If you haven’t heard, Allen Iverson decided to retire this week from basketball. Obviously you heard, as it has been the ongoing saga story now for a week even after the lowly New York Knicks took a pass on A.I. and decided not to offer him a contract through the end of this season.
Since his announcement, his former coaches Larry Brown and John Thompson have come to the defense of the poster child for selfishness. Brown has shared that he still has “the passion to play” and Thompson sharing he should not “retire due to frustration”.
Here’s my two cents…perhaps he should retire because he no longer has what it takes to play in the NBA and will be a disease to any team that decides to bring him on.
While Coach Brown talks a good game about Iverson and his value, he has no interest in bringing him onto the Charlotte Bobcats bench with him. He uses excuses such as being overloaded at the guard position despite his team sporting a 4-9 record at the time of Iverson’s retirement announcement. The Bobcats flat out stink, are not building the framework for a future team and Iverson’s arrival would actually get people to show up and watch a team of bench players on the court in Charlotte. It’s the perfect environment for Iverson…and Coach Brown won’t take him.
What NBA team executives understand about Iverson are the only factors that matter. They understand he lacks defensive skills, doesn’t include his teammates in the game well, has a penchant for not showing up for practices and most recently, no longer has the quickness that allowed him to play great one-on-one basketball.
Most of Iverson’s fans defend him by pointing to his stats. His points scored, his steals and his ability to play one-on-one basketball. These don’t mean a thing. All that really matters is wins, which is not a stat that Iverson rates high on the totem pole amongst NBA greats. In his career, in games he has played, Iverson has garnered a .531 winning percentage. This is abysmal for a player many say is one of the best of the decade.
The final word on Allen Iverson is that he is not a winner and Larry Brown cemented his legacy as one of the truly great coaches due to his handling of Iverson. The championship game run by that 2000-2001 team was defined by terrific team defense. Brown’s coaching genius was realized when he figured out that the only way to offset Iverson’s selfishness on offense was to not let the other team score when they were on defense.
Recent reports now have the Philadelphia 76ers contemplating bring Iverson back for a second round with the team. Before making that offer, Ed Stefanski would be wise to watch the replay of the infamous press conference that will always be the legacy that Iverson leaves behind, regardless if a desperate team decides to give him one more shot.
Tags: allen iverson, larry brown, Memphis Grizzlies, nba, Philadelphia 76ers
I couldn’t agree with this column more. The Sixers just signed this gangbanging fool for the rest of the season. Talk about throwing in the towel on a season. I celebrated when this guy left town and now they bring him back. I hope his contract required him to show up for practice this time around.