Iverson and Sixers Executives Meet in Dallas to Talk About a Comeback

There have been a lot of rumors over the last 24 hours that the Philadelphia 76ers are interested in possibly bringing Allen Iverson out of retirement to once again suit up for the Sixers. Those rumors became much more of a real possibility today as we received a confirmation email this afternoon from NBA and TNT insider David Aldridge that the Sixers executives met with Allen Iverson and his manager Gary Moore in Dallas today to discuss a possible contract.

All we know for sure as of now is that that no contract was signed or agreed to, but that the two sides are not that far apart in the discussions and it is a very real possibility that Allen Iverson will be a Philadelphia 76er once again within a few days. Both sides have confirmed that Allen Iverson will NOT be suited up for the Sixers game against the Dallas Mavericks tonight.

Here is what David Aldridge had to say on NBA.com:

Iverson, his agent, Leon Rose, and his longtime personal manager, Gary Moore, met with the team’s president of basketball operations, Ed Stefanski, assistant general manager and last year’s interim head coach, Tony DiLeo, current head coach Eddie Jordan and assistant coach Aaron McKie, a former teammate of Iverson’s when both played with the 76ers and still a close friend. The meeting, a source said, was for the coaching staff to gauge Iverson’s willingness to be flexible when guard Lou Williams returns from a broken jaw.

Williams, who was injured last week, is expected to miss around 30 games. But the team does not want to retard his development, so it’s likely he would go back into the starting lineup when he’s healthy. That would mean Iverson would likely have to come off the bench, and that’s been a non-starter for him the last two years, resulting in his being kept off the Pistons’ playoff roster last year and having to work out a settlement of his contract with Memphis this year after just three games.

The 76ers are proceeding cautiously in determining whether they want to get back together with Iverson, who was traded to Denver in 2006 after a decade in Philadelphia — at the end of a rancorous period in which Iverson had worn out his welcome with the team’s top management. That included Sixers chairman Ed Snider, whose relationship with Iverson was frayed when he decided to grant Iverson’s request for a trade.

But Snider has signed off on Iverson’s return, leaving it up to Stefanski and the coaching staff, a source said.

More Team Flight Brothers Insane Practice Dunks!

We’ve showcased some practice dunk videos before from Team Flight Brothers, which have had a great response from y’all. We have gotten the message loud and clear from your feedback that you want more. Well don’t look to us, look to TFB. But you’re in luck we have another video of crazy practice dunks that rivals the best of them recently released by TFB.

Some of these are just disgusting. The hops are in full effect. Enjoy air addicts:

Saved By The Bell: NJ Nets Fire Frank

Allen Moll is an avid NBA and College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen is a regular columnist for thehoopdoctors.com, Bleacherreport.com, UpperDeckblog.com, and his own site, Hoops Haven.

As coach of the NJ Nets, Lawrence Frank, was already in the NBA record books for having the best start in NBA history as a head coach by going 13-0 as a replacement for the fired Byron Scott in the ’04 season. Nets management saved him the shame of also having the worst start for a team to start the season by firing the former longest tenured coach in the Eastern Conference before their game with the LA Lakers. The Nets were expected to loose their 17th straight game to start the season 0-17, to tie the record of futility with the ’88-’89 Heat and ’99 Clippers.

Frank leaves the franchise as the Nets winningest coach in franchise history with a record of 225-241, which included multiple runs deep into the Eastern Conference, but leaves without an NBA title. Assistant coach Tom Barrise will take over as interim coach until a permanent replacement is found.

Don’t blame Frank for the Nets now infamous beginning to this season, or their 34-48 identical records the past two seasons, since management has continually slashed payroll by trading former and current All Stars like Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson, and Vince Carter to contenders and getting little in return. All Star point guard Devin Harris has been the only key player received back for trading away talent in recent seasons.

The Nets have traded being very bad this season for becoming very good next year by hopefully landing one of the top free agents next Summer like Lebron James in addition to getting a top 5 draft pick. The lure for any free agent would be playing in one of the country’s biggest markets(NY/NJ) and all of the advertising and endorsement deals which come with it. The Nets are also hoping to move to their new arena being built in Brooklyn in the next few seasons as well. The down side is that it looks like the Nets won’t be very good for a few years with a roster so barren of experienced talent.

Carmelo’s Air Jordan Hallowed Ground Oak Hill Academy PE

To honor Carmelo Anthony’s many successes in College and the NBA Jordan brand has made an Air Jordan Hallowed Ground Oak Hill Academy PE. Oak Hill is the High School Melo played at as a kid. The outer shell is black suede with red and yellow accents. Oak Hill is represented on the tongue and their logo on the insole. For more photos check out OSneaker

Carlos Delfino With A Huge Spike [Video]

Ignore the fact that Carlos Delfino of the Milwaukee Bucks always looks like he’s wearing make-up. Particularly around the eyes. Ignore the fact that i’m a firm believer in the logic that if a defender can get high enough to swat a ball into the stands or block a ball with any sort of downward force that he should theoretically be either catching the block or tapping it to his teammates to secure the possession.

So please ignore those two meaningless facts and simply enjoy the replay of Carlos Delfino’s ridiculous block on Mickael Pietrus of the Orlando Magic this weekend. Volleyball anyone?

Biggest and Best Prank Ever: The Million Dollar Half-Court Shot Fake

This could be the greatest prank ever. If not the best prank, it has to compete for the prank that involves the most people who are ‘in on the joke’. At the Thanksgiving Day game between the Utah Jazz and the Chicago Bulls, there was a half time show that got everyone laughing. An unsuspecting Lakers fan was told he won a shot at a Million Dollar prize by getting a chance to hit a half-court shot. We’ve all seen these full-court or half-court shot attempts at million dollar prizes before, so this isn’t that much of a stretch.

Here’s the catch though. They blindfold the guy, then as soon as the guy releases the ball on the shot, the promoters/jumbotron/cheerleaders tell the entire crowd to cheer really loudly. The ball was no where near going in, but as soon as the ‘prankee’ hears the roar of the crowd he figures he just won a million bucks. The sucker goes craaazy….then again who wouldn’t if they just thought they won a million bucks?

Amazing prank, but after all is said and done I sort of feel bad for this poor sap. What a rollercoaster of emotions. Ha. Enjoy:

Vintage Video: Jordan vs Bird in a Shootout

Allen Moll is an avid NBA and College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen is a regular columnist for thehoopdoctors.com, Bleacherreport.com, UpperDeckblog.com, and his own site, Hoops Haven.

Do you long for some great throwback NBA footage of superstars of the past featuring some of the game’s players? Do you miss watching games in which the jump shot was an art form and not an afterthought? Longing to see some of the NBA’s greatest grudge matches of teams wearing some of the league’s ugliest uniforms? If you are a fan of the game from back in the day, this is the series for you. Welcome to Vintage Video.

Back in 1986, Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics were still in their heyday, coming off of a 67 win season, and winning their 3rd NBA Title in the last three seasons. Boston still had their nucleus intact consisting of Bird, McHale, and Parish. While Magic and Bird were the era’s best players, a young 3rd year player named Michael Jordan was quickly becoming the game’s most lethal offensive force, which the league hadn’t seen since the days of Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West. In an early season game between the Celtics and Bulls, the teams’ two superstars put on a show, unveiling their entire offensive arsenal. Even though Boston won the game 110-98, mainly because Bird had a much better supporting cast, Jordan won the individual scoring battle by putting up a whopping 48 points to Birds’ 37 points(and 10 assists). When watching the video, keep in mind that for most of the game Jordan was being guarded by Hall of Famer Dennis Johnson, who was one of the game’s better defenders during the era.

Ron Artest and Sister Accused of Welfare Fraud in Indiana

With Ron Artest, the newest addition to the LA Lakers starting lineup, it has been one drama after another since the Malice at the Palace in 2004. His entire career has been marked by controversy. The Lakers were hoping that after a relatively drama free stint in Houston for the Rockets, Ron had left the negative off-court issues behind him. Well it seems the Lakers guard may be headed for a new set of off court distractions. It is being reported on You Been Blinded that Ron Artest and his Sister, Latoya Holmes-Ivey, are being investigated for welfare fraud.

Seems crazy right? Why would the sister of a multi-million dollar athlete need to collect welfare. That’s exactly what the police and housing authorities in Indiana are asking themselves. It may not be hard to prove that Artest was giving his sister money, but it will be very difficult to prove that Ron knew his sister was collecting welfare simultaneously while he paid her bills. Holmes-Ivey however may not be so lucky.

TheIndyChannel.com/6News HD had this to say:

The tip came from a former CPA at Tennessee-based TriStar Sports and Entertainment, the company that represents Artest, who now plays for the Los Angeles Lakers.

According to court documents, the ex-employee sent an e-mail to the Housing and Urban Development Office in Indianapolis claiming that TriStar, under the direction of Artest, was using one of his bank accounts to pay all of Holmes-Ivey’s bills.

The man requested to remain anonymous, saying that he could not, in good conscience, fail to report such an ethics infraction.

Housing authorities said that if the allegations are true, Holmes-Ivey would have used at least $34,000 in taxpayer money she was not entitled to.

Droppin’ Dimes: Where even Troy Aikman looks out of sorts this Thanksgiving…

‘Droppin’ Dimes’ is a daily list of stories from around the web that The Hoop Doctors are reading, and thinking you might want to check out too! They aren’t necessarily all about hoops, but could be anything from cage fighting, to a gallery of lovely ladies, to a story about proposed legislation to outlaw fat people in Japan (yes this happened).

• Aikman Looking Very Bearded and Jilly this Thanksgiving Holiday. [Busted Coverage]

• Dan Gilbert joined the Cavs announcing team last night and he made for an entertaining show. [Stepien Rules]

• What if Ben Wallace was never bought out by the Suns? Title worthy team? [Full Court Press]

• What Iverson meant to Hip-Hop. Great read! [Planet Ill]

• The Cage Docs break down the biggest ‘turkey’s’ (pun intended) in MMA fighting these days. [Cage Docs]

• Is Iverson already reconsidering his retirement? Less than 24 hours later? [Ball Don't Lie]

• MLB Pitching Greatness Is No Longer Measured By Wins. [Dugout Docs]

If you have extra time to kill at work and need some more links to cool stories, videos, and photo galleries of the day, then check out Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard Hot Clicks or the legendary Gorilla Mask by clicking on their logo’s below:

NBA Rumor: The Knicks Want Tracy McGrady

Allen Moll is an avid NBA and College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen is a regular columnist for thehoopdoctors.com, Bleacherreport.com, UpperDeckblog.com, and his own site, Hoops Haven.

The soap opera between the Houston Rockets and Tracy McGrady just keeps getting better. Last week, McGrady showed up for a team shoot around, dressed in his game uniform apparently without head coach Rick Adelman’s knowledge. He proceeded to go through all of the team drills in preparation of playing in that night’s game. There was only one problem……….the GM and team doctors haven’t cleared McGrady to play.

Once Adelman approached McGrady and informed him that he still wasn’t yet on the team’s active roster, McGrady became infuriated and reportedly forced Adelman inside of an unoccupied training room, after which a heated shouting match ensued which all of the players could hear out on the hardwood. It has been reported that the Rockets are in no hurry to activate McGrady since because of an insurance policy, they are collecting money back for each game he misses this season. Apparently they are a little bitter over having to pay more than $65+ million over the last three seasons to the former scoring champion who has only played in 101 games in that span.

The most recent rumor is that the NY Knicks have some interest in his services and have for some time. The Knicks recently refused to make an offer to Allen Iverson because of his excess baggage and unwillingness to spend even a small amount for the future Hall of Famer siting that Iverson would disrupt team chemistry and slow their younger players’ development. Let’s be honest. They didn’t want to put up with his BS either. Now they are willing to take on an even bigger contract, even if it is only for one season. McGrady also is legendary for not wanting to practice and has had major issues with coaches and management that rival Iverson.

For arguments sake, let’s see if the Knicks even could do the deal on paper. With McGrady making roughly $23 million this season, NY would have to send back a number of players to match that salary. The teams would essentially have to swap McGrady for Eddy Curry’s huge contract along with another expiring contract like Larry Hughes, Al Harrington, or Chris Duhon. To get the Rockets to take the deal, they would probably have to add one of their younger players like Wilson Chandler or Jordan Hill. They also have an ace up their sleave with the expiring contract of the now retired Cuttino Mobley to offer as well.

Imagine the possibilities for the Rockets. Adding Curry to Scola up front would give them a shot blocking center in place of the injured Yao Ming. Since Houston is offensively challenged, surely they would ask for Harrington or Hughes, both of which can score. Chandler is actually a very impressive 2nd year player who averaged 15 ppg last season. Add in the possibility that Ming could return before the season is over and the Rockets could suddenly be a force come playoff time. Would the Rockets want to upset the apple cart, so to speak, by altering a lineup that has been one of the surprises of the league this season? Or would they rather rest on their laurels and collect on the insurance?

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