Allen Iverson got cut yesterday—by the Grizzlies. Ouch. Talk about a sucker punch to the gut (or an enormously huge ego). Being cut by the Memphis Grizzlies is like…well, being cut by the Memphis Grizzlies: it doesn’t get any worse than that.
How does a 10-time all-star, scoring champion, “pound-for-pound toughest player in the NBA” fall off of the map so fast? I guess it’s pretty easy when you are a 34 year old selfish ball-hog who refuses to swallow his pride and come off the bench.
At this point in AI’s career, he is the basketball equivalent of the wildcat, no more than a gimmick. You can’t win with him. You couldn’t truly win with him when he was in his prime, before he lost a step (or two). He was never a Michael or Kobe, who made their teammates better. He was a prima donna with a “just gimme the damn ball” mentality who ran out more coaches than T.O. has quarterbacks.
Iverson could still be productive in this league and, I don’t know, maybe win a championship instead of a scoring title. Could you imagine having a selfless Allen Iverson coming off your bench and giving your team the spark that he is capable of giving (ala the microwave)? Probably not, since Pistons fans definitely didn’t see that. Instead we got to see vintage AI: not going to practice (we talkin’ ‘bout practice?) on Thanksgiving, refusing to come off the bench and succumb to the up-and-coming Rodney Stuckey, and getting a first year coach essentially fired.
Do I blame Joe Dumars? No, he knows what he is doing. Unfortunately, our window of opportunity with the incumbent players was shrinking, and Joey D made a move. Either we were going to see Iverson circa 2002, or he was going to bust and create cap space for a new crop of ‘Stones.
I think it’s time for AI to hang ’em up, because the only team that has expressed any interest is the Knicks. Yikes.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
