Allen Iverson: Five Reasons He Will Remain Unemployed in 2010
NBA training camps open up in just over five weeks, and there is a high-profile free agent name still looking for work.
No, it's not Shaquille O'Neal—the Big Shamrock signed with the Celtics.
It's not Tracy McGrady—he took his bad knee to the Detroit Pistons.
Yes, we're talking about Allen Iverson. The man once known as "the Answer" is without a job for this upcoming season.
According to Iverson's Twitter account, he is still interested in playing this season.
Iverson tweeted the following:
"I want to return to the NBA this season, and help any team that wants me, in any capacity that they feel that I can help. I’m disappointed, and I owe my fans more than what they have seen of me the last couple seasons. However, now that my family is healthy and rock solid, I can concentrate fully on doing what I do best!"
How can a man with a resume as glittering as Iverson's still be looking for work in the NBA? Hasn't he done enough to justify even a one-year deal? Shouldn't he just be given whatever he wants?
Is there some sort of conspiracy to keep Iverson out of the NBA?
Let's look at five reasons that Allen Iverson won't be on an opening day roster, shall we?
No. 5: Locker Room Issues
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There are many veteran players around the league who are thought to have a great presence in an NBA locker room. Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Shane Battier, Grant Hill, and so on.
Some guys even made a career out of being a good locker room guy. Kevin Ollie, for example, was employed by the Oklahoma City Thunder last season primarily serve as a positive role model for all their young players.
Allen Iverson is not a name you will ever find on that list.
Iverson has a reputation that is actually quite the opposite. He certainly takes young players under his wing, but he does not teach them how to be professionals. Instead, you end up with kids copying his personal sense of fashion, learning how to hit the bars until they close, learning where all the casinos are, and not taking care of their bodies.
Signing Iverson would also almost certainly bring along a divisive element to your locker room. No matter what he says, Iverson will feel he is better than the incumbent starter. You'll have players who grew up idolizing him that will take his side. Next thing you know—chemistry issues.
No. 4: Diminished Skills
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Now even the most ardent Iverson supporter has to admit that the once dynamic scorer has lost more than a step.
Iverson never had a great outside shot (career 31 percent shooter from three-point range), and his shot selection was never outstanding. Practice may have helped that, but Iverson apparently believed that his natural athleticism would be enough to sustain him for as long as he wanted to play.
Iverson's greatest asset was his amazing quickness, unfathomable toughness, and uncanny ability to finish around the rim. For a man just 5'11" on a good day, it was simply incredible watching him put up 30 points per game in his prime.
Those days are long gone.
Sure, he had a fantastic (and efficient!) year in 2007-08 with the Nuggets, but that was two years ago and in a run-and-gun system.
The majority of teams in the NBA play half-court, screen-roll basketball. This does not play to Iverson's strengths.
The few teams that do play a more open game are already set at point guard. The thought that he can be an effective shooting guard at this stage of his career is laughable. Shooting guards need to be able to shoot. Not a strength.
If he plays at all this season, it will be as a point guard.
No. 3: His Ego
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Players age—it happens, and there is nothing that can be done to prevent it.
Times change—reputations, perceptions, and realities all change without your permission.
Smart players anticipate, or at least acknowledge change. The best players plan for change and ask themselves hard questions.
Take someone like Ray Allen, Iverson's old Big East rival, as an example. He is already on the public record as acknowledging that his role will change as he gets older. He will be perfectly happy being a shooter off the bench when he can no longer meet the challenges of being a starter.
Ever hear something like that from Mr. Iverson?
Here's the problem—we have actually heard it from Mr. Iverson, but then he goes out and does the complete opposite.
Iverson was going to do whatever the Detroit Pistons needed to remain an elite team. Of course, when the team decided it would help them more if he provided scoring and leadership off the bench, he basically said that he would retire before ever coming off the bench. He continued to butt heads with the Detroit brass until he decided that he had a season-ending back ailment. Nice.
God apparently told him to go play in Memphis (that, and the fact that no other team was willing to sign him), and he pledged to help the young Grizzlies continue to improve. That apparently did not include a willingness to play on the second unit, despite how much sense that made. He played three games for Memphis before "retiring."
Later that season, Philadelphia needed a point guard after their starter went down with an injury. They also desperately needed to sell some tickets. Iverson played 25 games for the 76ers before leaving the team to attend to family issues. I don't claim insider knowledge on this, but his family issues coincided with the return of the starter from injury. There were also reports that his wife was filing for divorce around the same time. There were even reports that while on leave to be with his sick daughter, Iverson was spotted in casinos and nightclubs.
Let's just say that there is a healthy and reasonable doubt about Allen Iverson's willingness to sublimate himself to the needs of a team.
No. 2: No Clear Role
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This should be obvious, but in the NBA, as in any business, there must be a need for your particular services and an open position.
You could be the best welder in the world, but if the company makes greeting cards, you won't get hired.
Allen Iverson, as mentioned already in reasons four and three, is down to essentially one position in which he could be effective—point guard. Some people still seem him as a legitimate option as a shooting guard, but that is just nuts. Undersized shooting guards who can't play defense (Eddie House?) better be able to shoot the dang ball.
He might be able to be a starting point guard on an up-tempo team, but most job openings will be for a reserve PG on a half-court team.
Given his out-sized ego, no league GM really sees Iverson being happy in a reserve role. That leaves the up-tempo teams.
The Suns are fairly set with Steve Nash. Iverson wouldn't be an upgrade over Jason Kidd in Dallas. Chauncey Billups is doing just fine in Denver. Stephen Curry looks quite safe in Golden State.
So where is the job opening?
There is some fan outrage and talk of conspiracies about Iverson not having a job, but seriously, where do you propose he go?
No. 1: No Team Wants Him!
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Again, this should be obvious. He won't get a job unless someone wants to hire him.
What is the motivation to hire this guy? Outside of being able to say that you have a future Hall of Famer on your team, I don't see the upside.
Iverson's resume is, without question, impressive. But let's take a look at a sample cover letter that he might include with that resume:
To Whom It May Concern,
My name is Allen Iverson. I am the best pound-for-pound scorer in league history, and I feel that I am uniquely qualified to fill the position of [insert role here] that you advertised on your web site.
I offer no leadership skills, I drink like a fish, my body is breaking down because I chose not to care for it, but I will tell you whatever you want to hear to get this job. Once in the role of [whatever they say they need], I promise to tweet my way into a starter's role so that I can prove to all the haters that I still got game.
In addition to the qualities listed above, I can also promise you that I no longer possess the foot speed to play defense. I don't shoot the ball particularly well, either. Did I mention that I my career scoring average is nearly 27 points per game?
Please ignore everything you may have read, seen, or heard about me over the past two years. I am still one of the best players in the league, and I'm willing to prove it to you.
Sincerely,
The Answer.
Now tell me, who would possibly hire this guy?
Before convincing yourself that he "deserves" a job and that it must be some David Stern-led blocking campaign that is keeping teams from calling him, just tell me which team could use him and why.
I know that some of you have already decided that I must be an Iverson Hater, but if you have a legitimate answer to the question I've just posed, I promise to be fair in my reply.
By the way, I think the Knicks are going to sign him. Just because they're the Knicks.
