Carmelo Anthony Names 7 Players He Considers ‘Pure Hoopers’

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In the NBA, there are unfortunately plenty of players who treat basketball either as a job or a business.

They either don’t truly love the game, or they see it as merely a way to boost themselves as a brand and a means to make themselves into a one-man corporation.

But there are also plenty of men in the NBA who truly love the game and would play for free, especially on just about any court in the world.

According to former star Carmelo Anthony via Legion Hoops, these men are “pure hoopers,” and he identified himself, Allen Iverson, Tracy McGrady, J.R. Smith, Lou Williams, Jamal Crawford, and Kevin Durant as being that type of ballplayer.

Carmelo Anthony defines a ‘pure hooper’:

“You can put them anywhere in the world, any court, any ball, any basket and they’ll get to it… Allen Iverson is a pure hooper, Tracy McGrady, JR Smith, Lou Will, Jamal Crawford, KD and myself.”

(via @overtime, h/t @ClutchPoints) pic.twitter.com/xHighFGl0u

— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) August 25, 2023

Iverson was one of the better players of the 2000s, and his insistence on being true to himself and “keeping it real” made him a cult hero.

He was saddled with subpar supporting casts for most of his career, but in the 2000-01 season, he lifted an undermanned Philadelphia 76ers team to the NBA Finals, where they were surprisingly competitive with the dynastic Los Angeles Lakers before losing in five games.

Iverson also played nearly two seasons with Anthony in the late 2000s as a member of the Denver Nuggets, and Smith was also on that Nuggets team.

Crawford was one of the NBA’s most potent sixth men for many years, and McGrady was regarded as one of the game’s best in the early 2000s.

Of course, Durant is still one of the best in the world today, even at age 34.

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