On the day A.I. left the Grizzlies, I wrote this article http://bleacherreport.com/articles/286323-the-tragic-story-of-allen-iversonhow-media-and-nba-sabotaged-his-career detailing the chronological order of how the NBA (presumably from the order of the commissioner's office) and the media conspired to destroy Allen Iverson's career. If you don't believe me, the recent developments make it even more clear.

Since A.I. left the team after the Grizzlies-Lakers game in November 6th, 2009 after getting a paltry 21 minutes of playing time, an eerie situation occurred. In the 3 games A.I. played, he played 17, 27, and 21 minutes (an average of 22 minutes, less than half the game), shot 58% from the floor and averaged 4 free throw attempts. In that 3 games, Mike Conley, who is the worst starting point guard in the NBA and clearly belongs in the D-League, played a whooping 36 minutes, 29 minutes, and 26 minutes. It seemed like head coach Lionel Hollins either has a huge man-crush on Conley (which clearly isn't the case given recent developments) or is intentionally playing him more minutes than A.I. just to disrespect the man. It seems like he is almost scared to play Iverson more minutes than Conley, especially in that Warriors game. Why is he scared? Who wields such great power? There is only one man: NBA Commissioner David Stern.

More importantly, Conley played when the game was on the line instead of Iverson. Remember this is the guy who got outplayed by Kyle Lowry. Playing Conley during crunch time is especially obvious during the Memphis-Golden State game on November 4th, 2009 (the second game A.I. played). Conley was a horrible minus 17 that game in 29:43 of court time. He shot 3 out of 10. He ended up with 8 points 6 assists and 5 turnovers (a horrible ratio). Iverson, in 27:33 of court time, brought his team back by dishing out 7 assists with 4 turnovers. He shot 8 out of 12 with 18 points. He was only a minus 1 in a game when the Grizzlies ended up losing by 8 despite sharing the court most of the time with scrubs from the second unit such as DeMarre Carroll (35% shooting rookie) and Sam Young (2nd round rookie).

What did Hollins do when Iverson brought the team back to the game? He subbed in Conley for Iverson. What happened to all the talks of "it doesn't matter who start, it's all about who finishes"? Iverson didn't get back in until there was a few seconds left in the game. Needless to say, Conley already handed the game to the Warriors by then. Interestingly enough, the media from "rotoworld" has the audacity to post the headline "Conley plays well despite A.I.'s presence" http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/playerbreakingnews.asp?sport=NBA&id=1363&line=120622&spln=1

The details are even more hilarious. Mike Conley hit just 3-of-10 shots, but played 30 minutes to finish with eight points, six rebounds, six assists and a 3-pointer in Wednesday's loss.

Allen Iverson played 27 minutes tonight and looks like a serious threat to Conley's fantasy value. MC was fine tonight, except for the poor shooting, but AI could really cut into his minutes going forward. 

Only poor shooting? How about poor ballhandling/playmaking ability(assist-to-turnover ratio)? Horrible defense (evident by the minus 17). When was such a horrible performance considered as "played well" "fine except for poor shooting"? Gimme a fucking break.

What's extremely bizarre and kinda creeping me out is after Iverson left, Conley is spending a lot more time on the bench. If Hollins really wanted to give Conley, and I quote, "he deserves a chance to develop", why bench him especially now that A.I. is gone and there is no competent alternatives? The boxscore doesn't lie. Save for the first couple of games when the Grizzlies were shorthanded, Conley's minutes have drastically reduced. Coincidence? I think not.

In the November 11th game, Conley played only 17 minutes while backup Marcus Williams logged almost 31 minutes. Was Williams on fire? Hardly, he shot 3 out of 11 for 7 points and 7 assists.

Then Jamaal Tinsley, who hasn't played a game since February, 2008, was signed. Why sign one more point guard when you're committed to throwing the season away with Conley? Conley played only 15 minutes in the game in which Tinsley made his debut. The next game, Conley played only 24 minutes, then 30 the next, and then 25 minutes last night. He's also not logging minutes during crunch time.

After Conley started to spend more time on the bench, Grizzlies won 4 of 5. What's Hollins' juggling trying to achieve? The simple explanation is to try to make A.I. look bad. Now, the media can say the Grizzlies are better off without him, he is a loser, he is a cancer, he is a coach killer, whatever. But to the fans who are paying attention to the details, it is apparent that Conley is the problem, not A.I. The Grizzlies are improving by playing Marcus Williams/Jamaal Tinsley (who are nothing special) over Conley. But the average fans wouldn't know this subtle change in arrangement. All they see is that the Grizzlies are winning after Iverson went home. In a sense, it is deja vu from the Pistons situation last season with Conley playing the role of Joe Dumars' man-crush Rodney Stuckey. The continued occurrences of this pattern of allocating playing time points to the obvious: there are something more sinister in play. There are someone high up, someone above Hollins, Curry, Heisley, and Dumars who wants to destroy Allen Iverson: the man, his life, his legacy, his reputation, and his career.

Let's go back to last year. Iverson had the most efficient season of his career in 2008. He made 46% of his shots, 35% of his 3-pointers, attempted almost 10 free throws per game while putting up 26.4 points per game (led the team), 7.2 assists, and 2 steals. He led Denver to a then franchise record 50 wins despite Nene's tragic cancer diagnosis (he barely played that year). Carmelo Anthony also had his best season shooting wise, making almost 50% of his shots and made a conscious effort to crash the boards by averaging a career high 7.4 rebounds. Unfortunately, this team has no low post scorer. K-Mart, fresh off microfracture surgery from the season before, was running on one leg and was pretty much only scored through alley-oops and putbacks and was a one-dimensional shot blocker. (Melo grabbed more boards than K-Mart.) Marcus Camby had to clean the glass. His shot blocking and rebounding numbers are greatly inflated by Denver's poor overall defense and the lack of competent big men who can rebound. Unlike the 2008-2009 season with Billups at the helm, they had no role players, defensive specialists, and glue guys in the forms of Chris "Birdman" Andersen, Dahntay Jones (Arron Affalo this season), and Renaldo Balkman. Primary bench guys such as Linas Kleiza and J.R. Smith had all the scoring potential in the world, but they couldn't care less about defense (in Smith's case, he didn't care about anything besides scoring. Check his stats from that season if you don't believe me.) The best glue guys they had was Anthony Carter, who was starting with A.I. at the backcourt. (He is still starting with Billups this season till he got injured and Affalo stepped in.)

As for Camby, he can block shots coming from the weak side but can be attacked with profit in straight-up defensive situations. He’s also shot-happy (despite having no low-post moves), rarely grabs his rebounds in heavy and hostile traffic and is a terrible passer. And the fact that during his 13-year career the combined record of the teams he’s played for is a dismal 459-573 suggests that Camby is a loser, which makes the Nuggets 50-32 record that year that much more impressive. The only reason he won the 2006-2007 season defensive player of the year was his inflated shot blocking and rebounding numbers. Nene is definitely an upgrade in terms of overall defensive ability.

Despite a very respectable record in a very deep West, the Nuggets were the 8th seed. They had to face the Los Angeles Lakers, a complete team with the greatest coach in the history of the NBA in Phil Jackson and one of the defining superstars of the generation in Kobe Bryant. An all-star big man who can score in the low post consistently and rebound in all-star Pau Gasol. (freshly acquired from the Grizzlies for Kwame Brown during the trade deadline despite better offers from other teams. This has David Stern written all over it especially after Bynum's season ending injury and the Lakers second half collapse the season before. A move was deemed necessary to return Los Angeles back to the limelight and to make Kobe Bryant a marketable commodity again as a winner and an annual championship contender.) A versatile borderline all-star in Lamar Odom, who played power forward (due to Andrew Bynum's injury). Odom could crash the boards better than everyone on the Nuggets team and could also do some ballhandling (point forward) that aided the triangle offense.

It was billed as a Iverson vs. Bryant matchup, arguably the two defining high-scoring guards of the generation. The series wasn't even close as Camby and K-Mart struggled to score or contain Gasol and Odom. This gave A.I. and Melo a hard time to keep the score close. It was tough to win games when 3 out of the 5 starters can't score (ie. K-Mart, Camby, and Anthony Carter.) J.R. Smith and Linas Kleiza (who replaced Carter in the starting lineup later in the series) also had to pick up the scoring slack and log heavy minutes, which created a bunch of defensive mismatches that benefited the Lakers. Iverson did his part by averaging 24.5 points per game during the series, but the lack of offense and defense from the big men proved to be too much to overcome. Melo and A.I., who had to shoulder all the scoring slack from the team, appeared to run outta gas after the first 2 games.

After the disastrous sweep, Iverson got all the blame from the media. The owner was unhappy to pay the luxury tax. Camby was traded to the Clippers for nothing, which essentially meant the team was gambling on Nene being healthy. K-Mart's contract was  untradeable. There was some trade rumors that involved Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson during the offseason and several packages were contemplated. Despite budget constraint, the Nuggets were able to add a few pieces such as Chris Andersen, Dahntay Jones, and Renaldo Balkman for very little cost. These savvy moves, along with the return of Nene, proved to be the difference in the following season. Unfortunately, A.I. was no longer with the team.

Iverson was traded for Chauncey Billups after appearing in 3 games for the Nuggets in November 2008. For the Pistons, it was obvious from the start that they had no intention of resigning Iverson, whose contract was going to expire at the conclusion of the 2008-2009 season. The other complication was that it seemed that Joe Dumars trade for Iverson was not only to clear cap room, but to clear the starting point guard spot for his man-crush Rodney Stuckey. Why do I call Stuckey his man-crush? Following the Pistons loss to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Final in 2008, Dumars declared that he was ready to dismantle his team and that everybody, except then-rookie Rodney Stuckey, was available. From then on, the trade of Chauncey Billups was inevitable since Dumars sees Stuckey as a point guard (not a 2-guard) and the future of the franchise. Why did Michael Curry refuse to bench Stuckey later on despite Stuckey's counterproductive play? Because first year coach Curry was nothing more than a yes-man and figurehead to Joe Dumars. Dumars let Curry played the bad, manipulative liar to the players throughout the season to fulfill his obsession with building the team around Stuckey. If Curry wasn't a yes-man, why wasn't he fired right after the season ended? Dumars didn't fire Curry until well into the offseason after proclaiming in multiple instances that Curry was safe. He only fired Curry to cover his own ass, so he can blame all the problems on Curry and A.I.  (to a lesser extent, Rasheed Wallace).

The clash in organizational philosophy and style between Iverson and the Pistons made this union seemed like a poor fit from the get-go. It was bizarre to see a workmanlike, team-oriented team with a severe lack of individuality and marketability such as the Jazz, the Pistons, the Spurs, and the Trail Blazers to acquire a high scoring, larger-than-life, generation-defining superstar.

One other issue that was frequently overlooked was that Billups' backcourt mate and best friend on the team, Rip Hamilton, signed an extension with the Pistons a few hours before Billups was traded. Rip felt betrayed and said on record that he probably wouldn't have signed the extension if he knew Billups would be gone.

Despite all these issues, A.I. made an effort to make this union work. On November 7th, 2008, Iverson made his debut for the Pistons against the New Jersey Nets. Iverson scored 24 points and 6 assists while making 6 of 12 shots and attempted 13 free throws as he relentlessly drives to draw fouls. Unfortunately, his teammates let him down as the Pistons shot 37% as a team.

As the Pistons began to restrict A.I.'s freedom to draw fouls and drive into the lane, A.I. tried to blend in, take less shots, and play teamball. As the team tried to mesh, they were a bit inconsistent, but they did show promise by beating the Cavaliers on November 19th, 2008 (Iverson led the way with 23 points, making 8 of 16 shots) and the Spurs on December 2nd, 2008 (Iverson led the team with 19 points, 6 assists, and 4 steals in a defensive struggle.)

On December 9th 2008, a disaster occurred when Joe Dumars' man-crush Rodney Stuckey was thrust into the starting lineup as the starting point guard with A.I. moving to the 2, Rip moving to small forward, Tayshaun Prince to power forward, and Rasheed Wallace at center. The move made the Pistons extremely undersized. In the same game, Antonio McDyess returned from injury. The logical choice would be to put McDyess in the lineup instead of the struggling Kwame Brown. Instead, Stuckey's promotion made the lineup extremely undersized and a defensive mismatch at almost every single position. The goal for the season became obvious: tank the season and sabotage A.I.'s career (due to his impending free agency). Needless to say, the Pistons lost to the Wizards, then one of the worst teams in the league, with their new lineup.

On December 23rd, 2008, in a game against the Bulls, Iverson was playing with a groin strain. He missed the second half and scored only 5 points (he came back strong the next game, hitting the buzzer beater). Unfortunately, Stuckey scored 40 points (taking 24 shots in the process). It was a fluke no doubt. He went back to his usual, sucky self the next game. Most NBA caliber players are capable of going off for 40 on a random night. Linas Kleiza scored 41 filling in for Carmelo Anthony. J.R. Smith did it coming off the bench. However, the Pistons later cited this game as justification that Stuckey should never be taken out of the starting 5.

During the very next game, Iverson came back strong (9 of 17 including hitting the buzzer beater), but the real impact was that Rip came down with an injury. The timing of the injury meant Stuckey didn't have to worry about moving back to the bench in the immediate future. It also gave the Pistons the excuse to make this an A.I. Vs. Rip debate after Rip's recovery.

Around the same time, Sheed also missed 4 games in early January due to injuries while Iverson tried to mesh with the players around him in a team-oriented philosophy. Despite all the injuries to major contributors (which didn't help Iverson mesh with his new teammates), the Pistons peaked at 22 and 12 (including a win against the Magic on December 29th and the Nuggets on January 9th, 2009 both without Rip) with A.I. playing teamball with his new teammates.

Hamilton's return on January 13th, 2009 spelled recipe for disaster. The 3-guard starting lineup didn't work well before Rip was injured and created all sorts of defensive mismatches. The logical solution was to bench Stuckey, whose play had cooled down and start Rip along with A.I., Tayshaun Prince, Sheed, and McDyess.

Needless to say, the Pistons quickly began to fade when Rip came back, immediately dropping 5 straights. Stuckey was shooting at a low percentage and wasn't drawing any foul. Iverson wasn't getting a chance to handle the ball, resulting in a lack of dribble penetration, free throw attempts, and assists total. (Stuckey, not a natural point guard, was given the role. He posted some ugly assists-turnovers ratios.)

After snapping the losing streak behind A.I.'s 27 points on January 19th, the 3-guard starting lineup experiment was mercifully put to an end. Unfortunately, it wasn't Stuckey who was benched, but longtime Piston, world champion Rip Hamilton. In their subsequent game against the Raptors, Rip came off the bench for the first time since February, 2002 when he was with the Wizards during the 1st season of Michael Jordan's comeback. Hamilton, already feeling betrayed about the way the Pistons handled his extension in relation to the Billups trade, understandably became a malcontent after logging only 21 minutes (Stuckey got 36 minutes). It was also made known recently by both Rip and A.I. that Curry lied to Rip and A.I. to their face around this time. A.I. and Rip combined to take only 18 shots while Stuckey hoisted up 15 himself. There was a feeling after Rip's benching among his longtime teammates, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace, etc, that no one was safe from Dumars' purge. They began to distrust Curry and eventually quit on the team.

Rip's response to his benching in the following games was to take as many shots as possible when he was on the court. In direct violation to the Pistons' team-oriented culture, Rip frequently took close to 15 shots off the bench less than 30 minutes of action. The lack of ball movement, anger from the veterans, and chemistry problems meant that the Pistons continued their downward spiral.

February, 2009 was a brutal month. In the 11 games from the start of February to February 25th, Stuckey's scoring numbers were 6 points (2 out of 9 field goal), 18 (8 of 15), 6 (1 of 10), 8 (4 of 8), 16 (6 of 16), 12 (5 of 11), 3 (1 of 6), 2 (1 of 3), 8 (3 of 9), 8 (3 of 6), and 6 (2 of 8). His struggle led to an 8 game slide that doomed Allen Iverson's marquee free agent value. The assists number and the assists-to-turnovers ratio were horrible too. Simply put, the incompetent play, the level of futility for such a long stretch is unheard of for a starter in the NBA, much less a playoff team and a supposed contender. The fact that Stuckey wasn't benched midway through the month was an insult to the fans who bought the tickets to these games.

In the meantime, Iverson, possibly realizing that his sacrifice wasn't worth it as the losses started to pile up, began to assert himself a bit more like the old A.I. instead of letting Stuckey effing the team up. On the other hand, Rip, in a 3 game stretch from Feb. 8th to the 11th, scored 38, 27, and 30 points off the bench by being a total ballhog. His strong performance, combined with Stuckey's disgraceful play, ought to warrant a return to the starting lineup. Stuckey was clearly an inferior floor general to Allen Iverson or even Rip Hamilton, who never played point guard in his life. The final straw came on February 11th, when A.I. missed the game. Instead of starting Rip, Curry started Arron Affalo. The anger of Rip and veterans such as Tayshaun Prince and Rasheed Wallace is completely understandable given what they did for this franchise all these years such as taking paycuts, playing selfless teamball, sacrificing for the team, playing injured.

The frustration was on full display on February 25th, 2009 against the Hornets. The Pistons came in losing 7 straight and falling below .500. The main reason clearly Stuckey's historically-bad play as noted above. In this game, A.I. aggravated his back strain and left after 8 minutes. Rasheed Wallace was ejected. Rip, continuing to unleash his anger at his benching, attempted 24 shots. Stuckey scored 6 points, shot 2 of 8 and fouled out in 33 minutes. The Pistons lost again and fell to 27-29. That is the LAST game A.I. started in the NBA as of now.

Without A.I., the Pistons didn't play any better. On March 9th, 2009, Rasheed Wallace was injured and went home as well. Hamilton also missed time in March due to injuries, but returned to the starting lineup when he was healthy. He seemed to be determined to make up for lost time after he reentered the starting lineup by frequently attempting more than 20 shots per game, sometimes 25 times to 30 times. He also dominated the ball like a point guard and posted some ridiculous assist and turnover numbers in the process.

Iverson came back after missing 16 games on March 29th...off the bench. He didn't get his starting role back despite the team not playing any better with other guys as starters. He seemed upbeat during the press conference. What made his situation even worse was the emergence of Will Bynum was eating into everybody's minute. The fact of the matter was that Bynum should had started ahead of Stuckey when A.I. was out. He was clearly the 3rd best guard behind A.I. and Rip. Stuckey shouldn't even be in the discussion after his epic February and below average numbers across the board.

The April 1st, 2009 showdown between the Pistons and the Cavs had an eerie resemblance to the Warriors-Grizzlies game on November 4th, 2009. Iverson played well in 18 minutes in his second game back from an injury by scoring 11 points (5 of 8, plus 1), but was pulled during crunch time in favor of Stuckey, who had a horrible game (3 of 14, 6 points, minus 9). A.I. languished on the bench as Stuckey and others gave the game away. Iverson openly expressed his displeasure with his lack of playing time. After playing one more game off the bench in which he received even less playing time, Iverson left the team.

The parallel with the November 4th, 2009 game between Iverson's Grizzlies and the Warriors is eerily similar to the point that you almost felt like the formula was scripted to piss Iverson off. Iverson played very well in 27:33 minutes in his second game back from an injury by scoring 18 points and 7 assists (8 of 12, minus 1), but was pulled during crunch time in favor of Mike Conley, who had a horrible game 8 points (3 of 10, minus 17, 5 turnovers). A.I. languished on the bench as Conley and others gave the game away. Iverson openly expressed his displeasure with his lack of playing time. After playing one more game off the bench in which he received even less playing time, Iverson left the team. He wants to win bad and it hurts him even more to see his incompetent teammates give the game away as he sits on the bench.

Wanna know how the teams turned out after Iverson left? The Sixers fell off the face of the earth. Andre Iguodala proved to be incapable as a go-to guy. Elton Brand is an overpaid bust. Andre Miller kept the team together, but wasn't resigned. This team seems to be on a never-ending cycle of rebuilding.

The Nuggets won only 4 more games without Iverson than the year before, finishing with 54 wins. (They finished 54-28 in 2009 with Billups. 50-32 in 2008 with Iverson.) Miraculously, their seeding jumped from #8 to #2. In 2008, 5 teams in the West won more than 55 games and one more won 54, so they hypothetically would be #6 or #7 seed with that record if they were in 2008. That is not a great improvement. The fact that they finished as the #2 seed with homecourt advantage in the first 2 rounds and easy opponent shows that the Western Conference got weaker. In the end, they lost to the same Lakers team. Carmelo Anthony also regressed across the board playing with Billups. He had a horrible year, but the media suddenly really warmed up to him just to shove it to Iverson. As much as you want to credit Billups for their turnaround, how about looking at Nene, who wasn't a factor the season before and an upgrade both offensively and defensively over the departed Marcus Camby, Chris "Birman" Andersen, one of the best shotblockers and hustle players in the league (he more than replaced Camby's shot blocking prowess), Dahntay Jones, who provided hard-nosed defense, and Renaldo Balkman? The notion that so-called analysts and experts were saying how Iverson was expendable due to the presence of J.R. Smith showed that these guys were completely clueless. Smith was almost exclusively a 6th man last season with defensive specialist Dahntay Jones/Anthony Carter starting the majority of the games at shooting guard.

The Pistons spent all their precious cap room on one-dimensional, defenseless role players Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva during the offseason. Rasheed Wallace is gone. Joe Dumars took his time in the offseason until he was eventually forced to fire his yes-man Michael Curry. Words is that Curry lost the trust of the entire team. The team's remaining mainstay: Rip, Tayshaun Prince, Jason Maxiell refused to play for Curry for another season and they forced Dumars' hands. It wasn't until then that Dumars was forced to cut ties with Curry, who did the dirty work to make Dumars' fantasy of building the team around Stuckey come true.

Right now, they're sitting pretty at 5-9 (the same record as the Grizzlies) and last place in the Central Division. Yes, behind Milwaukee and Indiana and with worse record than Philly, LA Clippers, Sacramento, and Oklahoma City. The only reason they are not one of the worst teams in the league is because Will Bynum is playing out of his mind right now and Ben Wallace is flashing some vintage form. Yet, Dumars still refused to make the 26 year old undrafted college star who led Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets all the way to the NCAA final his starting point guard even though he is entering his prime and he is better than Rodney Stuckey ever will be. As for Dumars' fantasy boyfriend Stuckey, he is shooting 38% from the floor and it's not like he's popping a lot of threes either. He's shooting an amazing 21% from 3 point range. Last time I checked, Chauncey Billups is a very good 3 point shooter. Stuckey is a ballhog who isn't very efficient and hardly draws foul. His 16 shot attempts per game results in only 16.5 points per game. As a point guard, he averages 4 assists with 2.4 turnovers. LOL Kyle Lowry averages more assists than him. Lowry is a better point guard than Stuckey and Lowry is a backup. To put that in perspective, former Slam Dunk Champ Josh Smith averages more assists than he does. Big men like Lamar Odom, Boris Diaw, young guys (less NBA experience than Stuckey) such as Russell Westbrook, Brandon Jennings, Tyreke Evans, Aaron Brooks, Derrick Rose, "Mike Conley", Stephen Curry, and Mario Chalmers are posting better assist #'s. Well-known volume shooters Monta Ellis, Stephen Jackson, Mo Williams, Lou Williams are showing better playmaking skills. Hell, even backups like Kirk Hinrich, his own teammate Will Bynum, "White Chocolate" Jason Williams (who took a year off and is only starting recently due to Jameer Nelson's injury), and get this, Ron Artest, are more effective point. Yup Joe, isn't this your dream come true?

As for Memphis, I already mentioned in the beginning. Conley immediately got benched after Iverson left in anger and disgust. Who is behind this? Who controls the refs, enjoys personal relationships with the analysts/media, general managers, sports agents, and owners? Who is the ultimate insider? Who is capable of pulling this off to destroy a man's career and legacy? The answer: DAVID STERN.

David Stern hates Allen Iverson. He hates the fact that young fans adore and idolize him. He hates the neck tattoos. He hates the cornrows. He hates the blings, the throwback jersey, the oversized t-shirt, the baggy jeans, and the Timberland boots. He hates how Iverson connected basketball and hip-hop, the do-rags, the clubbing, the entourage, the lambo, the thug life, the highrolla lifestyle, the rags to riches story, the rap album, the fearless little man who redefines the role of an undersized guard, and the money, cash, and hos. He hates the fact that A.I. has one of the biggest fanbase and is one of the most marketable superstars in the NBA. He hates the fact that he got voted into the all-star game for 10 consecutive years. The dress code, the mandatory shorts length, the lack of urban/hip-hop/r&b oriented themes during all-star weekends and the finals after 2004 (The one in 2004 with Outkast during players introduction and Beyonce performing "Naughty Girl" live was the last entertaining one. It happened a week after the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake wardrobe malfunction during Super Bowl halftime show.), and outlawing the display of emotion/hanging on the rim after a thunderous dunks are all attempts to stick it to Allen Iverson and younger players who idolize him. He's attempting to make the NBA look like the NFL: a bunch of guys with no individuality with their masks on. They can't even choose their own jersey number. Fans are more likely to remember them by their #'s than their names.

I know Stern will never admit this. Hell, he even made a hypocritical remark after A.I. signed with the Grizz stating how the Grizzlies are lucky to have Allen Iverson. But would anyone be surprised if he is behind this? I mean, after what we see this decade and in Tim Donaghy tell-all memoir, what is he not capable of? He conspired with the refs (most notably Dick Bavetta) and robbed the Kings a championship just because the City of Angels is a big market. In the '80s, he created and cheated on the draft lottery so New York could had Patrick Ewing. He manufactured a superstar in LeBron James after MJ's last retirement to fill his void even though the two plays different positions because the last thing he wanted was for Allen Iverson to become the face of the league. (Kobe Bryant had his rape trial at the time, so he wasn't a legit option either.) The kid was crowned "king" James before he even played an NBA game. He let his personal grudge against Mark Cuban get the best of him and robbed the Mavs of a championship parade. He brokered the infamous Kwame Brown for Pau Gasol trade, so Kobe Bryant wouldn't become the so-called "loser" and "coach killer" like how they portray Allen Iverson, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Gilbert Arenas, and Charles Barkley. He got the league lawyers to stop the Donaghy memoir from hitting the stand. He made the Cavs change ownership after LeBron James' rookie year, so LeBron James could have one of the most talented teams in the league with one of the highest payroll in the last 3-4 years despite being in a small-market team. Luxury tax be damned. They had countless roster shakeups and big name acquisitions throughout the years, yet the media is still worshiping LeBron James like a god and blaming the lack of "supporting cast" for his failure. It never would have happened if the cheap Gordon Gund still owns the team. Did Allen Iverson ever had this luxury? What about T-Mac? (Yao doesn't count. He is another manufactured star who is overrated. His presence is to appeal to the China market.) It is clearly no coincidence that LeBron James gets all the favorable calls from the refs. Hell, he even started international balloting for the all-star game, so the 13 billion people of China can vote for a Chinese rookie over Shaq, then the most dominant player in the game. Wow, they sure got mass market appeal. Why not just start a league there with the NBA logo imprinted on it so they can vote for an all-Chinese players lineup for their own all-star game? At least it wouldn't had ruin the game for us. I haven't watched an all-star game since 2002 except 2004 (Beyonce was the only reason I watched in '04.) thanks to Stern's being a kissass to the chinks.

As I stated in my previous A.I. article It is obvious that David Stern and the media are desperately undermining and marginalizing the '90s superstars, namely Shaquille O'Neal, Allen Iverson, Vince Carter, Steve Nash, Ray Allen, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki, Baron Davis, and Tracy McGrady (and to a lesser extent Andre Miller, Larry Hughes, Michael Redd, Corey Maggette, Stephen Jackson, Gilbert Arenas, Jamaal Tinsley, Stephon Marbury, Jerry Stackhouse, Wally Szczerbiak, Ricky Davis, Steve Francis, etc). The only one left standing is Kobe Bryant, but that is only because he plays in Los Angeles. David Stern wants to make the league revolves around LeBron James vs. Kobe Bryant. He also wants to give primetime TV games to Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, Brandon Roy, Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo, Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, OJ Mayo, Joe Johnson, Rodney Stuckey, Rudy Gay, Stephen Curry, Brandon Jennings, and Deron Williams. Allen Iverson is the biggest name and the most marketable out of the previous group. Unlike Shaq's circus act and eroding skills, A.I. is outspoken, keeps it real, and refuses to fade out of the spotlight, which draws the ire of Stern. If he doesn't sabotage his career, brainwash the fans into hating him through the media, he couldn't get them to warm up to his vision of the "brave new world" of his NBA.

Isn't it kinda surprising that Vince Carter, Shaq, Jason Kidd, Ben Wallace, and Grant Hill are being eased out of the spotlight, pushed into complementary roles with their dignity intact while A.I., clearly still a premier player in the league, is being pushed to the bench and attacked by the media on a daily basis? Isn't it kinda odd that Baron Davis, a player nowhere near Iverson's level and resume, is not considered washed up and potential bench material despite a horrible season and a slow start this season? Isn't it a blatant display of double standard that two former all-stars, Elton Brand and Gilbert Arenas, missed almost 2 years yet are both unquestioned starters?

Was Iverson the most famous casualty of the recent obsession with expiring contracts? I doubt it. Carlos Boozer, on an expiring contract, is starting for the Jazz ahead of Paul Millsap and his recently signed lucrative deal. Shaq is starting ahead of 10 million per year man, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, a guy who has been with the Cavs since '97. The Knicks are going nowhere, but Larry Hughes, on an expiring deal, is starting ahead of a bunch of undisciplined young scrubs.

I remember a borderline libelous rumor that started after Mike Vick got out of jail that Allen Iverson was seen with Vick at a strip club the first night he was released. It just proved that the media hates him and would do anything to badmouth him. The big-name analysts and sporswriters, they know the insiders inside out and would carry Stern's vendetta and agenda for him. The other so-called experts are just followers and tag-alongs. They want to force him to be a complementary player, a reserve even though he had the best season of his career in 2008 and was clearly maturing as a player a la Michael Jordan. His refusal to fade results in extreme measures and name-calling: "cancer", "team killer", "coach killer", "ballhog", "selfish", "washed up", "bench". They want to force him to change his game. These terms are repeatedly over and over on a daily basis until the casual fans are brainwashed into perceiving Iverson this way. Even some hardcore A.I. fans couldn't help but be swayed. They call him the next "Starbury" (the media treatment of Marbury was also very unfair), but the reason Starbury isn't playing is because during his cameo with the Celtics, it was clear that he had nothing left in the tank. It has little to do with character issues. He had an opportunity to step up when KG was out, but he didn't do anything. He actually already showed a steep decline during his last season with the Knicks and Isiah Thomas.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure no matter what A.I. does, even if he resurrects his career, he would have a hard time being voted in as an all-star game starter again. It's a scary thought what those higher up can do to destroy a particular person. Ever wonder why Larry Brown is so hesitant to sign A.I.? I'm pretty sure there would be repercussions for him if he goes against Stern's will of booting out A.I.

I'm sick and tired of Stern's deliberate attempt to manufacture superstars and force-feed fans to hold certain perceptions toward certain players. Stern apparently takes fans as fools. I just wanna use numbers and chronological events as well as bizarre logic and behaviors to expose this entire operation. I mean, manipulate and script the game all you like (I can bet all of you 1 million dollars right now that this season's final will be Lakers vs. Cavs), but you are taking it way too far when you are destroying someone due to personal vendetta and personal agenda. I'm not thrilled about Stern's creation of the new NBA. I couldn't care less about these young guys with no swagger and individuality. I haven't been following anything in this league except Iverson-related news since Iverson left the Grizz and I don't intend to change that anytime soon. Frankly speaking, I'm done with the NBA once and for all if it is the end of the line for A.I. For those who hate A.I., I'm sure y'all are are having a laugh right now seeing A.I. getting beat down like this, but just know that one day, your favorite player, no matter if he is LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire, Rajon Rondo, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, OJ Mayo, Brandon Jennings, Rudy Gay, and Chris Paul might face the same fate. Love him or hate him, put yourself in A.I. shoes. All the media has been doing since he was a rookie is criticize him. He scored over 40 points for 5 straight games late in his rookie year setting a record. Instead of congratulating on the  accomplishment, they accused him of piling up stats. Well, there wasn't anyone else on that team, so he had to carry it by himself. Surely, if LeBron James or Kobe Bryant or those other "saints" Stern tries to promote accomplish that feat, the media would be singing their praises 24/7.

By the way, the 76ers might had won it all in 2001. After they stole the first game at Staples Center, "Steve Javie" (the official who has been holding a grudge against A.I. since he got into the league according to Donaghy's memoir. Iverson complained about him multiple times and was even fined for making the same claim as Donaghy in 2007 after he was ejected by Javie in a game against his old team, the Sixers. "I thought I got fouled on that play, and I said I thought that he was calling the game personal, and he threw me out, his fuse is real short anyway, and I should have known that I couldn't say anything anyway. It's been something personal with me and him since I got in the league. This was just the perfect game for him to try and make me look bad."-Allen Iverson) was officiating the second game. It was close throughout, but A.I. only attempted 4 free throws in total despite all the punishment he got. It would be a whole different series if the Sixers led 2-0 heading back to Philly. We have no idea how the series would unfold, but the NBA should just let the guys play basketball instead of trying to intervene and manipulate games. Now even worse, they're trying to filter out superstars in an underhanded, scripted manner.

The stuff that happened to Allen Iverson since the playoff loss to the Lakers pisses me off so much. It's so sad to see the commissioner's office and the media tearing him apart like this. The NBA is bullshit. 

Fuck Kobe and LeBron. Fuck the NBA. Fuck David Stern. Fuck Mike Conley and Rodney Stuckey. Fuck the haters. Fuck Joe Dumars, Michael Curry, Rip Hamilton, Carmelo Anthony, and Chauncey Billups. Fuck the media.

Allen Iverson is the greatest of all time. He's still one of the top 5 players in the NBA.

Each Warrior wants to leave the marks of his will, signature, on important acts he touches. This is not the voice of ego but of the human spirit, rising up and declaring that it has something to contribute to the solution of the hardest problems, no matter how vexing.-Pat Riley