Tuesday, September 28th, 2010 at 4:52 pm  |  86 responses

The Killer Crossover

Allen Iverson’s greatest in-game crossovers.

by C. Vernon Coleman II / @Vernon_Coleman

It has stretched ankle tendons; felled future Hall of famers, been mentioned in numerous hip hop verses and (even if just for one timeless play) bested the best of the best. There is no denying that Allen Iverson’s signature crossover is one of the most revered devices in the modern era of the NBA.

Over the years, The Answer has been peerless in his pursuit of catching defenders slipping and has a figurative collection of severed ankle joints lining his trophy case. Iverson once said about his lightning quick handle, “I can look in [a defender’s] eyes and tell by the way his feet are moving if he is scared or not.” Frightened or valiant, no one was immune to catching The Crossover; from a tenured Reggie Miller to a fledgling Steve Nash and of course, 23.

The only antidote has been time. With no offers from any NBA team for the upcoming season and rumors swirling that he may hoop in China next year, chances are, that we’ve seen Bubbachuck dissect his last NBA foe.

Fear not. We have amassed a compilation of some of Iverson’s greatest in-game crossovers and, through extensive breakthrough research, have categorized seven variations of the famous move that made ankle braces a hot commodity in the League in the late ‘90s. Each category of crossover is different. All of them surgically precise and equally as effective. Because, believe it or not, it took practice to master these moves.

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  • http://slamonline.com Bryan Crawford

    Now, the comment section in THIS post should get VERY, VERY interesting…

  • thegggfunk

    Allen Iverson
    The name speaks for itself.

  • JTaylor21

    The two best ones are on MJ and T-Lue. The one vs MJ was just so evil bcuz he had MJ coming back for seconds like a buffet and the one vs the LA because it was like he stepped over a fake carbon copy of himself.

  • ManofGod131

    He just pulled it back on Lue…it wasn’t a crossover. Forget Kobe and LeBron and all these other guys. My favorite will always be AI.

  • unrel

    Antonio Daniels.

  • unrel

    ^imposter.. that’s not me.. but AI’s crossover was sick..

  • http://slamonline.com Ben Osborne

    Awesome. Thank you Vernon!

  • http://theurbangriot.com The Nupe

    Ring around the rosey! He was just dangerous where nobody wanted to have to guard him. His game was/is heavily speed dependent that now that he’s lost a few steps (def more than 1), he just can’t produce the way he use to. I stil hope somebody gives him another shot in the NBA, it won’t be the same watching clips of him torch second-tier players in China.

  • James

    the finley one is hilarious. its not even off the dribble its just a classic “help i’ve fallen and i cant get up” moment. just gives up and has a little nap afterwards.

  • slick ric

    Iverson used to be my favorite player, but that crossover on Jordan was so overrated.

  • http://slamonline.com Ben Osborne

    I’d forgotten the Tim Hardaway one. Poetic justice.

  • JTaylor21

    ^How in the HELL is that cross on MJ overrated? CHILD PLEASE he had him beat on the first cross but decided to come back with another just for the f*ck of it.

  • doppler

    good lookin’!

  • EJ

    He didn’t really cross Timmy, Timmy knows the crossover too well.

  • drdunkenstein

    I’m sorry but when he hesitates and cups that ball with the left hand before the cross, that is just a blatant carry/palm/travel… whatever you want to call it. Illegal in basketball. The refs should’ve cut that mess out a long time ago. Obvious carry, sorry folks.

  • rich

    that jordan crossover is so famous not only because he got jordan, but because it captivated the minds and skill sets of young ballers all over the world. go on any ball court and you will c someone do “i do one little to to see if hes leanin then i hit him again” that move changed the way the game is played

  • lexluther703

    Antonio Daniels got the business in the filthiest way possible.. AI will ALWAYS be my favorite, fcuk all these imposters. Dude was heart personified, left it on the floor every single night, and absolutely dragged that ’01 philly team to the finals single-handedly. There will never be another Answer.

  • str8 from samoa

    LEGEND.

  • http://dsfjklf.com Jukai

    Just awesome.

  • str8 from samoa

    most of these crossovers were on the laker players haha

  • C-Mac

    Best little man ever to play the game. There will never be another answer. AI will always be my favourite to play the game, because of him I grew up spending my days trying to cross my friends up.

  • http://Slamonline.com Bryan Crawford

    Tim actually played good D.

  • http://www.slamonline.com Pardeep

    I still want to know exactly how quick this guy was, too have defenders that scared of you beating em off the dribble I dont think there was a quicker player.. he shook Jordan and Kobe! two elite defenders of all-time. I wish AI was still in the league this year, if he got his knee right I still think he could do 20 and 6 a night in the right offense and give us a couple more of these crossovers. Dude will not be forgotten though.

  • http://www.slamonline.com Pardeep

    By the way I really hope SLAM does an Iverson issue… finally nice to see him getting some positive ink in SLAM the last couple of weeks.

  • French toast

    AI is simply the best !!!

  • Jarret

    @Pardeep: Trust me this guy was freakishly quick, I saw him in person… just look at the picture for this article his legs are so muscular and long , he was extremely lean and had no fat on his body he had really really good legs, a small butt which made him lighter then most players, the calves were big too. His feet were a nice size, dude was gifted he had a very nice body for basketball.

  • http://www.youtube.com/tripledouble Triple Double

    AI is the man.

  • C-Mac

    Lots of these are much more recent than I thought they would be. How can this guy still not get a team? Wouldn’t Denver think that signing AI help to convince Melo to stay?

  • aidee333

    no 1 can stop ai the greatest

  • http://slamonline.com The Black Rick Kamla

    lol had Steve Nash looking stupid

  • http://slamonline.com The Black Rick Kamla

    the cross on Terrell Brandon takes the cake, just the complete quintessence of the AI cross

  • http://slamonline.com The Black Rick Kamla

    of course everyone loves the Jordan cross but there was no reason in the world a 35 year old MJ should have been guarding a young Allen Iverson. Still beautiful to see him wrong-foot the greatest not once but twice

  • http://slamonline.com Yknot

    Yessir!! Jacque Vaughn got the bidness!

  • http://slamonline.com The Black Rick Kamla

    Everyone sees the flashy cross, but man few people could wet it from mid-range like young AI, folks try to act as if his game was built solely of flash but the cross was just the cherry on top- sweet sweet jumper.

  • http://slamonline.com The Black Rick Kamla

    ….an aside….that Rodney Stuckey cross on AI was like friggin watching Ali-Holmes or Tyson-Douglas…..even more appropriate, that cross was like watching Roy Jones Jr. getting knocked out by Glen Johnson lol, my boxing fans will feel me

  • http://slamonline.com The Black Rick Kamla

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAOBYemd1ek…..
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o0c8fXHp-4 as a fan of both RJJ and Allen Iverson since a whippersnapper, these two moments give me the exact same feeling in my gut lol

  • Jake

    By far my favorite move to do to people in high school,not even dunks made people cheer as loud as seeing someone get crossed up.

  • http://slamonline BossTerry

    Would like to see a clip of Tim Hardaway’s cross-over highlights..

  • Fat Lever

    I associate his career with my childhood. I remember trying to mimic some of his moves, like the Reebok commercial with the spin/behind the back move, under a street light, in front of my house on a late summer night. I didn’t have cable when I was a kid, so I would listen to Sixer games on the radio, envisioning AI destroying dudes. I can’t overstate this enough, and corny as it may sound, AI is forever, sometimes indirectly, tied to some of my best childhood memories.

  • unrel

    Kobe must have checked into a co motel after that cross

  • http://www.need4sheed.com Tarzan Cooper

    Seems as though I never get to do the fox-trot anymore

  • Blackphantom

    Man, I watched Iverson growing up. I was always a Lakers fan, but my favorite guard in the L other than Kobe was “The Answer”. No doubt. It sucks to see him without a ring, he deserves it so much. Future Hall Of Famer indeed

  • Airswade

    co-sign drdunkenstein

  • http://www.eric32woodyard.wordpress.com Eric Woodyard

    Watching this brings back so many memories! The league aint the same without AI!!

    He did Jacque Vaughn so wrong on that play too…lol

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    Great post.. Should make it into the SLAMonline HOF for posts. Thanks!

  • Slick Ric

    Now jacque vaughn, he got crossed up sumthin bad. He actually try to get up on Ivo like he was going to shut him down.

  • BBaller

    Not to take anything away from AI, he was a legend, but the ‘killer crossover’ was Tim Hardaways’ weapon of choice a few years before AI. I remember watching rising stars back in early 90s

  • Bobby

    AI was my favorite player as kid growing up. He will always be in my personal top 3 not best players but my fav. 3 players of all time.

  • BBaller

    Has anyone else seen that video, it had young players such as kenny anderson, tim hardaway,derrick coleman,larry johnson and others. Was that a one off or did they continue with that series. Sorry apart from the internet in Australia BBall is not very available to fans in regards to DVDS etc

  • JTaylor21

    Allen I’s crossover>>THardaway’s crossover.

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