Allen Iverson reveals Shaquille O'Neal gave Sixers legend his worst injury ever in 2001 NBA Finals: "I was out like 2 months"

NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal boasts a freakishly unique physique that helped him dominate in his career. During his playing days, opposing players would often try and stay away from O'Neal to avoid getting hurt. There are only a few who challenged Shaq, and that includes former NBA star Allen Iverson.

Iverson was the superstar who changed the game with his exhilarating crossovers and also gave life to the Philadelphia 76ers during his prime. The guard led the league in scoring multiple times, and even challenged the duo of O'Neal and Kobe Bryant in the NBA Finals in 2001.

The Sixers matched up against the LA Lakers in the finals that year. Talent-wise, the Lakers were a far better team. But that didn't stop the Sixers from trying to get one win against the would-be champions.

Recently, Iverson appeared in "The Big Podcast with Shaq" and shared his experience playing against the 300-pound big man. The 11-time All-Star talked about trying to go down the lane when O'Neal challenged him and gave him the worst injury of his career.

"This dude right here, gave me the worst injury I had in my career," Iverson said. "I was coming down, full speed and you tried to get in front of me. You knee hit me in my thigh.

"I had a thigh bruise. I was out like two months from that injury."

To keep things light, O'Neal jokingly asked if Iverson applied IcyHot on his injury. Shaq's been known to promote the brand for quite a long time and doesn't miss a chance to bring it up whenever he can.

Despite the injury, however, the two have respected each other as they are also signed athletes by Reebok.

You might also be interested in reading this: WATCH: Leaked footage of Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley's NSFW squabbling behind the scenes on TNT

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Shaquille O'Neal made it to Iverson's all-time starting lineup

Every player in the league, past or present, has shared their all-time starting lineup. Iverson is no different. In his appearance in Shaquille O'Neal's podcast, he shared his all-time starting five.

"Steph [Curry], Kobe [Bryant], Mike [Jordan], LeBron [James], Diesel."

Adam Lefkoe, Shaq's co-host, brought up an interesting twist to Iverson's lineup. He told the Sixers legend that he has to put himself in the starting five, which means he had to drop a player from his list to make room. The 2000-01 MVP answered with this:

"Shaq," Iverson laughed.

His all-time starting five is respectable and is proof that he respects players from other eras. All the players on his list had the chance to go against him while he was in the NBA. Even Steph Curry, who was a rookie in Iverson's final year, had a showdown against the legend.