After being threatened by Allen Iverson in Game 1 of the 2001 NBA Finals, Tyronn Lu feels no discomfort in the swirling taunts that surround him to this day.
Lou was the pathetic victim of Iverson’s historic night, handing the Los Angeles Lakers their first and only loss of the 2001 postseason. Amazingly, the Hall of Fame guard capped off the night with one of his greatest plays in NBA history. title series.
And the rest was history.
The iconic “step over” sequence orchestrated by Iverson continues to make noise to this day. But Lou is nothing to be ashamed of. Because it’s all normal and they’ve done their best to contain the former league MVP.
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via Kai Karlin of Sixers Wire:
“First of all, he’s just grown up, he’s two years older than me, but I still idolized him.” It was Jordan, it was AI, that’s someone I looked up to, six feet, braids, fast, so I don’t think I ever said it, but I respect him. I had the chance to face him in the finals and he started moving and stepped over, but it wasn’t a big deal.
He crossed me, I fell, and he shot, and he stepped. I fought and fell.I fell on his leg and I rolled my ankle a bit and fell.That’s one step!I’m like, ‘Okay, so that’s the AI. It’s my man, but like it’s not, he crossed me, I tumbled, tumbled, he shot it, straddled me. I mean, no, that’s what it is, but I think Doug Collins added a lot to that, too. Like, “Oh! He straddled him! We added extras to it and it went on and on, but you know, that’s what it is.”
The clown he received will continue to draw from Iverson’s actions more than 20 years later, but it doesn’t distract Lou, who enjoys being part of several snapshots of the NBA’s record books.
“If you play hard, you can get dunked, crossed over, and a lot more. And guess what? I’ll always be in NBA history. They’ll always do it.” I’ll show you, so I’ll always be relevant no matter what happens!”
It’s a really great play that deserves a portrait from a basketball fan’s point of view, but Lou deserves a lot of respect for not making that play a big deal.
Lou had the last laugh. Behind the leadership of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, the Lakers quickly turned around. They won four in a row on their way to winning back-to-back.
On the other hand, in the long run, Lou enjoys many unforgettable basketball experiences. Besides playing alongside O’Neal and Bryant, he shared the court with Michael Jordan for the Washington Wizards. You can always brag that you’ve recovered from the heat and won the title against the greatest regular season team of all time.
Ultimately, Lue went on to win and will forever be the content of the association’s most memorable moments.
