Maybe if you have been following the events surrounding Allen Iverson for the past few years then his impending retirement would not leave you stunned, just the same, it does. And why should the retirement of Allen Iverson leave you stunned? Because Allen will be back. Mark my words, Allen Iverson will play in the NBA again this year.

Iverson was in his 11th season with the Sixers when they traded him to the Denver Nuggets in December 2006. Denver dealt him to the Detroit Pistons last November.

He averaged 27.0 points per game in his career.
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Stephen A. Smith broke the story Wednesday on his web site. You can watch the interview of Smith on the following YouTube.

As for my thoughts about Allen Iverson being back, turns out in the video, that Stephen A. Smith came to the same conclusion.

Can you imagine the Cleveland Cavaliers dialing up Allen in time for the playoffs? You are talking Shaq, LeBron, and AI. That would be one of the top 3 little guys to play the game, one of the top 5 big guys to play the game, and a player that may end up being one of the top 3 players of all time! You can debate those levels, but cannot debate the fact that it would be a very interesting team.

What if Orlando signed him? Could you have both Vince Carter and Allen Iverson on the same floor on the same team at the same time? Would Dwight Howard ever see the ball?

Allen Iverson has a fan

Maybe the biggest supporter of Allen Iverson is his old coach George Karl.

“I think he still has something left to give some team out there. If that’s his decision, he’ll go down in history, I think, as the greatest little guard ever to play the game of basketball,” Karl said.

“I was happy to have him for a couple years and hopefully our paths will cross. But I have a sneaky feeling that somewhere along the way an injury or a circumstance with a team will open that window back up.”

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So will Allen be back or are teams afraid of the baggage he brings with him? You think about it and let me know!

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And now for the untold story of what happened and what may happen to the New York Knicks. It appears that the New York Knicks in their infinite wisdom, oops, make that finite wisdom, passed on Brandon Jennings after several workouts, even though they could see the obvious talent of a young point guard that could shoot from the outside.

Recently NBAObsessed wrote about the 55 point effort by Brandon Jennings.

The Knicks wasted their pick on Jordan Hill, who in spite of the Jordan in his name, is spending most of his time on the bench instead of playing on the court.

These are the same Knicks that have tried to get rid of every player on their team in order to clear salary cap for the great LeBron sweepstakes. Now personally NBAObsessed would love to see LeBron playing for the Knicks, because then he would not be torturing the division where my favorite team, the Detroit Pistons, happen to reside.

What has happened to the once proud New York Knicks franchise? You would think the Garden would be a fabulous place to show off the talents of LeBron James and maybe, just maybe, having a young hot guard like Brandon Jennings would have went a long ways in getting James.

Allen Iverson courted by the Knicks

Allen Iverson

So what are the Knicks attempting to do? They are going to plan B or more like plan D or E and attempting to pick up Allen Iverson. But he is a Grizzlie you say?

Now the Knicks are considering signing Allen Iverson after he cleared waivers on Thursday. It’s the surest sign of desperation in the NBA. There’s nothing left with Iverson, just fading hype and a sure-bet soap opera to come.

Yet, that’s what Donnie Walsh’s front office has become – potentially picking through the Memphis Grizzlies’ scrap heap in search of a pulse of excitement to fool the fans.

So this is how you show LeBron you’re a viable destination? This is how you demonstrate you have the shrewd basketball minds capable of building a winner around him?

Contemplating Allen Iverson?

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NBAObsessed recently wrote about the troubles of Allen Iverson.

New York “the city” and New York “the team that has such importance to the NBA” has so many intangibles to be used to recruit LeBron James, but New York “the team” seems to be working to drive LeBron away.
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Wait, shouldn’t the title read “Stephen Jackson brings sanity to the Bobcats”?

You have obviously not been paying attention to the Stephen Jackson story. Golden State was more than happy to get rid of a team chemistry problem. Why Larry Brown at his age would want to take on Stephen Jackson is beyond me, but you know the NBA, if you can put the ball in the hoop with any regularity then some team owner will pay you millions of dollars no matter how you act in public.

So it is time for a quick review. Why would Charlotte take a chance on Stephen Jackson after the owner publically stated he would not embarrass Charlotteans which are not to be confused with Alanteans or any other Teans?

Jackson brings two qualities the Bobcats need – proven scoring ability and the versatility to play multiple positions. But he also brings a history of bad behavior that seems to conflict with majority owner Bob Johnson’s promise at the franchise’s outset.
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Why the Bobcats took Stephen Jackson

Now for the pop quiz. Why did they do it? We just went over this, because Stephen Jackson can put the ball in the hole and the Bobcats suffer from a disease called “can’t put the ball in the hole”. It is that simple.

Stephen Jackson wanted out of Golden State

You would think the Malice in the Palace and the gun shooting thing and various other sundry items would make Stephen Jackson untouchable, but such is not the case.

Now here is the reply you have all been waiting for, why do it, for real? You are the Bobcats! Look in the mirror and realize that the playoffs are a long ways off and there is no reason to rush into a contract with a player that is going to cause problems. Why do it? You had an expiring contract with Bell, the survivor to play in Golden State, and now you have a long term contract with problems.

Ahh, but they never learn. Gotta go, that is Allen Iverson on the phone and he is looking for another team.

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The Memphis Grizzlies are soon going to be faced with admitting to a mistake about signing the enigmatic Allen Iverson as the unfolding saga of a Superstar with no gas in the tank is unfolding in front of their eyes. The appeal of having Allen Iverson on your team is understandable to anyone. Allen can take his small NBA body and light up the scoreboard at times with so little effort that you have to just stare with awe.

The problem with taking on Allen Iverson is Allen Iverson. He has never understood the concept of team or even coach and let’s not even talk about practice. That was a joke, of course, alluding to Allen’s famous quip when he played for Larry Brown in Philadelphia. Larry the Master is probably the coach that came closest to harnessing the power of the Iverson.

The NBA has seemed to get tougher for Allen Iverson and anyone that signs him and one has to wonder why? One has to wonder if this is the end of the line.

It was impossible to watch the Grizzlies’ 114-98 loss to the Lakers last night and not come away with the impression that this was one of the low points of Iverson’s career. In his third game since injuring his left hamstring during the preseason, Iverson once again came off the bench and scored just eight points in 22 minutes.

There he was, a glorified bench-warmer wilting amid the bright lights of the Staples Center. And there stood the transcendent Kobe Bryant, a fellow future Hall of Famer who scored 41 points and looked electric in the process – in other words, resembling the sort of player Iverson once was and believes he still can be.
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Allen Iverson struggling with the NBA

Even though we don’t know what the Truth is about the Truth (Iverson’s early nickname), we do know that he is troubled and has asked for a leave of absence.

The Allen Iverson saga has taken another turn as the veteran guard asked for and was granted permission to leave the Grizzlies to deal with a personal matter, according to an NBA source.

Iverson, 34, met with Griz owner Michael Heisley Friday night following the team’s 114-98 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. The pair met again this morning, and Iverson was expected to depart for Atlanta this afternoon.
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So why do we talk about Allen?

Because he is interesting, eclectic, a difference maker when he is on, and a major problem when he is not.

Will Allen return from Atlanta or will the Grizzlies cut their losses and move on? Will Allen regain his All Star form or just look longingly at Kobe Bryant? We don’t know the answers to these questions and that is why we still talk about him.

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The NBA is a paradise of pampered ultra elite athletes that have failed to realize how special their lives truly are compared to the rest of us average people that slog it out every day just to get a check that won’t quite last until the next check.

Allen Iverson NBA superstar

Allen Iverson is a case in point causing disruption everywhere he goes, in spite of talent that just oozes out of his pores. Speaking of pours, not pores, Allen refuses to pour his heart into his team as in what is good for the team and rather prefers to play to what is good for Allen. If that happens to mesh with Team, then the age old saying of there is no I in Team becomes nothing more than a restated euphemism. Problem is that in most cases there is no I in Team and Allen becomes a problem to be dealt with on a team level and a PR level. That is what the Memphis Grizzlies are dealing with right now.

NBA superstar Allen Iverson is grumbling as a Grizzlie

Iverson missed all of the Memphis Grizzlies preseason NBA games and the first 3 regular season NBA games and now expects to be automatically a starter. The Coach has a big time problem with that attitude.

“My frustration is that I have to talk about Allen Iverson at every press setting,” Hollins said. “I want to talk about the Memphis Grizzlies and us as a team. And even when Allen was out, I was happy to talk about Allen. So, that’s my frustration. I just want to talk about the Memphis Grizzlies. If Allen plays well and you guys want to ask me about Allen, that’s great. Or if he plays poorly and you want to ask me how poorly he played, that’s great, too.
“But what he says and what he’s thinking? My job is to coach the team as a unit. I have to make decisions and all the players in that locker room are not going to be happy about it. But it’s my job to do the best that I can and if they don’t feel like I’m doing it than ownership is going to get rid of me and that’s the way it’s always been through history.”

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Allen Iverson on defense

In an odd statement after the Grizzlies lost another NBA game, this time to the Warriors, it was Allen Iverson speaking up about defense, a subject it was suspected that he knew very little about.

“It’s been rough,” Iverson said after logging 28 minutes in his second game back from a hamstring injury. “You have to take on an individual challenge to guard the guy you have in front of you. It starts with having the heart to guard your man. … Not a lot of players like to play defense. Winning teams play defense.”

It was difficult to find anyone in the Grizzlies’ locker room who didn’t share Hollins’ mood or who disagreed with Iverson’s answer.
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Defense? Why are we talking about defense?

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You have heard it by now. Allan Iverson is claiming the Detroit Pistons lied to him about his role with the team. Allan claims the Coach Michael Curry, now fired, said to Allan Iverson, now a Grizzlie, that he would start Allan and would never disrespect Allan by bringing him off the bench.

Allen Iverson claims Detroit lied

Hmm, not sure about you, but how many coaches go around guaranteeing a player a starting job, especially when he has a former All Star and current team leading scorer in Rip Hamilton already at that position? Did you say zero? Thought so.

“They told me, straight up, ‘Allen we would never disrespect you or your career like that’ by making me come off the bench,” Iverson said in an interview with ESPN.com. “That’s what they told me to my face. And after that, I never thought about it again. I just went back to playing. Then, they came to me saying that they felt it would be in the ‘best interest of the team’ if I came off of the bench behind Rip (Richard Hamilton).

“… After that, they told me that if I didn’t come off the bench — the team was going to lie down [not play] on me. … When he told me that, that’s when I felt that this was the worst career move I’d ever made and it was the worst year of my career.”
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Geez, the story gets more credible all the time. Now the team, as in the Detroit Pistons, are going to lay down when Allen is on the court, because the only thing on the line is their jobs and the playoffs. This makes no sense at all. What we are most likely getting is the Allen Iverson version of what happened to a player that never fit in with the crumbling Pistons. Allen will remain one of my favorite players, but this just sounds like an excuse for it just didn’t work out.

Photo source Newscom

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Believe it or not, George Karl the Nuggets coach is a big fan of Allen Iverson and thinks that Allen will thrive in Memphis if he is prepared to move to a new part in his career. George Karl refers to this as being a mentor to the younger guys and a bench player. Memphis has a number of younger guys like O.J. Mayo and could use a strong mentor, but Allen Iverson? That is going to be tough.

“Now that he’s getting in whatever you want to call it, the twilight of his career, I hope he gives the sixth man, come off the bench; be a scorer off the bench, be a mentor to young players in Memphis, give it an opportunity.”

“Sometimes ego gets in the way of all of us – we all have at times trouble to realize, you know, we gotta do it this way. I think if AI realizes that he can be a mentor, he can be a great sixth man; Memphis has an interesting basketball team with Randolph, and AI, and some of the changes they made this season. I think they have an opportunity to kinda be a surprise in the western conference.”
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George joked that he teases Chauncey Billups all the time that he replaced talent with brains. He assesses that Allen was not the problem with the defense; it was poor shot selection that led to easy plays for the other team. George really believes he can make the transition to the bench.

Allen Iverson with the ball in his hands, big surprise

My money is on Allen disrupting a team that already has a problem in Zach Randolph and causing the team to implode and disappear from the face of the Earth. Allen will then move on to another team. After a few years we all will realize the Grizzlies are gone.

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For all you old fogeys out there, twitter is where it is at and where you are at or should be. Hold on; have to update my twitter, “typing my blog”. You see, somewhere, someone wanted to know that. It is the days of instant communication and twitter is the latest fad.

Allen Iverson will Twitter in Memphis

Allen Iverson has been shopping his services after the disaster in Detroit and was about to give up when lo and behold the Memphis Grizzlies, a sort of NBA team, have agreed to sign him.

Iverson’s decision came following a Monday night meeting in Atlanta with Griz owner Michael Heisley, general manager Chris Wallace and head coach Lionel Hollins. Iverson, a 34-year-old, 13-year veteran, will play for a contract that pays $3.5 million (what the Griz have left under the salary cap) and the deal will be loaded with incentives.
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To say the Memphis writers and fans are not concerned about this deal is like saying my Mom is not concerned about being old. This deal will destroy an already not promising team. Oh, there is young talent there; waiting for Iverson to do not mold them into a unit, but there is not any kind of a plan.

If you want to build a basketball team, you go get David Lee and Ramon Sessions during the offseason. If you want to build a freak show, you go get A.I. and Z-Bo.

At the start of last season, Heisley had a three-year plan. At the start of this season, his plan has become “Oh, what the Hell.”

Zach Randolph is available?

Oh, what the Hell.

Allen Iverson is available?

Oh, what the Hell.

What are the Memphis fans going to do, anyway? Not go to games?

Now the team will be interesting, at the very least. In the same way that a demolition derby is interesting, that Jon and Kate are interesting, that Mike Tyson was interesting.

This cannot end well.
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None the less, Allen Iverson remains one of the most entertaining and fan popular players in the game. Everyone wants to root for the little guy, except maybe the team that owns him.

Photo source Newscom

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The Memphis Grizzlies are close to signing Allen Iverson. It would be for a 1 year deal, because 1 year is all you can risk on The Truth and then you might find you can’t handle the Truth.

Memphis apparently is Iverson’s best – and only – NBA opportunity at this point. No other team has publicly emerged as an Iverson suitor. The Griz offered Iverson a reserve role paying at least $3.5 million or what it has remaining under the salary cap.

The offer could be as much as $4.4 million should the Griz renounce their rights to Spanish guard Juan Carlos Navarro. The deal still is less than the $5 million Memphis originally considered paying Iverson.
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Now to most NBA fans the Memphis Grizzlies are a joke. Think about it right now and tell me one player in the Grizzlies lineup. Hmm, how about Pau Gasol, isn’t he a Grizzlie? Oh, no, that is right; he has been a Laker for a couple of years.

Well, you will get some bonus points, because they do have a Gasol, but it is younger brother Marc the non-All Star caliber player.

Allen Iverson will play next to Mike Conley in the Memphis backcourt

Still the Grizzlies may get zero respect, but their current lineup does have potential.
Try this out:
Center: Marc Gasol with Hasheem Thabeet backing him up. Not bad.
Power Forward: Zach Randolph. OK, still looking for a team that will let the Black Hole be himself.
Small Forward: Scoring machine Rudy Gay.
Shooting guard: Maybe Allen Iverson, otherwise O.J. Mayo. The old grizzled vet and the young pup.
Point guard: Mike Conley. Still waiting for him to develop.

Conley, Mayo, Thabeet, and Gay are all young and talented. Randolph and Iverson can both score. Sure, that lineup is not going to challenge for the title, but some excellent pieces are in place.
Photo source Newscom

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Will Allen Iverson, better known as the Truth, be coming to a team near you soon? That is a question we all ask ourselves, isn’t it?

Hmm, maybe Allen is not news anymore. Geez, have one troubled season and they write you off. OK, maybe troubled season is not the way to put it or you could qualify his whole career as troubled. Or as my Boss likes to quote “Practice? Why are we talking about practice?”.

Maybe it would be more accurate to say that Iverson did not have a statistically amazing year like he usually does, but you have to like the fact that in this day and age of 6′ 7″ guards, that a little guy built like a little guy, can not only play in the NBA, but can star in the NBA.

Allen Iverson did not enjoy his best year with the Pistons

Now we have Allen saying on his Twitter account that he will be signing with an NBA team real soon. Many think that team could be the Charlotte Bobcats with Coach Larry Brown.

“I’ve spoken to a lot of people on his behalf, because last year was a difficult situation for him being put in where he was, replacing Chauncey Billups,” said Brown. “That would have been a difficult situation for anybody. But I know he’s comfortable with me, and we’ve had a lot of discussions. When he played for me was probably when he played his best. Would I like to coach him again? Absolutely.”
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It is hard to believe that Charlotte really wants Allen Iverson or vice versa and what about Brown wanting to coach him again? Now that would be a real twist.

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