I have made this video of AI vs Vince Carter the Toronto Raptors in 2001 NBA Playoff. Every single points of Iverson is included from Game 1 to Game 7.
Vince Carter versus Allen Iverson is the kind of marquee matchup the NBA has been craving since the days of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.
As two of the NBA's most exciting young stars, they are dazzling spectators and TV viewers with limitless creativity and breathtaking moves in the Toronto Raptors-Philadelphia 76ers playoff series.
"This matchup is great, and people are getting turned on to it," said NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik, who was at Philadelphia's First Union Center on Wednesday night, when Iverson scored 54 points to Carter's 28 in the 76ers' 97-92 victory. "For better or worse, fans like it when you get superstars going against each other. People have been hearing about these guys for years now, but they haven't gotten this far before where they met each other at this level. That gets people interested."
With the NBA's overall popularity declining and new rules designed to make the game more appealing set to take effect next season, an Iverson-Carter matchup is what the league really needed.
"Watching these two kids, I don't think our league is in any trouble," 76ers coach Larry Brown said. "They really are exciting."
Toronto coach Lenny Wilkens feels much the same way.
"I think you are going to see more great individual matchups as the young kids we have in this league develop," he said. "We are always rushing to fix this and fix that, but maybe there is not always something wrong. The young guys have to be able to grow and make some mistakes. Let them grow up and then see what they can do. In this series, you are seeing two of the best going at each other."
It is looking increasingly likely that Michael Jordan will end a three-year retirement next season and return to the NBA as a player. Carter and Iverson will be right there, eagerly awaiting that matchup.
"You always want to test yourself against the best, and I would welcome the challenge," Iverson said.
Said Carter of Jordan: "He set the standard we are all trying to reach."
Jordan, of course, owns six championship rings and 10 scoring titles, while Carter, 24, has won nothing more than a rookie of the year award and a slam-dunk title. But Carter is one of the league's most popular players among fans, the leading vote-getter for the past two NBA All-Star Games. Iverson, 25, won his second scoring title this season and is favored to win this season's most valuable player award, as well.
And while Iverson and Carter are going head to head, other young stars such as Milwaukee's Ray Allen, the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant, San Antonio's Tim Duncan, Dallas' Michael Finley and Dirk Nowitzki and Sacramento's Chris Webber and Peja Stojakovic also are still competing in the playoffs. In addition, the league's most improved player, Orlando's 21 year-old Tracy McGrady, was a major star of the first round even though his team lost.
"We try to promote the game and the teams and all the players," Granik said. "There are just certain players who capture people's imaginations. You can't deny that.
"We can't go out and create them. It just happens and they're doing it on the court. You can't make superstars, I don't care how good a promotion. It's what they do on the court, and here we have Iverson and Carter. They're doing it most nights on the floor. That's what people see and they love to watch it."
The personal similarities between Carter and Iverson are few other than both are mama's boys. Iverson's mother, Ann, attends almost all of her son's games while dressed in a 76ers jersey with "IVERSON'S MOM" emblazoned on it. Carter's mother, Michelle, prefers street clothes at games, but she publicly criticized Oakley when he dared to criticize her baby boy.
Though Iverson — with his corn-row hairstyle, multiple tattoos and rap albums — might appeal directly to the hip-hop generation, the more conservative Carter is Mr. Basketball in Canada. One of the Raptors' top priorities is keeping him with the franchise well beyond the 2001-02 season, when his contract expires. They have a window from Aug. 1 to Oct. 31 to re-sign him. If they don't, he will become a free agent after the 2001-02 season.
He and team officials prefer not to talk about the future just yet.
Meanwhile, he and Iverson downplay their personal rivalry.
Carter: "We try to do our thing as a team. I just try to fit in within the team concept and do what I need to do. I see what Allen is doing, but I'm not thinking about trying to outdo him personally."
Iverson: "I can't accomplish anything without my teammates. I know that, they know that and everybody knows that. Vince is a great player, but he needs his teammates just like I need mine. The things my teammates do to help us win are just as important as the things I do.
