The Last Days Of Allen Iverson…
GENERAL By Beware on November 9, 2009 at 11:26 pm
Look at that man and honestly tell you me didn’t expect more.
This prospective first-ballot Hall-of-Famer and all-around baller was once the one of the defining players among a generation of young, athletic NBA superstars. Ones who would usher in David Stern’s new look post-lockout NBA. Rocking an aura as big as his game, this undersized combo-guard had the drive and compassion to carry a notoriously lackluster team to the NBA playoffs year after aching year; achieving enough awards and Slam Magazine covers to make you remember their actually was life before LeBron. Plus, even with his well-publicized penchant for preposterous parking tickets and practice no-shows, AI had the respect of just about anyone who’d ever picked up a basketball.
And now that long-standing legacy is being flushed right down the porcelain.
As murmurs of an upcoming retirement round out the rumor mills nationwide, Iverson is letting every ounce of the credibility he worked so hard for, slip through his greedy-ass fingers. I know, at a ripe 36-years-young, retirement talks aren’t typically out of the question for guys who’ve got their best ball behind them. But in Allen’s case, it’s the way he’s been handling these usually revered golden days of League life.
First, after years of Steve-Yzerman-like loyalty to Philly, he openly demanded to be traded to a contender - which was warranted. Then, when the Denver experiment didn’t work out and he stopped facilitating the ball altogether, the longtime #3 was surprisingly traded again to my Detroit Pistons for their sky-highly-regarded player of the decade, Chauncey Billups. That was cool for about a week. In between double bets at Motor City Casino, the former shell of a player would hobble out of the locker room and pretend to care whenever he felt like it once every few weeks. Then, when we needed his veteran savvy the most come playoff time, the nightlife-loving narcissist and one-time Iron Man decided he wasn’t going to participate at all. Until, of course, the naive owners in Memphis decided they needed to sell some jerseys and inked Ivo for one…more…year. Undoubtedly instilling more reasons to hate everything and anything about the way Allen Iverson handles himself as a human being as far as 3.1 million inhabitants of the sports world are concerned.
At first, my hype-loving ignorance made me believe that - after numerous years of coming oh-so-close - maybe all those old knees actually wanted was a championship. Then, AKA Jewels carelessly ruined my team (alas, probably for the better…); does nothing but complain about minutes he doesn’t deserve and continues to piss away night-old VSOP onto any legacy he might’ve had going into that beautiful full-benefited sunset. And now, even if it is at the expense of every Grizzlies fan, all we want is for Allen Iverson to hang ‘em up and quit bitching so we can get past the bullshit and begin to reminisce on when Allen’s antics were still fun.
Unfortunately, at this point, those good ol’ days seem quite a ways away.
Allen Iverson Contemplating Retirement? [NBC Sports]
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Posted in GENERAL, MUSIC, SMOKE BREAK, STRAY SHOTS, Sports — Tags: Allen Iverson, Detroit Pistons, Memphis Grizzlies, NBA Basketball, Philadelphia 76ers
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47 Comments
this guy is so delusional
AI is gonna squeak into the Hall of Fame if he gets in…but it looks doubtful at this point
AI is gonna squeak into the Hall of Fame if he gets in…but it looks
doubtful at this point
================================================
/sarcasm
Right? I really hope so.
Huh?! AI is definitely going to the Hall. I don’t know about first ballot but he’ll get inducted: 43% career shooting from the field and all.
It’s sad to see Allen-man starting to become a journeyman (shoutout to Haywoode Workman).
…..i still remember the night “Bubba Chuck” broke Mike. Broke him. Man!! Time flies cuz it seems like “it was all good just a week ago” ©Jay-Z
I hate to say it, but when I first saw the news (that he might retire) I was too upset. C’mon, complaining about minutes in the game????
AI is one of my favorite players ever, and I was rooting for him in Detroit, but dude’s antics continue to over shadow his skill.
Hurts to say, but have we really asked ourselves….does Allen even deserve to be a champ with the type of attitude he has???
I hope the best for him. Whether it be on a ball court or whereever.
yeah, pretty disappointed but was expected after the pistons debacle.
hate to see him go out like this.
he’ll make the HOF on the first ballot. his fg% doesn’t tell the whole story here.
does Allen even deserve to be a champ with the type of attitude he has???
==================================================
My friend you are experiencing what is commonly known as feelings of extreme disappointment and let down. Your expectations for AI were high, as were many others, but he was always the troubled kid from Virginia (?). Can take a kid out of the ghetto… you know the rest.
But really….when does a good attitude in the NBA = championship? Did Dennis Rodman deserve them?
I think the pistons team failed AI more than AI failed them. Those guys were so salty over the trade they practically all took the year off, especially mother fuckin Sheed
smh
Ya’ll crazy as hell! AI should be mad about not getting minutes in Memphis! Its not like he’s in Boston with some real hoopers in front of him. They starting Mike Conley over AI…..MIKE CONLEY! The man went for 26 a game a 1½ ago, now you expect us to believe he can’t start in Memphis? The problem is they lied to him in Motown, which Rip confirmed to ESPN, and they lied to him in Memphis. If he wasn’t going to start, just say it from the door. No need to front.
lil’
lil’ boosie goin in fo’ 4 years dem crackas ain’t playin(nigga wakeup call)
Pride is a hard thing to put aside especially for a former scoring champion like AI. Dude would be playing now if he didn’t mind being a sixth man or lower. But if he doesn’t want to do that then he’s not obligated to if Memphis allows it.
Sure it’s a disappointing ending (if it’s really the end) but what can you do?
AI is an undersized guard who’s heart & athletic talent got him into the league. But he’s old now and he’s no longer an elite player. I never saw him taking a 6th man role cause dude’s been option one his entire career.
exactly @ Amp..
If you have been to the top of a Mountain .. i don’t go halfway up the next,. you keep pushing.
He has the desire to play and a limited time to do so.. sitting on anyone’s bench does him no good.
I can understand anyone from Detroit being sorta upset about his time there BUT.. don’t jump on the media’s attempt to “Barry Bonds” his career.
lest ye forget in the era of Jordan dominance dude was someone even MJ had to accept as a threat.
Thinking about taking my own life
I might as well
‘cept they might not sell weed in hell
One of my all-time favorite players. The same fire that got him to where he is today at his relative disadvantage to bigger players in the league is making his last days sad. If they led him to believe he would start then he should start. With a team in support AI may have had one last surprise in him but the way things started in Memphis it doesn’t look like that is a possibility.
G’town stand up!!
we talkin’ bout practice…..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exOxUAntx8I
AI is one of the most prolific scorers the league has ever seen. And as was said above, dude still has that fire and all he wants to do is play and have a chance to win a title while hes still able.
I completely understand his plight in playing 6th man in Memphis (MEMPHIS!). Im not sure what the story is on him being lied to in the D, but if he was told he was gonna start and be option #2, then i can see why he was pissed there too.
Some of yall are acting like hes the first superstar to be disgruntled at the end of his career. Its the desire to win and compete that makes these dudes superstars to begin with, so expecting them to gracefully fall back into a role player position is unrealistic. And just becuase he isnt handling it as well as yall would prefer, doesnt mean, but any stretch, that he doesnt deserve to be in the Hall. The HOF isnt filled with strictly Steve Kerr and Tim Duncan types.
I love AI, but the thing with being a sixth man in Memphis and being pissy about it is that’s the exact reason no one else would sign him and he had to sign with the Grizz in the first place.
I honestly think he got as much out of his career as he could. He’s size was always going to limit his ability to influence the game in a sport where height matters the most. But there’s probably 10 maybe even 20 players from his generation that were better.
I still think he’s an HOF though.
A.I. is DEFINITELY going to the Hall. No questions asked.
Allen Illy is that dude. Stop hating. Top 25 of all time.
You are a terrible writer. Passed/past? There/their?
Fuck you.
^^^
No sir, fuck YOU.
Dude carried a WEAK Philly team for yearrrrssssss. Ok, the attitude could use some changes but one can’t deny his skills. Dude is a straigt up baller. We’ve complained over the years about his FG%/FGA but can we really blame him? It’s rare that we mention he has a career asst. avg. of about 7 dimes per. It’s tough to think there wasn’t at least ONE elite team that could have used him. Given the right situation I never thought he had an issue with sharing the ball.
@essequemodeia..
You know what, when i read that - my piece, NOT your complimentary comment - I kind of thought the same thing. It was was too drawn out. As far as the typos…dude, I wrote it in an hour, half-stoned out. And FOR FREE. So, you if you hated it enough to read the entire thing and THEN comment, well…we’re always looking for a few good writers.
In the meantime, I might just have to send Amp on ya.’
Thanks, AG.
damn ai cant go out lyk dis
DAM, THIS ENTIRE PIECE IS ILLEGIBLE. WHOEVER WROTE THIS, DO YOUR READERS A FAVOR AND TAKE A GRAMMAR CRASH COURSE PLEASE!
Actually if I was AI I’d be tight too if Michael Conley Jr. started before me. That’s a smack in the face even if you’re not AI haha.
little something for my new favorite blogger
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elements_of_Style
Word, a blog site mostly about hip hop and other gangsta shit gonnna do an post on Allen Iverson retirin and use it as a oppurtunity to take shots. Not only is this poorly written, it’s inaccurate. For me to set the record striaght in this comment is unnecessary. All I want to say, it’s a shame that this man career is over because of other people’s oppinions. Not once has Allen Iverson given us any reason to feel he’s a bench player, or any reasons to say he’s lost a step. If you go and look troughtout stats of the NBA, Allen Iverson name is everywhere. Jay-Z once said people lie, numbers don’t. If Allen Iverson has lost it, his numbers don’t say the same. I guess Jay was wrong.
Too much Henny and the real Coke not enough practice
whoever wrote this, had better be lucky that he was *defecating on and attacking Black males* here, or else they wouldn’t have dared published this mistake-filled nonsense.
AI is a victim of White-racism in the nba. Period. It has taken center stage, since The Piston Pacer Brawl feat. Ron Artest and Jermaine O’neal essence onto White America.
Now, all thuggish ghetto inner-city Images & themes—–must go!
Just like Stephon Marbury, Jamal Tinsley…and don’t worry either, Stephen Jackson, Zack Randolph, Josh Howard, and Etan Thomas are next, to suffer this same fate of collusion.
the nba as a whole, wants Iverson to head on out to pasture. They can’t NOT SIGN HIM to a team, if he’s good enough to play—–because they would wind up in court over collusion charges, just like Barry Bonds should do.
So instead, they sign him to a team’ roster then treat him bad/disrespect his skill-set enough, to move him into retirement. …it’s all been strategized, for months, by Stern and any owners willing to assist with the annihilation of Allen Iverson. We say this same thing with Dennis Rodman
@ Penny The Great
You have the nerve to utter “poorly written” with all those typos in your comment?
You’re a striaght lame.
@yungCaucasoid…
“*defecating on and attacking Black males*
Fuck you bro.
Don’t put me on blast LIKE THAT. Maybe the post was lil jumbled, but it sure as hell wasn’t attacking no Black folk. Or White folk. Or anyone…except Allen Iverson’s CURRENT snobby, half-ass existence.
Antagonizing idiots like YOU are the reason racism still kicks it.
@ Penny…
“Not once has Allen Iverson given us any reason to feel he’s a bench player, or any reasons to say he’s lost a step”
But his attitude sure has. And if I recall, you don’t play a player 3 million dollars a year to turn into a team cancer with his cry-baby bitching the whole season.
I swear, there are WAY too many of yall rocking old Sixers #3 jerseys in here, like it’s 02.
Fuck this post.
Iversons the best scoring pt guard behind Zeeke.
To everybody that felt they needed to comment toward my comment. Be for real, how lame is a hip hop site, to tare down a hip-hop icon. Basketball, or now basketball. Allen Iverson brought hip-hop to the mainstream. But it’s cool:
@TC: I ain’t no article writin ass nigga. Sorry, if I have errors it should be ok. That’s why it’s the comments, and not the article.
@Beware: What team would this be sir? Mempphis, who are 1-7? I hate when people say, “turnin your team into a cancer.” That’s gay, and a way to stil say black people are disruptive. Michael Jordan punched a white player on his team on two accounts, never once was Jordan considered a cancer, never once was he traded, or even benched. Bein honest how do you think Kobe, Jordan, or anybody would take to, “we’re going with the future, ride the bench.” You can say all your opionated BS, but the fact still remians, racistism is some deep shit! If we only stated facts, most of you couldn’t comment. And until you post some facts, and not your BS, then put that lil “@Penny” by it.
@the nigga that wrote this.
I love this line from Kanye, “You see, if you ever wanted to ever be anything. There’d always be somebody that shoot down any dream. There’ll always be haters, that’s the way it is. Hater niggas marry hater bitches and have hater kids.” I read this article and say damn to your hatin ass mommmy for spittin you out. And fuck to your hatin as papa for not wearin a rubber.
@ Penny…
Go ask Gary Payton, also a Hall-er whose had issues, what happens you shake the attitude.
YOU WIN A FUCKING CHAMPIONSHIP.
remodeled dudes basement in the atl at country club of the south. this dude is a certified dousche bag. fuck em
The Knicks need to sign Iverson.
He can start in NY, D’Antoni’s uptempo style suits him and it’ll give Lebron another reason to want to come play in Y.
ai should go to houston think bout it the only team that fit him style wise were his sixers teams from back in the day if yall member (tyrone hill, eric snow, george lynch, todd macollugh, etc , a blue collar team who picked up after iverson…fast forward onto today and take a look at houston ITS A PERFECT FIT not one legitimate number one scorer and full of nothin but hardworking role playerssss plus i think rick adelman would know how to get the best out of ai hell he did it wit artest last yearrrr
anyways jus a thought
He isn’t a HOFER in my opinion. Arguably the most overrated player of all time.
best little man in the league