[外電] Iverson's ego own worst enemy
Source: http://tinyurl.com/l3teuw
Iverson's ego own worst enemy
Posted: Tuesday July 7, 2009 2:32PM; Updated: Tuesday July 7, 2009 5:59PM
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Allen Iverson ought to be next. The '01 MVP, nine-time All-Star and four-time
scoring leader has the individual résumé for such a move. He presumably has
the financial wherewithal to take the requisite pay cut after 13 seasons of
superstar wages, including the $76.7 million extension he landed in '03 and
the "lifetime" endorsement deal (whatever that means) he signed with Reebok
in '01. He even has the game for it -- think instant offense, sixth man, the
sort of player a coach could turn loose off the bench to mess with the
opponents' second unit almost at will. At 34, Iverson still is quick enough,
slippery enough and crafty enough to change games.
What he doesn't have, though, is the attitude for it. Or the personality, the
ego, the inclination or the confidence. Iverson always has been the league's
most self-contained offensive player, a dynamic, irrepressible and (pound for
pound) generally durable scorer who asks as much of his own team's attack as
he forces upon the other team's defense. It worked marvelously in
Philadelphia, where Larry Brown directed players who were instructed to do
all the things Iverson wouldn't or couldn't do. It did not work as well in
Denver, where others wanted and needed the ball, and it most certainly did
not work last season in Detroit, where the Pistons' run was over, and
Iverson's pertinent number was not his 27.7-point scoring average but his
$20.8 million expiring contract.
Yet Iverson still blames his "most miserable" season -- that's what he called
it in a Detroit Free Press story Sunday -- on others. Recently fired Michael
Curry "wasn't ready" to be an NBA head coach. Pistons boss Joe Dumars misled
him into thinking he was acquired for competitive reasons, not
payroll-clearing. That practice he skipped on Thanksgiving, his
across-the-board dip in his numbers (17.4 ppg, 4.9 apg, 1.6 spg, 36.5 percent
shooting with Detroit), his refusal to embrace or even tolerate a reserve
role (fine for Richard Hamilton but not fine for AI), his somewhat mysterious
back injury that clipped the final two weeks off his season? Not his fault.
Even setting aside all that, would the Lakers bother to plug Iverson into
their hallowed triangle offense? Would the Spurs welcome his ball-hoggery?
Would Iverson find a way to spell "ubuntu" with an I in Boston, clear out for
LeBron James in Cleveland or facilitate either Dwight Howard or the
three-point shooters in Orlando? No, no and no.
Which explains why we hear mostly of the Grizzlies as the team Iverson now
might consider and be considered by. That's right, the lowly Grizzlies who
won 15 fewer games than the Pistons in Iverson's season of misery. Murmurs
about Miami might make sense if he were open to sixth-man status, but Iverson
reiterated to the Free Press that he would retire rather than come off
anyone's bench. Besides, the help Dwyane Wade is lobbying for -- "someone who
can make plays and make others better" the Heat star told reporters in South
Florida on Monday -- doesn't sound much like this guy.
Iverson says he wants to continue playing in the NBA but apparently only on
his terms, with minutes and shots more of a priority than victories or rings.
At least you can't say dollars, since the pay cut he'll be facing down to the
mid-level exception (about $5.8 million) or some fraction thereof will be
staggering wherever he goes. He just sounds incapable of changing, too
insecure to handle the "Didn't you used to be 'The Answer'?" looks and
questions.
In terms of NBA precedents, Iverson is way ahead of Shawn Marion and on the
verge of eclipsing Latrell Sprewell as the most rapidly marginalized and
fallen talent, non-crippling injury category. The transitions that Oscar
Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain, Nate Archibald and Bob McAdoo successfully
navigated, from Mr. Franchise types to supporting players who gained rings
and added credibility late in their Hall of Fame careers, seems beyond him.
Iverson's most face-saving option might be Europe, where he could truly be a
gate attraction without rocking other NBA players' boats.
Don't forget, though, that even Dominique Wilkins -- after taking his dunking
and scoring overseas for a couple of seasons -- eventually accepted
diminished roles in Boston, San Antonio and Orlando near the end route to
Springfield. Iverson, on the other hand, could end up like Madonna headlining
on the casinos circuit because she wouldn't sing backup for Beyonce.
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