When I dropped the gauntlet and unleashed the 20 greatest crossovers in NBA history, there were a few essentials. Allen Iverson‘s embarrassing disrobing of Antonio Daniels was one of them. But you know what you forgot about over the years? Iverson’s move wasn’t the whole story.
On March 3, 2006, the Wizards and Sixers were battling for playoff seeding in the Eastern Conference. They had nearly identical records, with both teams coming into this game sporting 29 wins. Antonio Daniels didn’t start that night. In fact, he only started 17 games that year. Washington countered Philly’s small lineup (they seriously started Kevin Ollie and Iverson in the same backcourt) with an Arenas/Butler/Jamison/Jeffries/Haywood starting five.
Yet Daniels played nearly 30 minutes, and did have his ankles sent home with the ER after an unbelievable move by Iverson at the start of the fourth quarter. Despite immediately complaining, Daniels didn’t get embarrassed, he just got even. He dropped Iverson only minutes later on a pump fake. In the end, it was Iverson’s night — he had 47 points and 12 dimes while Daniels didn’t finish his retribution play with a bucket. But it’s a shame no one remembers Daniels doing something that’s rarer than a sober Amanda Bynes tweet.
Also, we can’t go without showing some love to the old Gilbert Arenas, who immediately followed up Iverson’s epic double move by coming down on the other end and dunking on the entire city of Philly. This whole sequence resulted in the best three minutes of highlights you’ll ever see.
Anyway, here’s a 38th birthday shoutout to the Answer. Damn, I’m getting old…
On the next page: Watch A.I. destroy Antonio Daniels’ ankles…
What’s your favorite Iverson moment?
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