AI/Grizzlies agree to terminate contract

[23]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

Let me tell you something

The Grizz were nothing before this year

You know what that means, they have nothing to prove. If they suck, its not out of the norm

Because of that... they are not the problem because there is no winning to disturb.

What you have here is a guy who is essentially eating himself alive because he refuses change.

He doesnt realize he's playing for a team that already has nothing to lose anyway, and yet he still finds a way to develop a problem

AFTER THE VERY FIRST GAME!!!!!

When he's gone only his image will be tarnished, but the Grizzlies will remain what they are, a bottom dweller team with nothing to lose

Him...he's screwing his own chances up. He didnt want to act right in DET, nor here either...Writings on the wall and he cant even see it

[NINJAK2]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

^ So instead of bad mouthing the coaching decision to the media, why didn't he take the mature route and talk to the coach (who he STILL has yet to speak with; not saying it is his fault) one-on-one as a man?

No one was telling MJ to talk to his team behind closed doors when he was throwing his Bulls teammates under the bus in the media or his wizard teammates in his later years. What about when Kobe undermined his team and coach when he refused to take shots in Sac-Town to prove a point about his value. I've never seen a player pull some b.s. like that during a game man. I understand a lot of people hate the guy but some of you guys pulling up rediculous comments like him dribbling the ball 18 seconds and ignoring posts that show guys like Wade and Kobe hold the ball longer than a.i. in comparison crack me up.

The fact remains that any highly competetive athlete when they are losing alot or feel they aren't being utilized right are going to speak out eventually-right or wrong. Coach Mora throwing Olindo Mare under the bus. Singletary blasting Davis. LJ punking Coach Haley. Pau Gasol throwing Sasha under the bus for Ray Allen getting that game winner in the finals. Horry throwing a towel in Coach Ainge's face during a game. Carmelo refusing to come out of a game. All done in/thru the media. All examples of disrespecting teammates or coaches in public. People need to stop acting like he is the 1st and last person who will ever do it. Iverson is not the devil............

[o_capone]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

No one was telling MJ to talk to his team behind closed doors when he was throwing his Bulls teammates under the bus in the media or his wizard teammates in his later years. What about when Kobe undermined his team and coach when he refused to take shots in Sac-Town to prove a point about his value. I've never seen a player pull some b.s. like that during a game man. I understand a lot of people hate the guy but some of you guys pulling up rediculous comments like him dribbling the ball 18 seconds and ignoring posts that show guys like Wade and Kobe hold the ball longer than a.i. in comparison crack me up.

The fact remains that any highly competetive athlete when they are losing alot or feel they aren't being utilized right are going to speak out eventually-right or wrong. Coach Mora throwing Olindo Mare under the bus. Singletary blasting Davis. LJ punking Coach Haley. Pau Gasol throwing Sasha under the bus for Ray Allen getting that game winner in the finals. Horry throwing a towel in Coach Ainge's face during a game. Carmelo refusing to come out of a game. All done in/thru the media. All examples of disrespecting teammates or coaches in public. People need to stop acting like he is the 1st and last person who will ever do it. Iverson is not the devil............

Preach on my brotha! I know people will come in and try to discount what you just said, but just know everyone thinking logical will feel you!

[Vince]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

No one was telling MJ to talk to his team behind closed doors when he was throwing his Bulls teammates under the bus in the media or his wizard teammates in his later years. What about when Kobe undermined his team and coach when he refused to take shots in Sac-Town to prove a point about his value. I've never seen a player pull some b.s. like that during a game man. I understand a lot of people hate the guy but some of you guys pulling up rediculous comments like him dribbling the ball 18 seconds and ignoring posts that show guys like Wade and Kobe hold the ball longer than a.i. in comparison crack me up.

The fact remains that any highly competetive athlete when they are losing alot or feel they aren't being utilized right are going to speak out eventually-right or wrong. Coach Mora throwing Olindo Mare under the bus. Singletary blasting Davis. LJ punking Coach Haley. Pau Gasol throwing Sasha under the bus for Ray Allen getting that game winner in the finals. Horry throwing a towel in Coach Ainge's face during a game. Carmelo refusing to come out of a game. All done in/thru the media. All examples of disrespecting teammates or coaches in public. People need to stop acting like he is the 1st and last person who will ever do it. Iverson is not the devil............

1 freaking game...don't give me that nonsense about players speaking out....

ONE FREAKING GAME...

[DC]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

No one was telling MJ to talk to his team behind closed doors when he was throwing his Bulls teammates under the bus in the media or his wizard teammates in his later years. What about when Kobe undermined his team and coach when he refused to take shots in Sac-Town to prove a point about his value. I've never seen a player pull some b.s. like that during a game man. I understand a lot of people hate the guy but some of you guys pulling up rediculous comments like him dribbling the ball 18 seconds and ignoring posts that show guys like Wade and Kobe hold the ball longer than a.i. in comparison crack me up.

The fact remains that any highly competetive athlete when they are losing alot or feel they aren't being utilized right are going to speak out eventually-right or wrong. Coach Mora throwing Olindo Mare under the bus. Singletary blasting Davis. LJ punking Coach Haley. Pau Gasol throwing Sasha under the bus for Ray Allen getting that game winner in the finals. Horry throwing a towel in Coach Ainge's face during a game. Carmelo refusing to come out of a game. All done in/thru the media. All examples of disrespecting teammates or coaches in public. People need to stop acting like he is the 1st and last person who will ever do it. Iverson is not the devil............

You are right, nobody got on Jordan, anything he did was golden and folks found a way to flip it into some form of "being competitive." But that is a different story.

Jordan has nothing to do with this. Allen does. He shouldn't STILL be acting this way. You can't be a cancer wherever you go man and expect folks to believe it isn't you.

How are we acting like this is the FIRST time? Because we are talking about it? I don't understand that logic at all.

Also keep in mind, Iverson did all of this after the FIRST game. I could see if it was a growing trend, but the FIRST game. Again, I don't understand how you can defend this behavior.

[Vince]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

only extreme A.I. apologists can defend this crap.

[Brankles]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

No one was telling MJ to talk to his team behind closed doors when he was throwing his Bulls teammates under the bus in the media or his wizard teammates in his later years. What about when Kobe undermined his team and coach when he refused to take shots in Sac-Town to prove a point about his value. I've never seen a player pull some b.s. like that during a game man. I understand a lot of people hate the guy but some of you guys pulling up rediculous comments like him dribbling the ball 18 seconds and ignoring posts that show guys like Wade and Kobe hold the ball longer than a.i. in comparison crack me up.

The fact remains that any highly competetive athlete when they are losing alot or feel they aren't being utilized right are going to speak out eventually-right or wrong. Coach Mora throwing Olindo Mare under the bus. Singletary blasting Davis. LJ punking Coach Haley. Pau Gasol throwing Sasha under the bus for Ray Allen getting that game winner in the finals. Horry throwing a towel in Coach Ainge's face during a game. Carmelo refusing to come out of a game. All done in/thru the media. All examples of disrespecting teammates or coaches in public. People need to stop acting like he is the 1st and last person who will ever do it. Iverson is not the devil............

These are all examples of frustration building up over a season.

The only action that was even acceptable out of the bunch was Singletary putting Vernon Davis on blast as a motivational tool for his team and for Davis.

The rest of them... nobody was defending those actions after they were done. Nobody was applauding Horry for throwing a towel in Ainge's face. Nobody said "Hey, great job Larry Johnson! Way to call everyone around you homosexuals! I would have done the same!"

But here you have people (o_capone mostly) saying Iverson did the right thing by questioning his coach in public and quitting the team. Yes, questioning coaches has been done before. It comes out of moments of frustration that usually build up over time. Then these situations are typically handled behind closed doors. This was not a case of built up frustration... this was done after, in the words of Vince, "ONE FREAKING GAME!"

The VERY first instance of adversity and Iverson is going behind his coach and talking to the media. This isn't like him, either. He usually keeps his mouth shut and plays. But he didn't this time and he's deservedly getting criticized in the media. He did almost everything you're not supposed to, but some people are applauding him for it. If any other athlete did this, they would be criticized, too. Brian Scalabrine or LeBron James.

It's just something you don't do in sports. And it's definitely something you don't do after "ONE FREAKING GAME!" To say otherwise is ignorant.

[NINJAK2]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

You are right, nobody got on Jordan, anything he did was golden and folks found a way to flip it into some form of "being competitive." But that is a different story.

Jordan has nothing to do with this. Allen does. He shouldn't STILL be acting this way. You can't be a cancer wherever you go man and expect folks to believe it isn't you.

How are we acting like this is the FIRST time? Because we are talking about it? I don't understand that logic at all.

Also keep in mind, Iverson did all of this after the FIRST game. I could see if it was a growing trend, but the FIRST game. Again, I don't understand how you can defend this behavior.

Jordan is not a different story DC, he pulled the same kind of garbage and no one said a thing about it. That's my point. It sure as heck would not be 32 pages if this was MJ doing this(It's also been known that MJ developed a nasty habit of missng PRACTICE for golf rounds-putting the blind fold over my eyes in preparation for MJ's firing squad). You had people defending mj in that chamillionaire thread saying maybe mj doesn't like rappers or the fact that people should expect superstars to be that way. HAHAHA.

I am not saying it's ok i'm saying this kind of thing happens all the time and no one really gives a rat's behind unless the person doing it is someone they didn't really care for in the first place. In sports just as in video game criticism the haters are usually louder and more vocal than the non-haters or people in the middle. Who cares if he said this after game one or Game 79? He felt he wasn't being used right and spoke out about it. That's it.

The Grizzlies also share some blame imo for signing the guy and not being upfront about his role with the team. I highly doubt they told A.I. he would be coming off the bench averaging 23-24 minutes a game when they signed him other wise he would not have signed. If they signed this guy without being upfront with him as the whole world knew what A.I. wanted, then they deserve what happens to the them.

If people want to bring up the Pistons fiasco, Rip already backed him up that that situation was not A.I.'s fault and the coaching staff was being dishonest and uncommitted about rotations to everyone. He pretty much said THE WHOLE TEAM stopped communicating with the coach after a certain point and did not trust him. The difference being that Ivy actually spoke up about his disdain of what was going on to the press.

I certainly understand why people feel the way they do about the situation and A.I.'s behavior though.

[Cebby]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

Jordan is not a different story DC, he pulled the same kind of garbage and no one said a thing about it. That's my point. It sure as heck would not be 32 pages if this was MJ doing this(It's also been known that MJ developed a nasty habit of missng PRACTICE for golf rounds-putting the blind fold over my eyes in preparation for MJ's firing squad). You had people defending mj in that chamillionaire thread saying maybe mj doesn't like rappers or the fact that people should expect superstars to be that way. HAHAHA.

That's exactly why Jordan is a different story.

Jordan is unique in modern sports because he will be loved regardless of anything he does. There is no reason to bring Jordan up because of this.

That's DC's point on Jordan. To an alarming number of folks in their 20s and 30s, he's like a wife. Even if he gets metaphorically fat, bald, and cuts off the sex, they will still believe he is perfect.

[candiasis]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

The owner says he has granted leave for a completely unrelated matter: "Griz owner Michael Heisley vehemently insisted that Iverson needed time off to handle an important family issue. A timetable for Iverson’s return is unknown.

The veteran guard did not ask for a trade or request to be waived. Heisley said the team knew about Iverson’s issue before signing him to a one-year, $3.1 million contract in September.

“I’m not going to get into the personal reason but it has nothing to do with the other stuff,” Heisley said, referring to Iverson’s public displeasure over his reserve role. “I’m the guy who said he could go. It’s a real family issue that I don’t think should be reported.” "

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/nov/07/allen-iverson-leaves-grizzlies-personal-reasons/

It could just be conincidental, either way i can't blame him for speaking his mind, a player of his caliber shouldn't be riding the bench on a losing team side (behind mike conley...) and if the grizzlies thought he'd be happy to be relegated to a back up role whilst losing to sub par teams well they should have known better.

I think this has been blown pretty far out of proportion, im gonna wait this one out and see how things fare, the grizzlies still appear to want AI (well that's at least what the owner says) but no doubt him and the coach aren't on the same page right now. It'll either be smoothened out over the weekend or they'll move to trade him, im betting on the former. Just seems there's been a serious lack of communication from both ai and the coach atm, if the coach had told him straight up what his plans were for AI in the coming weeks AI wouldn't have spoken out with such disdain about his minutes in the first place, also if his family situation at home really has him 'on edge' atm like they stated, maybe that's why he's been shooting from the hip so quickly.

He's a competitive guy and he doesn't want to see the team fall into a 2-10 hole before he gets the chance to make a difference himself, but coming back from a semi serious and new injury (for him) he should have known better than to talk to the media instead of the coach directly, but maybe Hollins isn't the approachable type they both seem pretty strong headed/prideful. You have to remember the politics that come with coaching if Hollins plays AI and they still lose he looks worse than if he brings him into a lineup that's already in a 'rebuilding/player development' hole 20 games into the season. Hollins prob thinks he's got a better chance of surviving if he sings the rebuilding tune rather than a go all out and try to win now tune. Ah well, i just wanna see AI play this year, hope this stuff gets figured out.

[tehova]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

Jordan is not a different story DC, he pulled the same kind of garbage and no one said a thing about it. That's my point. It sure as heck would not be 32 pages if this was MJ doing this(It's also been known that MJ developed a nasty habit of missng PRACTICE for golf rounds-putting the blind fold over my eyes in preparation for MJ's firing squad). You had people defending mj in that chamillionaire thread saying maybe mj doesn't like rappers or the fact that people should expect superstars to be that way. HAHAHA.

I am not saying it's ok i'm saying this kind of thing happens all the time and no one really gives a rat's behind unless the person doing it is someone they didn't really care for in the first place. In sports just as in video game criticism the haters are usually louder and more vocal than the non-haters or people in the middle. Who cares if he said this after game one or Game 79? He felt he wasn't being used right and spoke out about it. That's it.

The Grizzlies also share some blame imo for signing the guy and not being upfront about his role with the team. I highly doubt they told A.I. he would be coming off the bench averaging 23-24 minutes a game when they signed him other wise he would not have signed. If they signed this guy without being upfront with him as the whole world knew what A.I. wanted, then they deserve what happens to the them.

If people want to bring up the Pistons fiasco, Rip already backed him up that that situation was not A.I.'s fault and the coaching staff was being dishonest and uncommitted about rotations to everyone. He pretty much said THE WHOLE TEAM stopped communicating with the coach after a certain point and did not trust him. The difference being that Ivy actually spoke up about his disdain of what was going on to the press.

I certainly understand why people feel the way they do about the situation and A.I.'s behavior though.

In the press conference at his signing both Iverson and the owner said no promises were made regarding playing time and the coach said the decision would be made through training camp and practices.

Iverson was injured so there is no way he deserved to start based on the agreed criteria.

[NINJAK2]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

These are all examples of frustration building up over a season.

The only action that was even acceptable out of the bunch was Singletary putting Vernon Davis on blast as a motivational tool for his team and for Davis.

The rest of them... nobody was defending those actions after they were done. Nobody was applauding Horry for throwing a towel in Ainge's face. Nobody said "Hey, great job Larry Johnson! Way to call everyone around you homosexuals! I would have done the same!"

But here you have people (o_capone mostly) saying Iverson did the right thing by questioning his coach in public and quitting the team. Yes, questioning coaches has been done before. It comes out of moments of frustration that usually build up over time. Then these situations are typically handled behind closed doors. This was not a case of built up frustration... this was done after, in the words of Vince, "ONE FREAKING GAME!"

The VERY first instance of adversity and Iverson is going behind his coach and talking to the media. This isn't like him, either. He usually keeps his mouth shut and plays. But he didn't this time and he's deservedly getting criticized in the media. He did almost everything you're not supposed to, but some people are applauding him for it. If any other athlete did this, they would be criticized, too. Brian Scalabrine or LeBron James.

It's just something you don't do in sports. And it's definitely something you don't do after "ONE FREAKING GAME!" To say otherwise is ignorant.

I'm with you B kind of with Singletary(Like his passion and honesty alot- I laughed out loud when I saw that as I've never seen a coach do that to one of his players before) but he could have easily said that in the locker room after the game instead of post game to millions right? He pretty much singled out one guy publicly and put him on blast. He was vocal about something/someone he didn't like and made it public knowledge. Like A.I., shouldn't he be doing this behind closed doors? Guess it's ok in this instance huh? If it's bad to do in a.i.'s situation shouldn't it also be bad here?

If LeBron were to throw Mike Brown under the bus everyone would probably be in agreement as people have been calling him incompetent for awhile here Brankles- be honest man. He would not catch this kind of venom for it.

If Scales were to whine about Doc no one would care as people consider him lucky to be on such a talented team. Of course he would get grilled. He is a career role player.

It's obvious this is about respect to a.i. He feels he is being disrespected. He is not the kind of guy who is going to get disrespected multiple times before speaking up. That's always been his m.o.

[23]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

I dont see what Michael Jordan has to do with a malcontent.

MJ earned his respect, lets not even go there. He was hated early on in his career so lets not even go there.

Thing is MJ was smart enough to change, and not only that he contributed alot to the game and his team

All you hear is ME ME ME coming from AI's mouth from day 1.

We shouldnt even be having this discussion right now because he's with a new team but the fact that decided he was more important than ALL after just 1 GAME ought to tell you he has trouble curbing his issues.

LOL I mean he went to DET and willfully missed the 1st practice when the rest of the team went even though they didnt want to.

Here we are again, yet its the teams fault again

[sportyguyfl31]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

Think we can drive a stake into the heart of the AI, " self sacraficing, give 110% at all times, warrior," myth now?

[Brankles]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

I'm with you B kind of with Singletary(Like his passion and honesty alot- I laughed out loud when I saw that as I've never seen a coach do that to one of his players before) but he could have easily said that in the locker room after the game instead of post game to millions right? He pretty much singled out one guy publicly and put him on blast. He was vocal about something/someone he didn't like and made it public knowledge. Like A.I., shouldn't he be doing this behind closed doors? Guess it's ok in this instance huh? If it's bad to do in a.i.'s situation shouldn't it also be bad here?

No, that's a coach challenging his player. Singletary wasn't whining or complaining. This happens all the time in sports. "We are who we thought they were"... "Playoffs?!" Coaches are allowed to challenge their players at any point, players should not be challenging their coaches one game into the season.

The only time a player needs to challenge a coach is when it is a recurring problem that is ruining the team and hurting the organization, and even still this should be done behind closed doors.

If LeBron were to throw Mike Brown under the bus everyone would probably be in agreement as people have been calling him incompetent for awhile here Brankles- be honest man. He would not catch this kind of venom for it.

Right. I don't like Mike Brown, either. This would be after however many seasons, though? It's not like Mike Brown came to Cleveland, lost the very first game of the very first season, and LeBron publicly cry to the media and immediately start going into Mike Brown's lack of creativity and talent as a coach.

If Scales were to wine about Doc no one would care as people consider him lucky to be on such a talented team. Of course he would get grilled. He is a career role player.

Scalabrine would get laughed off the team, kinda similar to what happened to AI.

It's obvious this is about respect to a.i. He feels he is being disrespected. He is not the kind of guy who is going to get disrespected multiple times before speaking up. That's always been his m.o.

But "multiple" times is not one game, coming off of an injury, on a brand new team. "Multiple" times is like 20 games in, the team is 3-17 and AI has been healthy the whole time but is playing 15 mpg.

Do you really think what Iverson did was the best option here? I mean, can we all at least admit what he did was not the right thing to do?