Bleacher Report - Memphis Grizzlies

The Answer?...Not Allen Iverson Anymore

Austin Schindel — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:56:32 -0500

Dear Mr. Iverson,

You are too small. You have no heart. You do not care. You can not longer go toe to toe with the best guards in the NBA. You do not matter.

Are you buying any of that? I'm certainly not. Mr. Iverson, your contributions to the NBA and the city of Philadelphia have been nothing but good. You have never run into the stands or punched a referee and if missing practice is your biggest downfall, then so be it.

But something changed once you left the city of brotherly love. You became...really, really human. No longer were the days of hoisting up 30 shots, shooting 17 free throws, and being the literal center of attention still possible. Eric Snow became Carmelo Anthony, and Theo Ratliff turned into Kenyon Martin.

While your days in Denver were successful from a personal statistical standpoint, team success did not follow. In Denver, you were not "The Answer;" you just raised more questions.

Though this may have not been a fit made in heaven, Detroit must certainly be much better, right? I mean come on, the Pistons craved that one guy that could create his own shot in the clutch, something they had been missing for years. It just had to work. Wrong! Apparent lies, deceit, and simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time were the only things you learned from that experience.

But no worries, we love AI. We want to root for you. So naturally, we saw your move to Memphis as a gift. This was a chance to enter the next stage of your life; the one where you teach younger players about the value of teamwork and working hard before and after practice (yes I said practice).

But unlike your second and third marriages, this ended so quickly you applied for an annulment; and thus it was granted.

Now...you're rolling single...a free man to go where he wants and when he wants, answering to nobody. But AI, that feeling of freedom is going to turn into loneliness real soon. Eventually, people are going to forget that you are one of the best scorers of all time and the Brett Favre comparisons are going to become eerily similar.

But this is not an obituary, you must not be concerned because there is hope. YOU CAN LEARN TO BE A MAN. It is never too late!

Beyond reasonable doubt, you have enough money to support your family for the rest of your life, so go out there and play for the love of the game. Remember back when you played at Georgetown and your earliest days as a Sixer (don't forget crossing up MJ).

And now, a little tough love for you. We would love to see you continue to play. You are still a young man that has a few good years left in him. You are too important to the game to quite, and losing you, because a team won't start you is just not good enough.

When I was younger, and I would get mad because the coach would not start me during rec basketball, my dad would always say to me, "It not about who starts the game, but it's about who finishes it." Iverson, you are a finisher. Finish what you started.

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The Ball's in Your Court, A.I.: Iverson May Do a Career Crossover

Euno Lee — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:58:21 -0500

The New York Knicks are the favorite to land many choice free agents this year, and they've gotten a head start by allegedly courting former Memphis Grizzlie's point guard Allen Iverson, when Iverson becomes an official free agent Thursday. Iverson's options, however, are a little more varied than recent reports may suggest.

The Magic sorely need a point guard after losing Jameer Nelson, their backup Jason Williams has been talking all kinds of crazy , and it might be a matter of time before someone needs to step in. Of course, adding more crazy in the form of Iverson, who's had his fair share of problems, might not be the most logical decision.

The Lakers, despite all the talk of Derek Fisher being a great leader, need someone who can catch up with guards like Deron Williams, Chris Paul, and Aaron Brooks, the latter who scorched L.A. for 33 points in an upset Sunday.

Iverson may not be what he once was, but he can compete on a defensive level with the aforementioned a little better than the Fish can.

Then again, so much as putting Iverson in the same building as the Kardashians, could create a huge problem, and Lamar Odom would probably keep a closer eye on his wife instead of adding some sorely-needed depth to the front lines and eating inhumane amounts of candy, like he should be doing...

The real question here, is: Can Allen Iverson still play?

And we're not talking about "play" as in drop a haphazard 17 points a game while getting "stuck in traffic" on the way to the team hotel in South Beach, we're talking about, can this man play point guard for a championship-caliber team?

While the sports media may be his biggest naysayers, this writer doesn't get paid to write. So I will say precisely what I feel to be the truth: A.I. can definitely still play ball, and it's a question of whether or not he's motivated. He might not have that explosive first step, but he'll still break your ankles and finds loopholes in defenses the way he finds them in prosecution cases.

There are few opportunities where A.I. could possibly fit into a ring-contender, but that may be the only way A.I. can find his motivation to play with the passion he did as a Sixer.

As far as being able to fit into a role on a team, let's be honest here, Allen Iverson never was a bench player. The guy probably popped out of his mother's womb being able to score 20 points a game. A.I. will under-perform, like he did in Memphis to historical proportions, if he feels that the team he is on is not capable of winning a championship.

If A.I. lands on a contender, and not the Knicks like everyone is thinking (a move which makes literally no sense, as the Knicks are doomed, and LeBron probably won't go there in 2010, and you can quote me on that.), there IS his apprenticeship under Larry Brown to consider. Larry Brown doesn't tolerate stupidity, he molds players into mature, grown men.

A.I. might not have acted like a responsible human being these past couple of years, but there is at least a seed planted there where A.I. can be straight with the coach if the coach is straight with him , and accept a role on a contender that may be splitting minutes but a starting point guard in principle.

So if you want the most A.I. for your money, put him on a pre-made contender for a ring. Otherwise, my theory remains that if he doesn't end up in New York, he will eventually return to Philadelphia to retire a 76er.

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Allen Iverson: Please Call It a Career!

Nick Mordowanec — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:14:42 -0500

The Memphis Grizzlies experiment is officially over.

After playing just three games for Memphis, upper management released Allen Iverson from his one-year contract. Iverson, who has been on personal leave the last few days in a move the team said was “indefinite,” criticized the play of younger players like O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay—and he yapped consistently about his lack of playing time.

I won’t be the first to say this and I also won’t be the last, but here I go: "Allen, please have some dignity and retire from the game already."

Let’s be honest, people. This is not the same A.I. we saw in the late '90s, and it’s not the same guy who led the 76ers to the NBA Finals at the beginning of this decade.

He has not been the most significant player on any team lately, starting with his tenure in Denver. Nuggets coach George Karl was quite ecstatic to get rid of Iverson and getting a better player in Chauncey Billups, and that one Carmelo Anthony character has a little bit more upside than the waning Iverson.

Then there were the Pistons. Iverson thought it was 2001 and wanted to be the focal point of the franchise, but the exact opposite occurred. He complained more than players at a Cleveland Browns practice, eventually leading to his arrival in Memphis.

Enough with the history; let’s look at the present and what Iverson should do with himself.

He is 34 years old, he hasn’t even been playing much because of personal reasons, and he expects to be the centerpiece of any NBA offense. Such ingredients produce a concoction that starts with “re” and ends in “tirement.”

However, I just don’t see Iverson going down in a flaming lack of athletic ability. He can still play in the NBA, but he has just passed his prime. It happens to everyone—Reggie Miller, Chris Webber, and even Shaq has lost a step or two. It’s a part of life as an athlete—skills diminish and teams start entrusting younger players on a higher level.

It’s that way in the NBA and all other leagues. If a player can’t do a job as well as someone else, he gets less playing time or let go. This is what is happening to Iverson, and it is almost getting quite sad to watch. He is never, ever going to get his +25 shots per game anymore, and even when he did he could not make a majority of them.

With players like Kobe, LeBron, Wade, and ‘Melo in firm control of the league’s superstar stage, Iverson needs to step out of the limelight and exit stage left.

Otherwise, if he wants to go out on his own terms, he may end up warming the seat of another bench of another poor NBA franchise.

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Bye, Bye to A.I.?: Iverson, Grizzlies Reportedly Part Ways

Scott Hansen — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:05:12 -0500

One of the best professional basketball players of the modern era may never be seen on a basketball court ever again. Allen Iverson and the Memphis Grizzlies mutually parted ways on Monday after Iverson took a leave of absence to attend to a personal matter on Nov. 7.

Fans that purchased Iverson’s famous No. 3 jersey got to see Iverson play in only three games for Memphis, none of them at home.

In three appearances off the bench this season, Iverson averaged 12.3 points and 3.7 assists per game, far below his career averages of 27 points and 6.2 assists per game since the Philadelphia 76ers chose Iverson with the first overall pick in the 1996 draft.

Love him or hate him, Iverson was one of the best players of this generation. Iverson was the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1997 and was the NBA Most Valuable Player in 2001 after averaging a league-best 31.1 points and 2.5 steals per game, leading the Sixers to the NBA Finals before falling to Los Angeles Lakers.

In Iverson’s final full season in Philadelphia, Iverson averaged a career-high 33 points per game and also chipped in with 7.4 assists during that season before being traded to the Denver Nuggets just 15 games into the 2006-07 season.

Iverson could even be one of the most influential players in the history of the NBA. There was a time in the game where you would be hard-pressed to find cornrows or numerous tattoos on NBA players before Iverson came into the league. Culturally, Iverson was a trendsetter.

After being traded to Denver, Iverson willingly took a back seat in the scoring department to Carmelo Anthony. Iverson averaged 24.8 points in 50 games for Denver after his trade from Philadelphia, and then in 2007-08 season averaged 26.4 points per game.

Iverson was traded to Detroit after three games in 2008-09 in a deal that included NBA Championship winning point guard Chauncey Billups (who played high school and college basketball in the Denver area).

Some say Iverson wanted his release in order to join LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal in Cleveland in what could be James’ last season in Cleveland before becoming a free agent this summer.

It only took Iverson three games this season to realize his marriage with the Grizzlies was going to be a rocky one. Iverson—who has averaged over 41 minutes per game throughout his career—was only playing a shade over 22 minutes per game and was coming off the bench to spell second-year point guard Mike Conley.

Iverson thought he would be the main point guard in Memphis in a line-up that looked pretty solid on paper. Expected to join Iverson in the starting lineup was an outstanding young nucleus of O.J. Mayo, Marc Gasol, Rudy Gay, and Zach Randolph. Had the Iverson experiment worked, Memphis might have been a sleeper to claim a playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Instead, we might have seen the end to a fantastic career. Iverson was nearly impossible to contain one-on-one and nobody could ever question his effort. In 2004 with his Sixers ahead by over 20 points against the Boston Celtics, Iverson was seriously injured diving for a loose ball that most players wouldn’t have attempted to claim when ahead by such a margin.

Iverson also gave fans one of the greatest press conference sound bites of all-time. “We’re talking about practice, man.”

A player with Iverson’s talent and heart deserves a better send-off. Hopefully he can join a contender and get well-deserved championship ring before he finishes for good.

If there was one word to describe Iverson, it would be misunderstood. His high school career was marred by an incident at a bowling alley in which Iverson spent time incarcerated for his alleged actions. Iverson has claimed his innocence for 15 years since the incident in Virginia.

A lot of traditionalists couldn’t get past the street slang, the hair, and the tattoos. If you look at his talent and his numbers, Iverson was one of the greatest NBA players of all-time.

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Grizzlies' Owner Michael Heisley Should Show Allen Iverson the Door

A. Enslen Butler — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:03:10 -0500

This morning, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported that Memphis Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley has finally taken a stand with Allen Iverson.

Show up or else.

“I’ve treated this like Allen told me it was—a personal leave,” Heisley said on the paper's website. “But either he’s retiring or coming back to play. I’m not upset with Allen. We’ll be happy to accommodate Allen. If he retires, then he retires. If he wants to come back, we’ll gladly accept him back. But I have personally made it clear that there’s going to have to be a decision made. We’re expecting an answer in a couple of days.”

It is about time. The future Hall-of-Famer has been away from the team for 10 days and counting. The article said that there has been no contact with the team in that time.

It's clear that the signing of Jamaal Tinsley last week has put Iverson on the clock. He can either choose to join the team or he can go away.

Personally, I do not think Iverson adds to a 2-8 team. The Grizzlies would be 2-8 with him in the starting lineup, if he was the sixth man, or if he were in Charlotte, Cleveland, or sitting at home in Atlanta.

Heisley should acknowledge that his Iverson experiment was a screw-up from beginning to end and get rid of him. He should not play the waiting game for Iverson, if does not want to play.

The Iverson-Memphis relationship did not make sense from the beginning. But Allen, it is time to earn your $3.1 million contract.

If you do not want the money, retire.

Note: You can listen to my weekly Memphis Grizzlies podcast at Memphis Grizzlies Report .

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