“He’d Use You…Take Advantage”: Coach Pop Joins NBA Legends and Kevin Durant to Render Wholesome Tributes to NBA’s Iceman

‘Iceman: A George Gervin Story’ started streaming on the NBA app from the 13th of December. With the excitement surrounding the release, both modern stars, former greats and even head coaches are heaping their praise on the 14-season veteran. Recently, the Slim Reaper, Kevin Durant and head coach Gregg Popovich also gave their flowers to the Basketball Hall of Famer.

Gervin was named among the top 75 players in the league in 2021. The recently shared clip is a wonderful reminder of the legacy of the NBA great. The big names of the NBA including Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan also came together to pay tribute to the former San Antonio Spurs star.

Gregg Popovich and Kevin Durant’s tribute to George Gervin

9x NBA All-Star George Gervin is one of the greats in the league. However, due to a career split between the ABA and the NBA, his statistical record can be easy to miss. Thankfully, forces from around the league are coming together to shed light on the “Iceman”.

In a recent clip shared by the official page of the NBA, we can see different professionals talk about the legacy of George Gervin. Coach Gregg Popovich shared, “He was graceful. He was smooth…He would use you, get you off balance, and then take advantage of you. He was the master of that.”

The 2014 NBA MVP, Kevin Durant was also present in the clip. Talking about the icon, he said, “I love the finger roll…When we really started to study Ice’s game, we see that he was way deeper and more diverse than just that… He could pretty much do it all.”

As KD touched on, Gervin was admired for popularizing the finger roll around the rim. But according to the Slim Reaper, the former forward’s bag was much deeper than that.

Both Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan are also featured in the clip. The Lakers legend revealed that during his college years, he had a poster of the legend, Gervin, from his Nike campaign in his college dorm room. Gervin was among the NBA players associated with Nike, and the iconic campaign had him posing atop a block of ice.

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He was one of the earliest players to sign a deal with Nike. The shooting prowess of the Iceman also received high praise from Clyde Drexler and Chicago Bulls legend, Michael Jordan.

Michael Jordan praised George Gervin’s shooting skills

Gervin had four scoring titles to his name. He also had a spot on the All-NBA First Team five times, notably surpassing Magic Johnson in 1982.

A few years later, in his 12th season, he would join the Chicago Bulls and play with a young Michael Jordan. Speaking about the star, Jordan shared, “You can play great defense on him and next thing you know he throws his finger roll he throws his hook. And you thought you played great defense you did play great defense but not good enough defense to stop George from scoring.”

MJ also warned that if he and a prime Gervin had paired up that they “would’ve created problems“. Have you seen the Iceman play? Do you agree with the Phoenix Suns star and Jordan? Let us know in the comments below.

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