AI/Grizzlies agree to terminate contract

[DC]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

I don't think Copone understands the argument we are presenting. He is simply taking it as a cheap shot to AI's character/skills.

[Bornindamecca]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

I don't think Copone understands the argument we are presenting. He is simply taking it as a cheap shot to AI's character/skills.

He's just saying things to get a rise out of people. Kind of like when Bill Simmons writes an article on anything. I don't for one second believe he can't see our side(and by "our" I mean damn near everyone else in the thread) of this issue.

No sane grown man could excuse AI's behavior this thoroughly. He's just bored, and is enjoying the back and forth.

[dopeboy206]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

I wish he would retire so we won't have any more 400 reply thread's everytime he does something stupid.

Ever if he retires there will be:

***400 replies to another thread about his retirement.
***Threads about his career
***Threads about how he compared to other HOF guards
***post and arguements about him not winning a ring.

Trust me talks about AI won't die on OS for a long time.

[o_capone]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

Yeah, but you're strictly dealing the devil's advocate to us. So, there's that.

As for the personal reasons thing...who gives a **** what it is. If it's serious, I hope he gets through it. But, he took the time during this break to get the word out that he is considering retirement. Color me skeptical.




Not really.

You say things like who gives a **** what the personal reasons are, but i'm playing devil's advocate? You know there is a such thing as difference of opinion right? I think you saying who gives a **** about the personal reasons shows way more character flaws than what Allen Iverson did. That's not playing devil's advocate, that is my opinion.

He's just saying things to get a rise out of people. Kind of like when Bill Simmons writes an article on anything. I don't for one second believe he can't see our side(and by "our" I mean damn near everyone else in the thread) of this issue.

No sane grown man could excuse AI's behavior this thoroughly. He's just bored, and is enjoying the back and forth.

The same could easily be said about you guys. There is NOT one thing that proves you guys right over me. You guys have such big egos that you believe in your mind that you're right and I am wrong. You would never look at things from a different point of view. The funny thing is when you guys say its ME vs ALL OF YOU. There have been SEVERAL people who responded in this thread saying basically the same things as me. You guys are just using me as a scapegoat because I have responded more often than the other guys who have responded in support of Iverson. I have no reason to get a "rise" out of you.

I completely understand though. You guys want this thread to be an Iverson bash fest with no interruptions and no opposition. That is what i'm starting to pick up now.

"Either bash with us, or else you are doing something wrong and don't belong here"!

You guys are supposed to be more mature than this man... This is why I come to OS, to get a break from the children at the 2K forums... Most of you have been here many years so you can't be TOO young. You should be able to accept a difference of opinion without trying to make someone look bad. You guys are starting to take shots at me because I have a difference in opinion. That's all bad...

[DTX3]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

Iverson always starts with an 'I'

Anyone who paid attention to Allen Iverson's me-first carping with the Pistons last season should not be surprised that his stopover in Memphis soured in about a nanosecond.

Iverson balked at coming off the bench with the Pistons, just as he is balking now with the Grizzlies.

It does not matter that he has slowed down at 34 years old. It does not matter that he attracted scant interest as a free agent last summer. It does not matter that Memphis looms as his last stop in the NBA.

Iverson has too much pride, ego and hubris to be content with coming off the bench.

He apparently would rather sabotage what is left of his NBA career than accept the reality of his birth certificate.

"It's something that I never did in my life, so obviously it's a big adjustment," he said last week about coming off the bench. "I'm so tired of discussing that, talking about that, every single day. It's just not something I want to discuss."

He does not want to discuss it now after letting everyone know that he objects to anything but a starting role with the Grizzlies.

And so, conveniently enough, Iverson has been granted an indefinite leave of absence to tend to a "personal matter."

That personal matter is whether he will step from the abyss and return to the Grizzlies or retire in a snit.

The Grizzlies also could seek to trade Iverson, except that potentiality begs an obvious question. Which general manager would be foolish enough to take a chance on the petulant one, given his limited upside?

Iverson is not about to lead a team deep into the playoffs at this point in his career. He is not about to be a mentor to a team's up-and-coming players. And he is not about to accept a subservient role, even if he is in the starting lineup.

That is the other thing with Iverson. It is not just about being a starter with him. It also is about his unwillingness to recognize his limitations. He still wants to dominate the basketball. He still wants to take 20 to 25 shots a game. He still believes it is his world and that his teammates are mere conduits to his needs.

If Iverson is mulling retirement, as the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports, it would be, in a way, a fitting end.

Iverson always has been a lightning rod wherever he has been in the NBA. He always has feuded with coaches and general managers. He always has done things his way, which is not necessarily the team way.

He was coddled and indulged because of his talent, because on some nights he could hoist a team on his narrow shoulders and lead it to victory.

Those days are forever gone, though, and Iverson is the only person who fails to see it.

If he were not so short-sighted, Iverson would have transitioned to the role of wily veteran by now. That is what the smart ones do. Their minds compensate for what their bodies no longer can do. And they end up milking a few more seasons out of their careers, sometimes unearthing an unlikely reward.

That was the case with David Robinson in San Antonio. Long the alpha male of the Spurs, Robinson deferred to Tim Duncan late in his career and ended up securing two NBA championships.

But not Iverson. There is no deference in him. He is going out kicking and screaming.

"I'm not trying to figure out how to contribute to no team," he said. "I contribute to a team by just playing. That's it. I don't have to figure it out."

That threatens to be to his everlasting regret.

He has nothing to figure out.

He just needs the freedom to be who he is - a fading star who hoists 20 to 25 shots a game.

That sounds like a ticket to Europe.

Iverson's me-first attitude just doesn't cut it any longer

Reportedly, Allen Iverson is contemplating his lot in life and no doubt counting the loot he basically fleeced from the Memphis Grizzlies.

For a guy whose lethal cross-over dribble forced the NBA to review its interpretation of the rule, the Answer finds himself at a career cross-road, not knowing whether to turn left, right, take a step back or just call it quits.

Here's hoping Iverson never steps on to a court again.

Iverson has become a joke, a delusional player who has never taken a hard look in the mirror.

There are those who actually pity this man, a fierce competitor who will one day be enshrined in basketball's Hall of Fame.

A former league MVP, Iverson copped four scoring titles and was named to 10 all-star teams.

Followers of the Raptors will never forget the epic playoff series that pitted Iverson and Vince Carter, a showdown that ended in Carter's missed jumper at the buzzer in Game 7 at Philadelphia's First Union Center.

Iverson would post two 50-point games, a feat only Michael Jordan had produced, but somewhat overlooked was the 16 assists he dished out in the Sixers' one-point win in the decisive game.

Iverson had that ability to defer, but it was as fleeting as this year's Raptors team making a defensive stop.

Iverson's legacy is forever tarnished.

He wanted out of Philly and never did embrace the team concept when Iverson was peddled to Denver.

He then pouted when the Nuggets jettisoned Iverson to Detroit in exchange for Chauncey Billups, who is everything Iverson isn't.

Iverson told reporters in Motown that he'd rather retire than be asked to come off the bench.

And now Iverson is in the exact same spot in a different city that clearly did not understand the risks inherent with a time bomb that is the me-first Iverson.

The Grizzlies have to bear some of the blame.

They took a chance, hoping Iverson's arrival would generate some kind of excitement in a market that is bereft of basketball buzz.

Memphis paid Iverson $3.5 million US.

"I'm not trying to figure out how to contribute to no team," Iverson was quoted as saying prior to a recent loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, a team Iverson battled in the NBA final when the Answer was chosen MVP in 2001.

"I contribute to a team by just playing. That's it. I don't have to figure it out. Obviously, they signed me for a reason. They've been watching me play this game for 13 years and they know what I do on the basketball court. I don't have to figure out how I'm going to play or anything like that. I just go out and play basketball."

Much like his now-famous take on the merits of practising, Iverson reinforced just how little he knows about team play.

No one should dismiss his talents, his drive and toughness, but Iverson has completely lost all sense of reality and credibility.

Iverson could have evolved into a solid rotation piece on a championship-calibre team.

He could have, conceivably, won an elusive championship.

But he had to first admit that he longer was a go-to guy. He had to somehow convince his mind that being a second or third option wasn't a knock.

Iverson, though, won't accept it because he never did. Iverson convinced himself that he was always better than any opponent, coach or teammate.

To make matters worse, Iverson surrounded himself with people who told him what he wanted to hear and not what he needed to hear.

What's sad is that Iverson came across as a fresh-faced kid when Georgetown paid a visit to Maple Leaf Gardens in Iverson's freshman year in college.

After his sophomore season, Iverson turned pro and became the first overall pick in the much-heralded class of 1996, a year that ushered in the likes of Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant.

Iverson is 34, but he's closer to being 4.

INDEFINITE LEAVE

This past weekend, Iverson left the Grizzlies after the team allowed him to take an indefinite leave of absence to deal with a personal matter.

Strip away the b.s., and basically Iverson was told to either get his head on straight or head straight out of town.

Owner Michael Heisley spent two days in California with Iverson.

"I'm not in Allen's head,'' Heisley told The Associated Press. "I don't know what he's thinking."

Join the group.

Also, Michael Wilbon is crazy to say Cleveland is a perfect place for the "answer". I'd love to see that. Fail written all over that.

[P2K]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

You say things like who gives a **** what the personal reasons are, but i'm playing devil's advocate? You know there is a such thing as difference of opinion right? I think you saying who gives a **** about the personal reasons shows way more character flaws than what Allen Iverson did. That's not playing devil's advocate, that is my opinion.

I said "who gives a ****" because if I'm going through something bad with family, I'm not using that time as a chance to mope and talk to everyone about being upset over the Grizz situation and considering retirement.

And you are playing the devil's advocate. It's that or you're a stone cold contrarian. Either way, it's not working well for ya.

[candiasis]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

Capone ignore p2k man, he trolls AI in every thread he can. Anyways here's wilbon's article i think he sums things up pretty objectively: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...111016558.html

[P2K]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

Capone ignore p2k man, he trolls AI in every thread he can.

Ok, pot.

[Pappy Knuckles]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

Capone ignore p2k man, he trolls AI in every thread he can. Anyways here's wilbon's article i think he sums things up pretty objectively: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...111016558.html

Good article. I'd like A.I. in Cleveland.

[23]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

Capone ignore p2k man, he trolls AI in every thread he can. Anyways here's wilbon's article i think he sums things up pretty objectively: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...111016558.html

The mods will determine when someone is trolling the forums

What you're doing is heading to an infraction by taking personal shots at posters and im warning you now the next time it happens dont be shocked that you've recieved a red card.

[Jukeman]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

Game 1 of the 2001 Finals is on NBATV..

[bubbachuck]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

Capone ignore p2k man, he trolls AI in every thread he can. Anyways here's wilbon's article i think he sums things up pretty objectively: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...111016558.html

great article... that would def be a good fit cause i just dont see how AI could complain if lebron and shaq are there to tell him to quite down.

[BlueNGold]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

Bye bye A.I.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4661327

Sad to see it end this way. I don't really know where he goes from here...

[23]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

LOL wow

They did say they'd drop him if he had any issues. Maybe he forced this from the jump

[DTX3]

Re: Guess who already sounds upset in Memphis

Retire, A.I. Your image is destroyed.