What does the Future Hold for Allen Iverson?
Michael Pina has a BA in English with a concentration in Journalism from the University of Delaware. He is currently living in his hometown of Boston.
A knee jerk reaction to the 2009 NBA Draft includes two points worth mentioning. One is the unfortunate slip that quality players like DeJuan Blair and Sam Young made and the other is the incredible amount of point guards selected in the first round. The latter point could have a huge effect on current free agent veteran point guards like Stephon Marbury, Andre Miller and most notably Allen Iverson.
During his prime, Iverson was one of the most enigmatic, intriguingly talented professional athletes in the entire world. With the cornrows, tattoos, gangster rap career, gun possession charges and press conference tirades all defining his image, Iverson was as polarizing a figure as the league had ever seen. His eccentric persona translated beyond the basketball court more so than any of the 400 plus other players in the NBA.
Last April, one of the toughest players to ever dribble a basketball gave hint that his playing days could be over quicker than his performance had indicated. When relegated to the role of instant offense off the bench, Iverson first struggled and eventually gave an explanation to the media.
“I’m in a position now that I’ve never been in my whole life,” he said. “It’s harder than I thought it would be. With the back injury, I have to sit out at the start, then go in, then sit again. It’s tough to really get going. I take my hat off to the guys who can come off the bench and be effective. It’s tough for me. I’m struggling with it.”
So where does this leave the 33 year old? His days as a Piston are clearly over and after general managers witnessed Denver’s drastic change in attitude before and after Iverson’s tenure, the market to sign the ten-time all-star won’t be buzzing. He’s currently a free agent; his days of leading the league in scoring and being a franchise player are all but over. With a recent refusal to come off the bench and contribute with his uncanny scoring ability, where will Iverson play next year if at all?
Europe wouldn’t be a surprise although envisioning him play for a Euro-league club that centers itself on an all for one, one for all concept does not seem like a good fit for the NBA’s active leader in field goal attempts. He’s an old 33, but played in all 82 games as recently as last season, when he also led the league in minutes played.
The Hampton, Virginia native will be a first ballot Hall of Fame inductee who, despite what he has been saying, has a few solid years left in him to remind basketball fans across the country just how great a player he is.
He’s finished on an All-NBA team seven times, was voted rookie of the year in the 1996-97 season and regular season MVP in 2000-01. The six-footer has led the league in scoring four times and has a higher career scoring average than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird and Oscar Robertson.
Is this once in a lifetime talent washed up? Or will he find a team and eventually an elusive championship ring?
The only way he can get a ring is if he swallows his pride and goes to a contender, where he’ll be a third (maybe even fourth option). Detroit was far from a contender, and I think people know that.
Thing is, if he went to that supporting role, he’d be the best third-option in basketball, but like I said, it’s all about swallowing his pride. He’s my favorite player of all-time, and I’d love to see him get a ring, as a significant contributor to a title team, which, in my opinion, can be done.
@SoulOnlce – how quickly people forget it was only half a season ago that iverson was one of the top scorers in the entire league in Denver. People did the same thing after shaq had one bad season in Miami. They said he was too old and wrote him off. Then he comes back with the Suns and was the best player in a system that didn’t even fit his game that well.
Detroit disrespected Iverson and didn’t have a system that even allowed him to be himself and be dominant. Whatever team he plays for this year, if they let him be himself and play a running high octane offense, Iverson will be dominant again and probably lead the league in scoring. He is still a primary option on a contending team.
Iverson is a winner, therez going to be a day when he is going to mean a lot more to the world of basketball. Whatever he has achieved so far, he has done it himself. Kobe had Shaq, Dywane Wade too, A I needs to find a team that supports him well, I thought Denver was perfect for him, but it was disappointing to see him get traded.The future is bright for him, he were to remain positive. Detriot has a team was just horrible. Players didn’t get along with each other, nor did they with the coach. It was a disaster. I wouldn’t be suprised to see him go to Spurs.
I think Larry Brown & the #Bobcats could make for an interesting free agency period.
Its disappointing when people say AI is done, just because of one season is Detroit where even the rookie coach proof himself to be a rookie in the handling of his team. Before been traded to detroit, on a team more talented than detroit, he was a starter, but Curry meant to humiliate him by having him come off the bench. Are you trying to tell me there are 5 other players on detroit team that are better than AI? Are you kidding me. With AI 17 points average which is his worst season ever, he still was detroit highest scorer. The guy is a terrific scorer, hands down. Any team having AI is a plus. I don’t think AI will have a problem even coming off the bench, but not on a detroit team that he is the most talented player. That is disrespect to the contribution this man has made to this league, and he was right to quit on them. With that coach, detroit ain’t going anywhere. AI still has a home in the nba. In his old age, there are only a hand full of players in this league right now that are better than him, and imagine how many players in this league. So it is so unrealistic to say AI is done, he is so far from that. This guy is still capable of averaging over 25 points a game, how many teams ?
I think Iverson would be a good fit with Dallas.
So true, the guy was slected to the All Star game just this past season. His last full season with Denver (just last year) he had one of the best years of his career. So what are folks talking about finished. PLEASE. No, on the right team but not a team which walks the ball up court (like Detroit). Dallas, Knicks, Golden State, Miami are good fits. However, Dallas has no room in the back court and are using up all their money on Jason Kidd (a move I do not understand).
Seems like a contradiction – he’s an “old” 33 but led the team in minutes played in every game. I saw him play in Denver and he isn’t an “old” player at all. He was terrific in Denver – I believe he taught Melo how to play hard by example. Let’s hope he gets on a good team. I will become a fan of whatever team he is on. Denver and Detroit did him a grave disservice.
[...] negotiator, might not the Angelopoulos brothers be considering inking up a contract draft?) And here’s some high-level speculation … and, and … here’s a comment about Olympiacos on Iverson’s semi-official fan [...]