In 1996, the Philadelphia 76ers found themselves with the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft. With the Julius Erving-Moses Malone-Charles Barkley era firmly in the rearview mirror, it was time for a new chapter in Sixers history. That year, Philly found its next superstar: Allen Iverson.
Two decades later, Iverson is still tapped into Sixers culture. During the 2014 draft, Iverson says he saw the future. He was all aboard the Joel Embiid train, as the Sixers selected their current center at No. 3 after the Cavaliers took his Kansas teammate Andrew Wiggins and the Bucks chose Jabari Parker.
"I'm so happy," Iverson says. "When we drafted JoJo, basically, we kind of knew that the other two guys were gonna go one and two, and I was just telling everybody, I told coach, told all my friends and my family, I said, 'Even though he's hurt, that's the best talent in the draft.' I love the fact that I spread that around before we drafted him and now, you see what happened in his development and him getting better and him being out there on the basketball court. Now, I get to just tell everybody, 'I told you so,' and brag on it."
Embiid missed two full seasons due to injuries before playing 31 games as a rookie in 2016-17. This season, Embiid appeared in 63 games, averaging 22.9 points, 11.0 rebounds and 1.8 blocks. He made his first All-Star Game and started for Team Stephen.
Iverson recently talked about Embiid and the Sixers at a Thuzio discussion with NBC Sports Philadelphia's Marc Zumoff in Philadelphia.
The Sixers open their first postseason since 2012 by hosting the Heat on Saturday.
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