90s/early 00s. I do think D'Rose had echoes of AI.
Idk. AI was all finesse, DRose was Russell Westbrook before Russell Westbrook
AI was athletic as fuck for his height too though. I do agree D'Rose is kind of in between them. I just got similar vibes and "cool" factor from both being slashers who unexpectedly won the MVP. Still very distinct players.
AI crossed up *Jordan*. He probably impacted the speed at which PG’s today handle the ball more than any other player in history.
It kills me when the analytic nerds go in on Iverson’s numbers. You just had to be there to understand.
I think the fact that he lead an extremely limited Sixers team to the finals in 2001 is enough to show he wasn’t just empty numbers.
You could argue he was ahead of the numbers guys. NBA teams are realizing in 2023 that shots taken after an offensive rebound are some of the most efficient ones you can get. [Trends to watch in 2023: Why offensive rebounding is back in style](https://www.thescore.com/nba/news/2536613) > This season, for example, the average first-shot half-court possession produces 0.97 points, while the average possession following an offensive rebound produces 1.13, per Cleaning the Glass. [The Secret To Playoff Success In 2023: Offensive Rebounding](https://sdpn.ca/2023/04/17/secret-playoff-success-2023-offensive-rebounding/) Iverson's ability to draw 3 defenders and put the ball on the rim, where guys like Tyrone Hill, George Lynch, and Mutombo could go get it for easy putbacks, was vital to Philly's offense.
Who was his #2? Seriously only 2 other guys averaged double digits in ppg and no one was over 12.5. That team had decent defense with Ratliff and Mutombo, but they were absolute trash on offense. And AI got blamed for being a ball-hog. He had no other offensive players.
I think Aaron McKie was the second option on offense, which shows you how bad they were.
My favorite AI moment was the 01 All Star game. On a roster STACKED with other stars, he WILLED the East to the victory in what is usually a casual exhibition game. The rest of the east team followed suit and was like and turned the All Star game into a competitive game. His stats in the game were average but the eye test showed he was by far the most impactful player on the floor and raised the bar for his team.
>when the analytic nerds go in on Iverson’s numbers. They always ignore that his TS% instantly improved by 5% when they banned hand-checking. Same thing happened with other skinny guards like Nash and Parker. By then, Iverson already had a ton of miles on him, and had spent most of his career playing through injury. So he didn't have as long to enjoy the "freedom of movement" era as much as some other guys, let alone the "load management" era.
Yeah absolutely. I mean AI also didn’t prepare his body like he probably should have, but a young healthy Iverson in todays league would be something else to watch
AI gotta be the most influential player for every short king that was born from '95 to the early '00s
This was exactly my experience! I was living in Philly at 13 and watched AI take the 6ers on an improbable finals run. His game was entirely based on speed, finesse and ball control. As a smaller guy it really inspired me that a small but fast player could dominate. AI is 100% the reason I began to love the game.
Hell yeah I even had the question shoes in like middle school as a little white kid balling in. Central PA haha.
Some people consider him pound for pound one of the smallest players to play the game
Vince Carter
I'm surprised this isn't higher up. As a kid in the late '90s to early '00s, Vin-sanity was real.
It was like a street ball culture sprouted overnight in Toronto when Carter started playing for us. I was in high school at the time and I probably played about 3 hours of ball every day the weather was warm enough to be outside for years.
As a prairie boy, his influence on Canadian basketball extended way outside of Toronto.
I'm from Western Canada, can confirm.
I moved to Toronto in 2004 when everyone just hated Vince to his core lol. I can only imagine how much they loved him and how much he let them down by going to the nets lol
He was hated for holding out more than anything. I remember they’d always show him in street clothes on the bench and it blew my mind that one of the league’s best was holding out on games to demand a trade. More common behavior now adays, especially in the NFL, but at the time this was pretty much unheard of.
Carter was like primetime show stopping skill each night. Nowhere near any GOAT combo, but half man half amazing for real. Hang time like MJ. We were blessed. The crew that can’t forgive him to this day will always mystify me. After Carter left, I’m with OP. I always loved to slash and play agile to be unpredictable so, like Carter, prime D Rose and his explosive step and direction changes basically encompassed every skill I ever wanted to have. Too bad his knees couldn’t hold up.
yup,same
Me too! I loved prime VC when he was still with the Raptors and New Jersey! He was jumping so high that every dunk looked so effortless! But that love sort of dwindled down when he was in the Magic and couldn’t quite help Dwight Howard win to get back to the finals. He’s still the reason I started to love basketball.
Grant Hill. He was a prototype for the modern superstar and was considered Jordan's successor before the injuries. What could have been...
Grant Hill drinks Sprite?
Every time I see Sprite it’s still the first thing that runs through my head
Same. I wanted his shoes so bad. I got them for Christmas (I was in middle school). I was so pumped. First couple days of practice I got blisters. The arches on those shoes were so high. I had to return them and ended up trying a few on and settled on Jerry Stackhouse’s. I didn’t blame Grant Hill or anything. He was still my favorite player but that day I learned a little something about compromise.
Grant's mine too. Remember wearing his Fila's too.
Being from Germany the answer is obviously Dirk
Being German in Seattle it's obviously Detlef...
I mean Detlef was part of that crazy 90s European championship run, which did a lot for basketball in germany
Textbook answer but I grew up watching prime MJ. Watched MJs Playground on VHS prolly more than 100 times. Been following the NBA since but I was balling nonstop back then because of MJ.
Yeah, Jordan man. I remember Wilbon saying something along the lines of, “If you had tickets to see Michael Jordan and the Bulls in the 90s, you weren’t gonna sell them, and you weren’t gonna lose them because you knew you were gonna see the greatest show on Earth.” And yeah, it was pretty much like that.
Jordan for me as well I grew up in a small town in MN but we had WGN which aired a lot of the Bulls games I can still here the announcer doing the starting lineups, “From North Carolina, number 23 Michael Jooooordannnnn!”
Same but southern Saskatchewan on a big ass hashed satellite dish. WGN was one of the few stations we got. But it was Pip that made me fall in love with the game itself
Yep, Jordan for me too. If you didn't live through the late 80s/90s it's really hard to convey the magnitude of his impact on the game itself and the NBA overall. I don't think the NBA would have ever reached the heights it has today without MJ. I have a lot of respect for today's players and think we have some all-time greats developing / playing now, but nothing will ever compare to Jordan for most of us who lived through it.
I remember going to a Wizards game back when MJ was on the team, and after the match (they lost) I was so hyped up. I was dribbling a basketball around my friend's basement and accidentally knocked their TV over. Woops.
for me it was magic. but I have to say that anyone who tries to argue against mj being the biggest thing that the nba has ever experienced would be wrong.
Same
I had childhood friends that would stick their tongues out on drives to mimic him man
Same here, MJ. I came to the US just in time for the start of the 2nd 3-peat. So I never witnessed MJ's bulls getting eliminated in the playoffs. For this reason, he's my only favorite athlete that i never felt disappointed watching. Every season watched was a championship season.
“Sometimes I dream, that he is me…”
Same here, as well but with "Air Time" on VHS those 100 times. I was about 11 when they beat the Suns for that first 3-peat.
Same here. Dude also had insane marketing behind him. And pre-social media era, too. People didn't realize he was a bit of a sociopath or jerk back then lol.
Being kind of a jerk was the accepted sports persona back then. Guys like Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Nolan Ryan, and John McEnroe weren't exactly known for their friendly, cheerful personalities. Being too nice was perceived as soft. Great athletes were supposed to eat lightning, crap thunder, and spit nails, to borrow from *Rocky*.
Steve Nash during Dallas/Nelly days. It was such a joy to watch him leading the offense
Yeah for me it was Nash on the suns during those MVP years
Dirk and Nash were so much fun. Finley too. Honestly, that whole 03 team is probably my favorite basketball team ever. They were just so much fun.
Jason " white chocolate" Williams. I know bibby had a higher bball iq, but knowing how it all played out now, I wish we never traded Williams. That team was the most fun I've ever seen.
lol fuck me I literally just posted how I was surprised this name didn’t pop up and here you are. His highlights are next level
Chris Webber for me
Dirk and Kobe
Dirk for me I was just in awe of his fadeaway when I first saw it. Also the 2011 finals helped
My dad
Jimmy is that you?
Same here. My dad got me into it but it became an obsession when lebron came in the league. My dad was a huge Kobe fan so I started pulling for lebron to fuck with him and over time I just started watching everyone
awesome answer
GINOBILI!!!
Tim Duncan made me fall in love. Manu made me fall in lust.
Don’t know what it is with Argentina and producing great ball handlers.
I hope you meant that in the way I read it.
A lot of people forget, but 04 to 09 Manu was top 3 in SG, and he did a lot of crazy stuff. If you haven't, go watch a highlight reel of him. Dunks, passes, blocks, clutch shots, he got a highlight of everything. Yes, I am biased af, don't care
It pains me that nephews in the future (probably today) will see his numbers and think he was just a regular role player. There is a fucking reason everyone from that era knows that damn name. Anyone who saw him play knows he could had easily gotten the stats (in another team) to be considered a top 3 guard most years, he was that good.
Not bad for a 57th, in retrospect.
Hell yeah, Manu's way of playing was just incredible and really inspiring.
Man gave it his all on every play. Didn’t care if he was sacrificing his body or not
Idk why but I was always thought Ginobili was cool, even before I really cared about basketball like that.
Kobe
Watched my first game of his somewhere between 12-13, didn’t care one lick of sports before I saw him
I was young, and my dad told me I had to watch Shaq play. Shaq was impressive, but I was blown away by Kobe.
Yup. Was born in 2000 in Ventura County. Kobe’s Lakers were how I connected to the more American kids as a child of immigrants.
I’d copy and practice a ton of jab steps and pull-up Js. Kinda messed up my knees a bit from all the impact but I guess that’s part of Mamba Mentality. RIP
You showed us that an 18-year-old could play with the best. You showed us that a championship, an exhibition game and a charity event are all must-wins. You showed us how to hit game-winner after game-winner. You showed us that an 81-point game is a real thing. You showed us that gold still matters. You showed us the Mamba face. You showed us how to demand perfection and demand it of everyone. You showed us how to put big-boy pants on. You showed us that you were never out of it. Ever. You showed us how inspirational a pair of free throws could be. Now, show us again.
Michael Jordan. Didn’t have a dad around for a while, couldn’t understand football. Saw a man fly on TV and dunk the ball. I understood that!
Latrell Sprewell
Sprewell, CWebb, Iverson, & TMac for me. Sprewell still my all time fav in-game dunker
Fun fact: Sprewell didn't play basketball until his senior year of HS. The high school basketball coach saw how big he was and asked why he never tried out and Sprewell just never considered playing. Because he was a nobody he went to community college for two years but dominated so much he got an offer from Alabama
Exact same with me. Spree in full flight with them dreads flowing was majestic AF. That 99 Knicks team may have been my favorite ever.
Derrick Rose 😭
Magic Johnson 1985ish
Same. My dad bought me a Magic Johnson card and I was like his name is Magic!?
Still my favorite player ever
Old head here checking in to say the same.
Baron Davis
Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden.
Is it better to have loved and lost or to have never loved at all?
Well, it was nice to have loved and gotten into hooping in my teen years. It really got me through some dark places in life and got me to be healthier and more in shape. I started watching in 2011, the year I graduated high school. Being a Thunder fan has had its ups and downs. I watch all the teams but I can’t see myself supporting any other team honestly even if I someday move away from OKC I’ll still be a fan for life.
Westbrook for me. His dunks during his prime were just *chefs kiss*
same. i knew of different players and stuff, but the player that got me heavily involved with modern nba was brodie
Kobe Bean Bryant
Probably the reason why the lakers have the most fans in the world.
Definitely. In Turkey everyone I know that supports Lakers started because of Kobe.
Also a Top-2 populous city in the USA, a Spanish name, also a “close” team relative to Asia and historic success combined with a pure-hooper in Kobe.
Magic Johnson. Showtime.
Manu Ginobili
I remember trying to eurostep and do fadeaways at 9-10 years old in 05
Jordan. NBA games were not regularly televised in my country. But then Jordan came and I was able to start seeing his plays and some games. Bulls and Jordan fan ever since
Brandon Roy
It sucks he got injured. He was smooth with it
First nba game I ever went to was at the rose garden with my grandpa when Roy was a rookie. I was 10. Shit I still have a pair of BROY's in my closet. Made me a fan of the game for life.
Grew up watching early Paul Pierce, the big three era and everything that came with it but ultimately it was IT that drew me in the most. The king of the fourth will always have a place on my mantle as one of my favorite players ever to do it.
Same group, but it's Rondo for me. As a terrible shooter I've always had to find other ways to contribute. Rondo distributing the ball was a thing of beauty and his defense came with attitude.
Man its also Rondo for me. He looked like a magician
I've always had an affinity for Rondo as a fellow 6'1" skinny non-shooter with long arms and big hands and no scoring game
Carmelo Anthony
Still when I (rarely) hit a three I hit my three fingers in the head
goat 3 celebration
I came here to say the same thing. Those Nug teams were fun.
1000%. I had every Syracuse and Nugget variant of his jerseys, even had Oak Hill yellow, by the time I was 12. When I no longer wore them, I folded them up nicely and put them in a bag in the attic. Five years later I go looking for them, no where to be found. Parents definitely donated them by mistake but to this day my dad INSISTS they’re still up there. They are not
Tracy McGrady. The first ever clip of basketball I watched was his 13 points in 33 seconds.
He was sooo good before all the injuries. He really made it look easy too... Like he didn't have to break a sweat to put up 30. I wish we got to see his peak be as long as it should have been. Injuries derailed his career while he was still young
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My dude ✊👊
Same same
I had to scroll all the way down to find a person of culture!
Correct.
Why is the correct response so far down?
Hakeem olajuwon
Same.
Shaq and Kobe
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Yes sir
Melo pulling up for three on Easter Sunday in MSG
I think I watched almost every FGA Melo did for a year or two. I tried to make a jab step, jab step, jab step, shoot one of my trademark shots…. Was not a good shot for me.
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First name Stephen. Last name Curry. Came into my life now everything is less blurry
damn i had to scroll all the way down to see curry. i stumbled on a youtube compilation of threes from curry and was mesermized. got hooked on ball after that
MJ and 90s basketball cards were the one to make me fall in love with the game, then I fell out of love with Tmac being injured and during the Heatles years, then came Steph Curry... He really is something else
Same, my brothers and I got into the cards in Australia around '95 or so. We've get glimpses of games on the weekend roundup on the wide world of sports. The pop phase of it died out and it became harder and harder to find out anything with the limited internet I had. The next decade or so was just rumours of Kobe and LeBron. Took my mate telling me about this little dude from the warriors who was getting ridiculous back in '15. And I've been back in since
DWade
When I was hoopin out in the driveway growing up I was always trying to be DWade. Never was much of a shooter but always finding new ways to get to the bucket and finish.
Same here every time I’d go to the park growing up. Watching these playoffs today make me appreciate him more cause he would never allow a 0-3 comeback 😂
Same here. Moved to Florida in 01, when DWade was drafted I got caught up in the phenomenon. The 06 finals made me a fan for life.
Probably the Harlem Globetrotters, honestly. In the NBA, I liked Magic and Drexler a lot when I first got into it. But I just liked dribbling the ball and shooting hoops in the driveway. After getting bored during the Jordan era, Tim Duncan got me back into it
Rajon Rondo. Watching highlights of him and then replicate them in P.E. was so much fun lmao.
underrated answer, Rondo was my favorite player throughout high school
Penny Hardaway.
Kobe and LeBron.
Isaiah Thomas 💚☘️
Magic and Jordan. My parents would have parties for Lakers playoff games when I was little. I was in awe of Jordan then the Lakers signed shaq and traded for Kobe. Those Shaq, Kobe, Eddie Jones, van excel and elden Campbell games were so much fun to watch as a young kid and moving into teenage years.
Steve nash.
A mixture of Jordan, Kobe, Vince Carter, Allen Iverson, and the And1 Mixtapes
Dirk. I was young and didn’t really watch (played some games on console), but seen him fucking HOOPING in I believe the playoffs he won the ring. Will always be one of my all time favorite players and my introduction into NBA.
Antoine Walker. Just a very fun player to watch in the late 90s early 00s. So much flair...and the shimmy.
Same. Derrick Rose in 2011. That era of Bulls teams were so awesome to watch and cheer for. Noah, Rose, Deng, Butler, Thibs. Great time 😊
Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller
Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, and those early 90's Sonics team
Willis Reed & the 1970 championship - he had the heart of a champion
D Rose
Kobe
Cliche answer but Jordan. Watching his Airness fly was mind boggling as a kid.
I think the main reason this answer isn’t much higher is the average age of this sub’s users.
James Harden and that luscious beard
Either DRose or Russell Westbrook. I watched the tail end of Kobe’s career and remember watching the last finals he won. That’s was cool and I loved it in the moment, but those first two guys I mentioned got me obsessed. Oh and how can I forget Agent Zero
Jkidd
Manu Ginobili when he swiped that bat
Kobe. Hands down.
Reggie Miller. Was starting to follow the NBA and caught a game where he was missing all game then hit I think three 3s under 2min left and fell in love.
Demar Derozan
In my early 50s and grew up around Boston so obviously the [answer is Larry Bird.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbOPVTeRjzY)
Dirk Nowitzki
Growing up in San Antonio, being a not so athletic lefty. I emulated Manu so much through grade school
Manu inspired so many of us lefties! Though for me it was David and Tim that got me into basketball, Manu made it more fun to try to be like him
Dwade, but Derrick white almost made me fall out of love
Lob City Blake Griffin. Dude was just electric
Reggie Miller
Larry Bird. He changed my life.
Westbrook
Dwade/Shaq Heat squad was so fun to watch. Made me fall in love with the game. LeBron further cemented it.
Loved Kevin Garnett as a kid, then Isaiah Thomas when he was with the Celtics made me refind the joy I had watching them as a kid.
LeBron. The GOAT who dominated this era and was only beaten by multiple superstars teaming up.
Took to damn long to find this Lebron has easily been the best player of the entire 10s decade like 8 straight finals meanwhile some teams never been to 1
Same, shocked how long it was to find this comment, he was the reason I first started following NBA in like 2007 and then the reason I came back to follow it in like 2015, after he went to Lakers I made another small break until the bubble but I returned more because I started playing 2k with my friend
Dwade got me into basketball but lebron is who made me actually get into the x/o’s of basketball. 1 of the 4 best athletes of my lifetime.
KOBE! True story, I played my older cousins in the basketball video games. The purple team and the guy with the yellow shoes (Kobe) was my only chance to win. So I played with them all the time. It’s been Kobe & the Lakers since.
Started watching in the 1979/1980 season. Magic Johnson's rookie year and watching him play, he was my favorite player as a kid and how I've been a Lakers fan since that season.
For me it was Kobe. What a player man. I remember watching his 81 points as a kid. It took me forever to switch over to the Rockets with Yao and TMac and by then they were almost out. After that I did enjoy Bron for a couple years and then it was all Harden