NBA players short in height, tall in talent

Allen Iverson has always been a polarizing figure — at once one of the NBA's most popular and least popular players.

His detractors point to his pre-Georgetown University trouble with the law, his supposed selfishness on the court, his disdain of practice and his teams' relative lack of success among other reasons for their derision.

But for many others, Iverson is an inspiration. He's an averaged-sized man — downright tiny by NBA standards — who worked his way to becoming a scoring machine, perennial All-Star and one-time NBA MVP.

On the flawed 2004 USA Olympic basketball team, it seemed like Iverson was the only one who really wanted to win at times. That team only brought home the bronze from Athens, but it wasn't Iverson's fault. He'd been the U.S.'s best player.

Now Iverson is out of the NBA and a statement from him was released on Wednesday announcing his plans to retire — although many, including his old coach John Thompson at Georgetown, expect him to return.

Whether Iverson returns or not and whether you love or hate him, the plain truth is that he was an amazing basketball talent, especially considering his size, or lack thereof.

Iverson is listed at exactly 6 feet tall, but most feel like that's an exaggeration.

"He's one of the best when you talk about guys 6-foot and under in the game of basketball," said LeBron James this week of Iverson. "He played injured and he played hard every single night."

Iverson's personal resume is impressive. He was the 1996-97 Rookie of the Year. He won the NBA scoring title four times and the MVP honor for the 2000-01 season — the year he led the 76ers to the NBA Finals. His lifetime 27.1 points per game scoring average is the fifth-best all-time.

And A.I. is even smaller than Hall of Famers like John Stockton and Nate "Tiny" Archibald, who both stand 6-1, and the 6-2 Jerry West. While Steve Nash may seem small when you watch him play around NBA giants, he's actually listed at 6-3.

Iverson, indeed, may be the best NBA player ever under 6-feet tall.

Then again, there are very few men who are 5-foot-something who even make it in the league. Here's a list of the top 11 such players of the past 30 years or so in order of their total points scored:

CALVIN MURPHY