Allen Iverson Unlikely to Play In China

It has been a year since me and my wife are planning our Hongkong-Macau trip and last week was the fruition of our hard earned and duly required break. I know it was far fetched to assume that I could see Allen Iverson getting a break from China and walking on some shopping district in Hongkong. Yup you read it right Allen Iverson the 4 time NBA scoring champion and the former 2001 MVP and rookie of the year is contemplating in showing his wares in China. You would laugh at that idea way back then but after a series of falling out with a number of NBA teams. Allen finds himself unwanted and without a team to call his own. The number of times he was absent on practices and all those war of words with his coaches and teammates has finally took its toll. Stephon Marbury had the similar situation Iverson has gone through and last season he signed with the Shanxi team in China which created a lot of fuzz around the 1.2 billion population in China.

The Chinese people are excited to see Iverson and embracing him like a prodigal son that was lost in translation. But bringing Allen to China is like the signature shops in Hongkong everything comes with a hefty price and not just any price I’m talking about a $200k per month. It seems like a pretty good worth for a caliber star like Iverson but with Stadiums that house around 4500 seat capacity and the league only host 17 home games with an average ticket prize of $10 it just isn’t feasible considering the team will have to pay the rent and other expenses. And even if “Infront” the Swiss marketing firm that bought the commercial rights to the CBA decides to subsidize a portion of Allen’s salary it’s still a huge risk signing a 35 year old player who have been through injuries who lost a step or two and have not played a full NBA game recently.

I do hope he gets another chance in China and if that happens that would be the time i emptied up my bank account and watch him play in the CBA league. But those are just wishful thinking at least i got to enjoy my vacation this year.