| How The Mighty Have Fallen Authored by Patrick J. Austin - September 9, 2009 - 11:10 pm
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Allen Iverson is now a member of the fledgling, always-rebuilding Memphis Grizzlies. On a one-year contract no less…for mid-level money...and he was lucky to get that.
My o’ my how the mighty have fallen.
How did this happen? When did “the Answer” become a “Question Mark” for so many teams? It’s not like he’s coming off microfracture knee surgery (which completely altered the careers of Chris Webber, Tracy McGrady, and many others). A.I. has always battled through injuries. His stats are solid. He averaged 17.5 points per game and 5 assists per game last season. He has career averages 27 points per game and 6.2 assists per game.
So how can someone who’s still productive and has a proven track record of being a major contributor struggle to find a home? Two reasons:
1.) His brief tenure with the Detroit Pistons did more damage to Iverson’s reputation around the league than most outsiders realize. It’s amazing how one mediocre season can completely alter the perception of a player, but that’s exactly what happened. Some people even attribute the major setback of the Pistons franchise last season directly to trading the ever-popular Chauncey Billups for the enigmatic Iverson. In reality, Iverson was not the culprit of the Pistons downfall. That team had been taking baby steps toward mediocrity when they fired Flip Saunders after a 50 win season and Joe Dumars started to believe he was the second coming of Jerry West in the front office.
2.) Iverson’s biggest strength is his biggest weakness. He is a scorer; plain and simple. He needs the ball in his hands to be effective. These two traits are acceptable when you’re the No. 1 franchise star (like he was in Philly) but when you’re a player in his mid 30s looking to join a team, it’s a detriment. You can’t just plug Iverson into any system. He’s not that type of player. That’s why Iverson probably won’t work in Memphis and may not ever fully return to his 20+ point production. No franchise is looking to build a team around A.I. anymore.
Unfortunately, I believe the next chapter of Iverson’s career is going to be unpleasant, to say the least. As he gets older, slows down, loses that dominating force he used to possess on demand, it’ll be even harder to latch onto a team, even a sub-par one such as the Grizzlies.
I hope I’m wrong. I want Iverson to succeed. He worked too hard and did too much for this league to go out this way, but we’ve seen this movie before. Remember Michael Jordan’s less-than-picturesque exit from the league gasping for one last moment of glory with the woeful Wizards?
Maybe that’s the unfortunate destiny for a player like A.I. He found so much solace and joy in basketball, but the glory days are over and the sun is setting. The league he once dominated is sending him a not-so-subtle message that his services are no longer needed.
If you’d like to comment on Patrick’s article, send him an e-mail at pja123@hotmail.com |
