Lakers News: How Ty Lue Feels About The Infamous Allen Iverson Step-Over

The then-LA reserve point guard weighs in.

Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue wasn't always one of the most revered sideline leaders in the game.

He was once a mere Los Angeles Lakers reserve point guard, getting stepped over by the league MVP in the heat of the 2001 NBA Finals.

Lue sat down with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson for their Showtime podcast All The Smoke recently to talk about both his career both as a player and later a title-winning head coach (with now-Laker LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers).

The conversation turned to perhaps his most infamous moment from his playing days, due in large part to being on basketball's brightest stage. Philadelphia 76ers point guard Allen Iverson, who had just been named the NBA MVP, was powering Philly to its lone win against LA in that series. The Answer scored a whopping 48 points in 52:57 to help the Sixers secure a 107-102 overtime Game 1 victory. During one of AI's many excellent scoring runs, he hit a solid shot and stepped over his defender Lue, how had fallen backwards while guarding Iverson. 

It would be Los Angeles' lone loss in the entire playoffs, as the team went 15-1 en route to its second straight title.

"At the moment, people make a big deal out of it like he crossed me over and I fell down and then he stepped over me," . He hit a contested shot and I stepped back and I fell. He stepped over [the] top of me. For me it wasn't even a big deal. Still to this day it's not a big deal, and you get kids [misconstruing the moment]. You weren't even born!"

"But it wasn't even a big deal to me," Lue reiterated. "I love AI. Even before the series, it's someone I idolized. He's two years older than me, but man the cornrows, [him being] from the hood, [he was] like my height, all the things... He changed our game... The culture of our game."

"He changed the game for us. Where we come from, that's huge for us, because a lot of times, as young Black men... I'm not comfortable wearing a suit. And if I get a suit, it might be a $200 suit, [so] Eddie Jones [is] laughing at me like, 'What you got on?' So [Iverson] changed the culture for us and made it okay to be an NBA player but also be who you are."

Iverson, too, also feels the moment has been wholly blown out of proportion, as he said while appearing on All The Smoke (which is recapped in this episode).

Are you following us on Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube yet? Join the conversation as we discuss the latest Lakers news and rumors with fans like you!