22 Years After Getting Stepped Over by Allen Iverson, Nba Veteran Broke Silence on Controversial Stint

It’s all those memories in the NBA that put players in the books of basketball history. In this way, some specific moments stand for a whole period of time and surpass statistical data. For Tyronn Lue, the former NBA player and current Los Angeles Clippers coach, one such moment will forever connect him with the legendary Allen Iverson: the infamous “step over.”

In Game One of the 01 NBA Finals, Iverson hit the gravity-defying fadeaway over Tyronn Lue that left him sprawling on the floor. As if to mark his dominance over him, Iverson draped himself over Lue in a single frame that has come to be a part of thousands of memes later. That’s a piece of NBA history but the underlying truth is what has been brewing underneath for a long time.

Unraveling Lue’s Perspective

For more than two decades, fans have found humor and controversy in the step-over. Yet, in the candid discussion with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on the “All The Smoke” podcast, Tyronn Lue revealed that he does not worry about such a viral moment.

Lue simply shrugs his shoulder and laughs, saying, “People made a lot about it as if he stepped over me and he has crossed me over making me fall down and thereafter step over me. I stepped back and got knocked down, he made a contested shot and he stepped over me. Personally, it was not something that bothered me. That is the kind of thing you never forget.”

This remark is added by Lute’s laid-back attitude on the matter. In a broader context of his bright career, this sensational event loses its significance compared with bigger hits accomplished by Jordan on a basketball court.

Read More: Allen Iverson Sheds Light on The Backstory of His Famous Crossover Against Michael Jordan

Lue is an example of a player who has gone beyond such an incident, a moment that would be an enduring picture of his tenure elsewhere, but which testifies to Lue’s strength of will in concentrating on basketball.

Two hundred Words on Iverson’s Side of the Story.

Strangely, it’s not only Tyronn Lue that devalues this legendary moment. It is a mix of good and negative feelings for him concerning the step-over by Allen Iverson. In fact, while featuring on “All The Smoke,” Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes discussed Allie’s previous admission about this exact subject. Iverson claimed he hates when people keep pointing out that moment because it signifies a great defense by Lue during their series.

Iverson admitted that he had given him “so many problems”, revealing tensions in this intense competition. Indeed, such praise came from the league MVP player from that season who also described himself as one of the most unstoppable players in the league.

At the end of it all, it was the Los Angeles Lakers that won the 2001 NBA finals while dropping Iverson and the 76ers. In 2016, Lue became the coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers and won a third NBA championship ring as a player. Over the past two decades, his legacy has gone beyond that historic leap and grown into something very big.

WATCH THIS STORY: Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant & Other NBA Players That Forced The League to Change Rules

The step-over might be imprinted in the NBA annals but the legacies of those involved are defined by that journey, tenacity, and transformation. It is these stories about people behind those iconic moments that matter most in the world of basketball.