NBA legend Allen Iverson appeared on Tuesday’s episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to discuss the league’s return to NBC, and he took some time to pay homage to Michael Jordan, who is now a guest analyst for the network’s basketball coverage.
Iverson praised Jordan as the reason why he was able to make a name for himself during his Hall of Fame career.
“NBC, growing up, all I wanted to do was watch Mike,” Iverson told Fallon. “That was my hero, he was my vision, he was the reason why everybody knows who Allen Iverson is today, because of him. Definitely.”
During his rookie season in 1996-97, Iverson famously led the lowly Philadelphia 76ers with 37 points in a close 108-104 loss against the 55-8 Chicago Bulls, and he memorably crossed over Jordan in the game.
Despite his star-making performance against the league’s GOAT, Iverson admitted that he was awed by Jordan’s presence, and he said he still gets giddy around him to this day.
“Before the game, I remember the first time I was just staring at him and just looking at him like, ‘That’s him.’ I was in awe, I think that was the first time I was really starstruck,” Iverson said. “But what I remember the most is, he didn’t look real to me, that was the first time I saw a human that didn’t look real. … I don’t know, I talked about it in my Hall of Fame speech, he had this aura, like this orange force field around him. … I saw his aura, he didn’t look real. And it’s like that now, it’s so embarrassing when I’m around him, because I’m still starstruck.”
