Re: Allen Iverson : After the NBA
Man, I would love if Allen Iverson just went away.
Man, I would love if Allen Iverson just went away.
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Last edited by Jasong7777; 06-09-2011, 11:53 AM.Redskins, Lakers, Orioles, UNC Basketball , and ND Football
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Re: Allen Iverson : After the NBA
a few quotes from the last week from AI:
“Just give me a training camp,” he said. “Maybe I’ve rubbed people the wrong way as far as saying the things I’ve said in my life and in my career. But if any team needs me to help try and win a championship in any capacity, I’m waiting.”
He played for four teams in his last two NBA seasons, then left the Turkish club Besiktas with a leg injury. Iverson insisted he enjoyed his stay in Turkey.“It was one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had in my life,” he said. “They were great to me. They embraced me like I would never think. Everything was great as far as that experiment.”Iverson, who mashed hip-hop culture and hoops like no player before him, was perhaps at his peak in his fifth NBA season. He averaged 31.1 points, was the MVP of the All-Star game and propped an entire franchise on his 6-foot frame all the way to the finals.
For Iverson, the points and the big games aren’t what he remembers most about 2001.“My teammates. The love I had for them,” he said. “All of us had the same goal. It wasn’t the whole thing of us making it to the finals. It was just the partnership we had with each other. It was just the fact that we gave the city of Philadelphia everything we had every night. We weren’t the most talented team ever, but we competed night in and night out. That’s everything to me.”
“The only thing that I give a damn about is that the people that care about me know that I’m all right,” he said. “All I want is my real fans to know I’m fine, my wife is fine, my kids are fine. I’m fine and I’m looking forward to getting back on a team and being productive like I have been my whole career.”
NBAComment
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Re: Allen Iverson : After the NBA
Does he understand it wasnt what he said...but it was his attitude?Comment
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Re: Allen Iverson : After the NBA
And saying "any team that needs me to help win a championship, I'm waiting" is part of that attitude. I love AI but he needs to retire. He's not going to change who he is, and as much as I'd like to see him with a ring, I don't want him to change who he is... it's all part of what everyone loves about him.Comment
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Re: Allen Iverson : After the NBA
According to Mr. Iverson, he'll play for anybody now. AKA I need that money"
It doesn’t matter if it’s the Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors, Minnesota Timberwolves – or any of the NBA’s other basement dwellers. Allen Iverson(notes) will take your call. If you’re an NBA team and you have a spot open on your roster, Iverson is willing to talk.
“I’ll play for anybody,” Iverson told Yahoo! Sports.
A 10-time All-Star and former MVP, Iverson still wants back in the league even though he’s 36 and played only in Turkey last season. He’s one of the game’s greatest scorers, but his history of off-the-court drama and issues with coaches tainted his career, even in his last few seasons in the NBA. He complained about his role with the Detroit Pistons and griped about coming off the bench with the Memphis Grizzlies. Iverson took a leave of absence after playing three games with the Grizzlies two seasons ago and was eventually waived. That led him to announce his retirement – but a couple weeks later he signed with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Iverson ended up leaving the Sixers to spend time with his ill daughter, and he was eventually waived. He now says he was too distracted by his daughter’s health issues and divorce proceedings with his wife to stay focused in his last two NBA seasons.
“That wasn’t me at all,” Iverson said. “Obviously, I was dealing with the situation with my daughter and going through a divorce, and I wasn’t there mentally. In my career those last couple years were so hard for me because I wasn’t there. Mentally, I wasn’t there.
“During those 48 minutes on the basketball court, all I [ever] cared about was that time right there. Nothing else distracted me. But at times, I felt myself standing on the court just thinking about my daughter, thinking about the situation with me and my wife. I wasn’t giving [the teams] everything I had mentally.”
[Related: Former NBA players who have gone broke]
So what’s the difference now?
“Everything is fine,” Iverson said. [My wife and I] are still going through the process. But it’s not like it was. … I just felt like the right thing – even if it’s not me and her [together] – we got to be friends and cool with each other because we got five kids together. That was the most difficult part. And then once I got to there, as far as that situation, then everything was basically cool. My kids are healthy. I don’t have anything to worry about but basketball.”
Multiple reports within the past couple years said Iverson has been troubled by financial, alcohol and gambling issues. He admitted there was some truth to his personal problems but declined to go into detail, saying it “would take all day” to explain what wasn’t true.
“There are going to be people out there that say things,” Iverson said. “But it’s the same thing I teach my kids: ‘If it’s not true, why do you worry about it?’ It bothers me at times because I do have a heart, and my kids do have to hear some of those things. But that’s the only time it bothers me. I’m used to people saying a bunch of things about me that are not true.”
After no NBA team showed interest in signing him last season, Iverson agreed to a two-year, $4 million deal contract with Turkish team Besiktas. He returned to the United States shortly into the season because of a right calf injury and never returned to Turkey.
Iverson says he has no serious offers from any teams overseas right now. He added that playing overseas also gave him a stronger appreciation for the NBA since it took him away from his family and “the highest level [of basketball] in the world.” He also says he’ll be willing to come off the bench and a reserve role even “makes it easier for me.”
“Obviously, they might have some issues thinking I don’t want to help a team in a certain capacity,” Iverson said. “But that’s over with. All that was going on through an emotional time. It cost me to not play. I’m just willing to help any squad in any capacity.
[Related: Dr. J selling personal trophies, other memorabilia]
“Hopefully, one squad will believe in me and we will go from there. That would be a lot better than having to go overseas.”
Iverson says he’s completely healthy and can be in NBA shape in two weeks. He is hoping to show he can still play on an NBA level when he hosts his Las Vegas Superstar Challenge on Nov. 12-13.
Iverson will be one of four captains putting a team together in the four-team tournament. The winners of the two games on Nov. 12 will play in a championship game the next day. He announced Wednesday his stacked team is expected to include Kevin Durant(notes), Amar’e Stoudemire(notes), Paul Pierce(notes), Joe Johnson(notes), Zach Randolph(notes), Andre Iguodala(notes), Rudy Gay(notes), Jamal Crawford(notes), Thaddeus Young(notes), Shannon Brown(notes) and former NBA player Larry Hughes(notes). Other players expected to participate – provided the lockout isn’t over and players aren’t having to report to camp – include Monta Ellis(notes), Jimmer Fredette(notes), Stephen Jackson(notes), David Lee(notes), James Harden(notes), Tyreke Evans(notes), Derrick Williams(notes), Al Harrington(notes), Kemba Walker(notes) and Klay Thompson(notes).
“I wanted organizations to see me play and see what I can do on a high level against high-level people,” Iverson said.
Iverson’s accomplishments on the court merit his inclusion in the Basketball Hall of Fame. He’d just like to put one final stamp on his legacy that isn’t drenched in drama.
“It’s not where I want it to be,” Iverson said of his career. “When it does end, it’s going to end on a much better note than this right here. This is not the way it’s going to end. Even if I do have to go overseas to play in a competitive situation, it’s not going to end like this.
“I’m not going to let it end like this, and I don’t want it to end like this. My first step is doing everything I have to do to get back to that [NBA] level. But if that’s something that God doesn’t want from me, then that’s that.”#RespectTheCultureComment
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Re: Allen Iverson : After the NBA
lol.......Comment
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Re: Allen Iverson : After the NBA
I personally don't want AI to come back. He averages 26 and 6 assists for his career, has an MVP, a finals appearance, 10 All Star starts...his legacy is cemented. I would hate to see him come off the bench averaging 4 points and his scoring average drop from 26 to like 22.Comment
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Re: Allen Iverson : After the NBA
I disrespect this comment.
I somewhat agree with this. I'd hate to see him avg something like 4 points per game. I would like to see him go to a squad that'll put him in as like the 7th man or something, where he can still get like 18-19 mpg and can put up a decent amount of points. I most def want him to return. He's still my favorite player.Comment
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Re: Allen Iverson : After the NBA
n 31, 2012 - From the second the NBA left Allen Iverson, I wondered what in the world he would do without basketball. It seems "paying his bills" wasn't on his to-do list.
The gumshoes at TMZ say Iverson's bank account has been garnished to pay an exorbitant jewelry bill. Per American custom, that's brought out snickers and finger wagging. Iverson made over $150 million, according to basketball-reference.com. Now, he's 36-years-old and can't even come up with the money to pay for bling he's too old to wear.
People laugh when rich folks struggle. In this case, I see two levels of tragedy. There's the predictability of it all. Even the best adjusted athletes have a million factors to fight when their careers are done, from divorces to simply trying to fill the hours of each day without practices and games. Plus, athletes, figurative lottery winners, are like the literal ones -- they often find a way to blow all their cash.
And successful he was. The city he played in, Philadelphia, loved him for his passion. His teams won. He brought home scoring titles, led his team to six playoff series victories and dragged a motley crew of role players to the NBA Finals. And, for better or worse, he brought his people with him. No matter how silly it was to support dozens of people, or how selfishly Iverson handled his role in a team sport, he'd reached places that once seemed impossible for him.
That's why, no matter how boorish he could be or how self-inflicted his problems were, I rooted for Iverson on the court, and why I will continue to do so in life. He earned what he had, and he had a chance for even more. The short, skinny underdog who played harder than anyone in recent memory could be king, and he nearly did so without compromising personally or professionally. Even if that made him a jerk, it was one worthy of respect.
The older I got, the clearer it became that A.I. was going about things all wrong. The braids were a lot cooler in 2001 than ‘09, especially since they were worn by someone 26, not 34. The one-man offense was more defensible when that man, at the very least, was a capable NBA starter. He maxed out what he could do through force of personality and little else. His aging body needed a nuanced game that he hadn't picked up. His ego needed to be commensurate with his diminishing skills to find a place. And he needed to see, clearly, that he was losing basketball, which was the linchpin that held together everything he had.
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Re: Allen Iverson : After the NBA
Saw this earlier but I still have faith.Comment
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Re: Allen Iverson : After the NBA
And he just continues to fall...#RespectTheCultureComment
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Re: Allen Iverson : After the NBA
Faith in what Alt?
At some point he'll be too old to run up and down the court even for pickup gamesComment
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