Allen Iverson.

I heard a rumor that Allen Iverson is thinking about calling it quits.   Iverson is one of my favorite players.  This is not surprising given the fact that Iverson himself said that he would rather retire than become a bench player.   Iverson was a superstar in the NBA for a long time but age has caught up to him and he does not want to be reduced to being a role player.   I understand his feelings about the issue but in life, there are tough decisions to be made.   I guess Iverson’s decision is to hang up his sneakers for good.

Allen Iverson as a 76er.

Iverson’s career has been on a sudden decline.   His glory years of playing basketball with the Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers is a distant memory. At that time he was on top of the world.   He led the league in scoring numerous times, he was selected to many All Star teams, he won a MVP Award, and he made it to a NBA Finals series against the Los Angeles Lakers.   With all these things going for him and all of his talent, the one thing that has held Iverson back was his ego.   Because of Iverson’s ego problem, Philadelphia was not able to attract any big name players to play with Iverson (An injured Chris Webber does not count).  So, Iverson was shipped to Denver.

Iverson with the Denver Nuggets.

By acquiring Allen Iverson, Denver felt that they finally had a player that could play with Carmelo Anthony and take the team to the next level.  Statistically, Iverson didn’t disappoint.   But, Iverson was not able to get the Nuggets over the hump, the Denver Nuggets were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs again.   Iverson’s second year in Denver mirrored is first year in Denver.  Once again Iverson’s ego got the best of him. As long as he was scoring over 20 points a game, Iverson seemed to be happy.   Denver decided to go in a different direction and they traded Iverson to the Detroit Pistons for Chauncey Billups.

Iverson as a Piston.

Detroit acquired Iverson for two reasons.   One, the Pistons believed that Iverson would revitalize the Piston’s stale and predictable offense.  Second, if Iverson didn’t work out for the team, the Pistons would receive large salary cap relief from his expiring contract.  To say the least, it didn’t work out.  Iverson never meshed well with the Pistons.   His skills proved to be diminished.  Iverson clearly was not the Iverson of old.   The Pistons decided to change up the starting lineup by bringing Iverson off of the bench.  This didn’t sit well with Iverson at all.   After only a couple of games of being a bench player, Iverson came down with a “sudden back injury” and never played another game for the Pistons.

Allen Iverson in a Grizzlies uni.

The following season, there were rumors circulating that the New York Knicks and the Miami Heat were interested in Iverson’s services.  Then the talks died down and Iverson ended up playing with the Memphis Grizzlies.   Iverson was injured at the beginning of the season and missed all of pre-season and a couple of regular season games for the Grizzlies.   When he returned, the coach decided that Iverson would be better suited for the team by coming off of the bench.  Iverson came off of the bench for two games and then took a mysterious “leave of absence” from the team.   Then weeks later, the Memphis Grizzlies released him.

Below are Allen Iverson’s career averages:

Now, I’m hearing that A.I. is retiring.  I guess being a bench player is really too much for him to handle.   Iverson has had a great career overall.  Does the last few years of Iverson’s career tarnish his legacy?   The answer in short, no. Iverson has had a career that many NBA players want but will never get.   His career averages of 27 points per game and 6.3 assists per game will cement him as a first ballot hall of famer.   He will be forever known as a guy who played hard and tough.  He would physically take a pounding on the court.  He is small in stature but he has a heart of a giant. I loved to watch him perform.  I just wish that his ego was a bit smaller.

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