Kenny Caraway doesn’t hand out Allen Iverson comparisons casually. On Sactown Sports’ The Drive Guys, the longtime Iverson admirer said he’s seen enough from Sacramento Kings rookie Darius Acuff Jr. to make an exception.
“I don’t say something like this lightly,” Caraway said, pointing back to Iverson’s 2000-01 Philadelphia 76ers season and noting that he collected roughly 70 games from that year on DVD.
Then he went straight at it: “Darius Acuff is Allen Iverson reincarnated.”
Caraway said Acuff’s game immediately took him back to watching Iverson at his peak. “I never think I’d see another AI,” he said. “But, no, man, this dude right here, we got Allen Iverson right here in Sacramento in the form of Darius Acuff Jr.”
He did offer one tweak to the comparison, saying Acuff “can shoot a little better than Allen Iverson” and from “a little more distance.”
The reason the conversation has traction is simple: Acuff has been putting together a huge start to his NBA career. The 19-year-old guard, drafted seventh overall by Sacramento in the 2026 NBA Draft after playing at Arkansas, was averaging 25.6 points per game through November 5th, good for ninth in the league. He was also leading all rookies with 7.0 assists per game and adding 3.9 rebounds.
His recent box scores only sharpen the case for the buzz. Acuff dropped 34 points and 14 assists against New Orleans, followed that with 38 points against Memphis while going nine-of-14 from downtown, then posted 25 points and six assists in Sacramento’s recent win over Dallas.
He kept it rolling Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Lakers, finishing with 22 points and 12 assists for another double-double.
Iverson’s résumé still stands on its own level. He was the NBA’s 2000-01 MVP, a four-time scoring champion, an 11-time All-Star and the 1997 Rookie of the Year. He also led Philadelphia to the 2001 NBA Finals.
Caraway’s comments are clearly about admiration, not a claim that Acuff is about to match everything Iverson accomplished. Still, for a 19-year-old rookie already scoring like one of the league’s best, the comparison has become hard to ignore.
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