AI WANTED to play ball....he felt he could do it on a Memphis team with squat as stars...he figured wrong.
I believe the owners of the Grizzlies wanted to use AI to sell and market the team...and Wallace did his due diligence to cater to his bosses.
Neither Iverson nor Wallace nor the Grizzlies owners counted on poor communication between player and coaching staff.
The poor communication was between Iverson's ears. His thinking that he would start for a team that had established young starters in the positions he played and just replace them even though the franchise had committed to a youth movement similar to the one in Portland and OKC, was just plain stupid on his part.
He refused to look at the situation intelligently because of his huge ego that thought he makes any team better by starting for them. Long term it was better for the Grizz to stick with their youth movement and have AI come off the bench. The only person who couldn't see that was Iverson. The poor communication was entirely on Iverson.
I don't believe AI would sign with Memphis in a delusional state that he was going to come off the bench behind Mike Conley and OJ Mayo.
I am pretty certain that the Grizzlies used AI (for marketing reasons) just as AI planned to use the Grizzlies as a stage to prove he was not done and still in fact a star or at the very least an NBA "starter" with gas left.
There was no way Iverson signed with the Grizzlies with the plan for him to be a backup...he wouldn't have signed with a losing franchise to do play that way.
This is the same Iverson who didn't want to come off the bench behind Rip Hamilton....a guy who's won a championship and has a ton of more NBA swag than a Mike Conley or an OJ Mayo.
edit - no personal attacks - wdleehi
Racist??
Are you kidding me??
My kids are half Puertorican. I have nephews that are African=American and Brazilian. I have the closet of friends and family that come from countries all over the world and range in color from pasty white to the darkest black.
And as for hating. I hate Iverson's game and the way he acts, thinks and talks at times. I don't, however, know the guy though I know people who do. For all this defense you guys are putting up, you don't now him either. For all you know you could be defending a despicable human being. Stories I have heard tend to lean in that general direction.
As for insulting his intelligence. If a team signs you and does not state that you are going to be coming off the bench
OR that you will be starting, then it must mean you have to earn your spot.
Iverson needed to look at the total situation and see where exactly he fit in. His go however would not allow him to see the writing on the wall., that being Memphis had committed to a youth movement in the starting positions and that he was going to be a role playing bench player. He just assumed he was the great "Allen Iverson" and that this team was hiring him to rescue them from mediocrity. His ego also doesn't allow him to see the corrosion of his skills that makes such a thought laughable.
He wasn't guaranteed not to start but he was neither guaranteed a starting role. THAT was his assumption based on his egotistic view of himself. That's not insulting his intelligence or his ego. That's just a purely accurate view of things.
And next time you pull that crap with the racist thing, I am reporting the comment. That was WAY out of line.
