Aaron McKie, now the head men's basketball coach at Temple University, played with Allen Iverson for seven seasons in Philadelphia.
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McKie sees similarities between Iverson and the Sixers' current superstar Joel Embiid.
"It's similar in a sense because both of those guys have star power and they embrace the fan base," McKie said on Friday's 94WIP Morning Show. "Now, during Allen's time, he was a little bit different because the NBA really didn't see a guy that dynamic, that small and that can be so dominate in the game of basketball. And now you got Joel Embiid, it's similar. You haven't seen a big man this dominant or play the way Joel plays—where he can be inside and be dominant, he can step outside, he can shoot the three, he can put it on the floor, he can go and make a play. So, in a sense, both of those guys in their eras were a little bit different, a little bit unique and that the fans embraced."
Embiid lit up the building on Thursday night tallying 33 points, 10 rebounds, and five blocks in a 116-95 Sixers win, giving them a 2-1 series lead. It is the first time the franchise had led a non-first-round playoff series since 2001, when Iverson, McKie, and the Sixers reached the NBA Finals.
"It's energy," McKie said of the importance of the crowd, something his team fed off of in '01.
"It's provides you energy, it provides you confidence, it forces you to play hard and when I sit out there and watch those guys play, when I watch them on TV, it looks like they're having fun."
Iverson attended Thursday night's win and after the game said the Sixers are "doing what I tried to do in my career but wasn't able to, is win a championship."
AI and DeSean are going nuts ---- pic.twitter.com/B5Oua0s0di
— SPORTSRADIO 94WIP (@SportsRadioWIP) May 3, 2019
