Why Is Luka Doncic the Next Face of the NBA? Allen Iverson Reveals the Reason Behind Bold Claim

With Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and LeBron James entering the final stages of their career, the question has always been, ‘Who is the next face of the league?’ It would be hard to choose from a pool of talented youngsters like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, Trae Young, etc. However, when Philadelphia 76ers legend Allen Iverson was questioned about the next face of the league, he had his reasons to choose Luka Doncic. What makes the Slovenian guard so special, according to AI? 

The 2001 MVP got his much-awaited statue at the Legends Walk outside the Wells Fargo Center in Philly today. Later, he joined ESPN’s NBA Today for a short interview. Former Boston Celtics center Kendrick Perkins asked Iverson about the next face of the league. “Luka is crazy man. The skill set is just ridiculous man. I mean Perk, man’s guy is scoring 70 man. It’s so wide open,” said A.I. 

The 4x Scoring Champion believes, “It’s hard to guard Luka one-on-one man. And his skills, it’s so crazy.” Iverson was quite impossible to guard during his time in the NBA. He sees something similar with Doncic in modern basketball. 

What’s noteworthy is that Iverson believes he sees himself in Doncic. The 76ers legend introduced a lot of streetball moves in the NBA. Some of the best defenders in the league had a tough time guarding him. We see that with Doncic now. Players are hardly able to get a stop on the Dallas Mavericks guard. On top of this, Iverson also made a surprising admission about Doncic on Rachel Nichol’s show. 

Allen Iverson x Luka Doncic: Philly legend’s desire

Iverson firmly believes he can average 43 points in the modern NBA. Doncic is averaging nearly 34 this season at the age of just twenty-five. Imagine if these two could team up. That was Iverson’s desire too. He was asked which modern superstar he wanted to share the court with. The 48-year-old shared, “One of today’s players, I would want it to be Luka…Because he’s a big point guard. I can still play the two. He can guard the two, I can guard the one. I think it’d just be deadly.”

Iverson also believes Doncic plays like a “black guy“. In Shaq’s podcast on YouTube, he said, “His style is kind of like a mix of streetball… I don’t want nobody to take this the wrong way but… The way he plays, he plays like a Black guy.” Considering all of the above quotes, it’s safe to say Iverson is a fan of Doncic.