Tyronn Lue: Guarding Allen Iverson ‘Gave Me A Career’
Tyronn Lue played 11 NBA seasons for seven different teams. He’s become a reputable NBA head coach with a championship ring on his resume. He hears about one play a…
Tyronn Lue played 11 NBA seasons for seven different teams. He's become a reputable NBA head coach with a championship ring on his resume.
He hears about one play a lot more often than any other though. The Los Angeles Clippers head coach actually remains grateful for his association with Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers.
Tyronn Lue Gets His Shot in the NBA Finals
Lue played only 15 regular-season games for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000-01. A 175-pound guard hadn’t carved his role on a loaded roster with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.
Fate fell in his favor when another undersized guard reached the NBA Finals and forced Phil Jackson to consider a favorable matchup more seriously. The Sixers defeated the Toronto Raptors, one of the top Eastern Conference contenders, in the second round. Lue considers how history might’ve unfolded differently if Iverson hadn’t advanced past the 6-foot-6 Vince Carter in the legendary superstar showdown.
“It gave me a career, actually. It couldn’t have happened any better. I tell people all the time: he (Iverson) can step over me 50 times… If Toronto would’ve made it to the Finals, then I probably wouldn’t have played in that series. I could’ve been out of the league because they had Alvin Williams and Vince Carter. They had big guards. My only opportunity to play in the Finals would’ve been with A.I. making it. It definitely was a blessing. Without that matchup, I probably wouldn’t have had as long of a career as I had.”
-Tyronn Lue
Lue had played over 10 minutes just twice in his 13 career playoff games entering the 2001 NBA Finals. He averaged 14.6 minutes in five games during the series. He drew the toughest assignment of any Lakers defender off the bench, and Iverson had his fair share of offensive success.
However, the Lakers soared past their infamous Game 1 loss for four straight victories over the underdog Sixers. They celebrated their second of three consecutive titles in the basement of the (then) First Union Center after a Game 5 victory.
The Iconic Allen Iverson Stepover
As the saying goes, there’s no such thing as bad publicity. The iconic Allen Iverson stepover in overtime of Game 1 in the 2001 NBA Finals will live in Philadelphia folklore forever. However, the notoriety might’ve actually helped Lue’s career more than one tough possession against the NBA MVP hurt it.
"To me, it (the stepover) wasn't a big deal until Doug Collins went crazy on air. I just turned around and (saw) that he made the shot. Then, Doug Collins (said) ‘He stepped over!’ He went crazy.”
-Tyronn Lue
Lue has coached in the NBA for 15 seasons. He led the Cleveland Cavaliers to a memorable victory in the 2016 NBA Finals, and he’s begun his 10th season as a head coach and sixth with the Clippers in 2025-26.
Mandatory Credit: Jeff Gross/ALLSPORTDecades of NBA experience have led him to a friendship that not many fans might’ve expected, however. Lue and Iverson have become close over the years. Iverson even admitted to Aaron Bracy on the Associated Press that he doesn’t love how his signature moment with the Sixers might create a negative perception for a head coach and former opponent that he respects so highly.
Lue laughed off the idea of any resentment toward his friend for the stepover celebration, however.
“It’s not a big deal to me. Like I said, we’ve become really good friends… Three years after that, we were probably still mad at each other, but after that, we became really good friends. It’s funny because we’re close in age, but I still idolized him coming up through college. When I got to the league, idolizing somebody that’s only two or three years older than you is kind of crazy, but I looked up to him. Having the opportunity to play against someone you idolized was a great moment for me.”
-Tyronn Lue
The Sixers have commemorated the 25th anniversary of the 2001 Eastern Conference champions with planned celebrations. They’ve brought out the early 2000s black jerseys, and tributes against the same opponents they defeated in a memorable playoff run will fire up the Philadelphia fans throughout 2025-26.
The same crowd will forever see Tyronn Lue in one context, despite the four ensuing Los Angeles victories that followed the Iverson stepover at the (then) Staples Center.
Lue and Iverson, however, have turned the memorable moment in NBA history into a truly unique bonding point in their friendship.
