Sickest Crossover Ever: Tim Hardaway or Allen Iverson?

Hangin' out here checking out some hoop videos on youtube, and I run across a video of D-Wade choppin it up about the art of the crossover. Best believe, D-Wade has had some SICK crossovers in his career thus far, one of which sent Cleveland's Eric Snow straight to the hardwood (do yourself a favor and check it out...HILARIOUS!). D-Wade did pay homage to one of the greatest crossover killers of all time, stating that (in his opinion) Tim Hardaway had the sickest crossover ever. I can't say that he made any mention to Allen Iverson though. Lets take a glance at Tim Hardway and Allen Iverson's respective crossover repertoires for a sec...

Tim Hardaway's crossover was definitely a mover. I can remember finally getting a playstation and the first game my mom bought me was NBA Live 98, with Timmy on the front cover! Playing with the Heat was a must, and as much as I tried to emulate his real life killer crossover, it left me a bit unsettled having to come to terms with the fact that the game crossover was pretty generic, making Timmy just another short, ball headed black guy on the court. lol. It was fun pretending he wasn't though! haha.

In real life, it wasn't really the complexity of the move that made his crossover so amazing; it was moreso the shift in speed and direction midway though the crossover. I can picture him now, with a Golden State Warriors jersey on, dribbling midspeed down the court, defender in PERFECT defensive position...low to the ground. Timmy looks him in the eye, does a simple, HARMLESS, dribble between one leg (forcing the defender to that very direction). Then with a quickness you never thought possible, he dribbles the ball and thrusts his body into the opposite direction leaving some dumb big man to play help side, failing miserably in the act. hahahaha. That seemed to be the scenario eeeevery time. The guy was something special...if only he had never slipped up and made that daggon gay comment. lol.



Now Iverson's crossover was a little different, but still well documented and to some (most in my generation) his crossover is the greatest of all time. Iverson came into the league with a chip on his shoulder. He was that young guy who we knew was trouble, but he represented our generation so well that we enjoyed his antics because of the exciting player it made him. I mean, come on, who else would have went at Jordan the way Iverson did? No fear, maybe a little disrespect, always seeming like he had a point to prove. That was A.I., and that was why we loved the guy.

Iverson's crossover was not for the stiff, unathletic body. You had to be very loose (almost snake-like) and quick to tackle this move. The funniest thing about his crossover is the fact that, a lot of the time, the defender knew it was coming...and still couldnt do a thing about it. Like he cast a spell on them or something. Iverson would step back to the top of the key and be given an iso with just him and his defender. Staring the defender down, he would dribble the ball to his right, then (bending his knees) he would rock his body-BAMM-left,right,left finally deciding to go left, and taking the ball with him on that last dribble (defender...nowhere to be found). The pull up jumper or top of the backbard floater goes in all net and the crowd nearly has an athsma attack (i know i nearly did watching from home, lol). Sometimes he'd even play around with you on that first dribble just to see if you're wearing skates that day or not. If so, the next time around you'd be in trouble...ask Jordan!



Its hard for me to choose one, but a beautiful thing to be able to add both of these players' incredible moves into my package as a young ball player. They were great for the game, and at the same time a headache for defenders. Barely takes a genius to know that!