Allen Iverson Deserves Better

Jeff Newton:

Allen Iverson deserves better. As a premier scorer, warrior and leader throughout most of his illustrious fourteen year career, his numbers speak volumes. He’s the ’97 rookie of the year, the ’01 MVP, a ten time all star, a three time All-NBA first team selection, and a four time scoring champion. He revived basketball pride in sports crazy Philadelphia. As a 76er, he consistently elevated a mediocre roster, filled with big money busts like Derrick Coleman, Todd McCullough and Tim Thomas, into a perennial playoff contender. For Iverson, everything came full circle during his MVP season.

How good was “The Answer” during the 2000-2001 campaign? He averaged 31.1 points per contest, earned MVP honors at the All Star game, and then ran away with the regular season MVP voting. Listed, very generously, at 6 feet nothing and 165 pounds, A.I. became the smallest player to earn the award. As with most of his seasons, Iverson played through bruised shoulders, broken fingers, dislocated elbows and just about every other basketball injury you can imagine. And still, he didn’t complain, he didn’t sit out and he didn’t take plays off on defense. He creatively mixed junk yard dog determination with the flashy crossovers, quick first steps and fall away jumpers that made him such a deadly gunner. Philadelphia finished with the best record in the East, survived a seven game scare from Vince Carter and the Toronto Raptors in the conference semis and squeaked past Ray Allen’s Milwaukee Bucks in the next round. For the first time since 1983, the Sixers were headed to the NBA Finals. Although Philly lost the series in five games, Iverson provided one last great performance in Game 1, against a loaded Lakers squad. His 48 point explosion led to a surprise overtime victory on the road. The fans loved his tenacious style, his ability to block out the pain and his big moment buckets. For all his on court success, though, Iverson’s mouth and his actions often overshadowed his spectacular skills.

There was the poorly received rap album, released during the 2000 offseason, where Allen’s “40 Bars” song discussed machine guns, murder and “faggot tendencies”. The racy language and seedy themes made Iverson public enemy number one in the sports talk world. That same offseason, a trade that would have sent Iverson to the lowly Clippers fell through at the last minute. In 2002, he allegedly threw his wife out of their mansion after a heated fight. Throughout his career, he publicly expressed philosophical differences with head coaches, such as Chris Ford and Jim O’Brien. And, for all his accomplishments, A.I. will never live down his infamous “practice, we’re talking about practice” press conference rant. The humorous, playful outburst, where Iverson criticized reporters who asked about his spotty practice regimen, gained national attention and pop culture status.

Despite the outside antics, the Philly fans kept their loyalties to Iverson and he kept his loyalties to them. He was worth the price of admission, and the season ticket holders knew it. For all the botched drafts, and all the poor personnel decisions swung by Billy King, the Michelangelo of piss poor GMs, the organization always had Number 3 to fall back on. In a fair basketball world, Iverson would have retired in a Sixers jersey, as one of the city’s favorite sports figure outside of Rocky Balboa. But the basketball world is hardly fair.

In December of 2006, King traded Iverson to Denver for Andre Miller, Joe Smith and two future first round draft picks. Still an elite scorer, and teamed with young gun Carmelo Anthony, the Nuggets were an experiment in’70s ABA style basketball, where games usually unfolded in a “first team to 120, wins” manner. The experiment failed. Denver disappointed during A.I.’s tenure. After two early playoff exits, Iverson was traded to Detroit six games into the ’08 season. The move to Detroit became an even bigger disaster for Allen. The Pistons, conference finalists in six consecutive seasons, screamed, pointed fingers and bitched their way to an unremarkable 39-43 record. The Answer was booted from the starting lineup and consistently argued with head coach Michael Curry. Meanwhile, Chauncey Billups, who Denver swapped for Iverson, thrived in the Nuggets’ system. Nationally, the Pistons were perceived as bonehead losers for taking a chance on an aging star.

Now Iverson refuses to come off the bench for the Grizzlies; a crappy team in a crappy market. He’s a shoot first player on a team filled with shoot first players. From the outset, Iverson’s deal with Memphis seemed destined for failure. Less than ten days into the ’09 season, that failure seems inevitable for the future Hall of Famer. The Answer will probably end his career, under heavy scrutiny, in Memphis. It’s a shame.