NBA Rumors: Allen Iverson Is Not the Answer to Los Angeles Lakers' Woes

As exciting as it might sound to have Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant on the same team, it won't solve the Los Angeles Lakers' problems. This isn't 1998. Even then, there wouldn't have been enough balls for the future Hall of Fame duo to share.

Stephen A Smith of ESPN.com is reporting:

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“Allen Iverson, who sources indicated the Lakers had some interest in as long as he was willing to go to the NBA Developmental League for a few weeks first”

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The Lakers need a point guard, not a scoring little guard. Iverson will be a defensive liability at this stage in his career. He was never a man on man defender even in his prime. Instead, he played the passing lanes to accumulate steals.

There is no guarantee he could still do that, and the Lakers’ defensive principles require that their point guard does more than ball-hawk.

If Iverson is being looked at as a potential sixth man, whose primary focus is to add some instant offense off the bench, that is more realistic. However, Gilbert Arenas is still a better option at this point. He’s younger, bigger and he hasn’t been away from the game as long.

The Lakers also need a high percentage shooter at the point. For as great a scorer as Iverson has been in his career (26.7 points per game), he has never shot the ball for a high percentage.

Iverson is a career 42 percent shooter from the field and 31 percent from the arc. His most accurate year from the field was his rookie year when he shot 46 percent.

In short, A.I. needs the ball, and he needs a lot of shots to get his offense. He always has. There is no reason to believe that will be any different now.

The Lakers don’t have room for another player like that. That is pretty much Kobe Bryant’s MO, except Kobe is obviously a bit more effective right now.

The biggest reason the Lakers won’t find the answer in Iverson is because of the combination of his age and inactivity.

A.I. hasn’t played in the NBA since the 2009-2010 season in which he played 24 games for the Grizzlies and 76ers. He turns 37 in June and has had physical and personal problems over the past three years.

The likelihood of him being able to contribute at a significant level are about as slim as the chances he doesn’t make the Hall of Fame.

Iverson is one of my favorite players of all time, but sadly, the time has passed for him to be a factor for an NBA team. This signing sounds so much better than it would really be.

If only this were 1998.