Iverson was never the Answer

[JSD]

DETROIT - No one wants to blame The Answer. We never do. He reminds us of our own shortcomings and failures.

In the pantheon of spoiled, media-cuddled, overhyped professional basketball players, Allen Iverson reigns supreme.

At least Charles Barkley wanted to win. Karl Malone and John Stockton tried to win. Patrick Ewing — like Barkley, Malone and Stockton — was cursed by the misfortune of being great at the same time Michael Jordan was other worldly.

Iverson has no such excuse. He arrived at the tail end of Air Jordan's rulership. As Isiah Thomas was the bridge between the Magic-Bird and Jordan eras, Iverson was supposed to transition us from Jordan to Kobe-Shaq.

Despite what Iverson's media apologists write and say, The Answer was an underachiever on and off the court.

If this reads like an obituary, that's because it is.

Iverson's career as an NBA legend died of self-inflicted wounds this season in Detroit. Much like the death of his role model, rapper Tupac Shakur, Iverson's supporters will reject the news of his demise and predict a Machiavellian return, a Dr. J-like finish to Iverson's career.

Picture me rolling on the floor laughing my ass off.

Winning has never really mattered to Allen Iverson. He is the embodiment of everything that has gone wrong in America, an unexposed, all-style-little-substance Hall of Famer.

In five months, Iverson accomplished what Flip Saunders couldn't in three years. The Answer turned the six-time Eastern Conference finalists into a hanging-by-a-string, eighth-place playoff qualifier.

And then he quit, citing back problems, a reduced role and lack of interest. Officially the Pistons deactivated Iverson for the remainder of the season due to injuries. The truth is, Iverson took his ball and went home, uncomfortable with the thought of easing back into the rotation with limited participation in practice and games.

Iverson said he'd rather retire than come off the bench, help the Pistons win and represent Detroit. Loser.

This column came to me last week when I was in The Motor City covering the NCAA Tournament. Tom Izzo and his Michigan State Spartans shocked everyone, advancing to the title game and claiming they wanted to serve as an inspiration to the economically depressed people of their state.

Meanwhile, Iverson gave up on Chocolate City, a chocolate coach (Michael Curry), a chocolate general manager (Joe Dumars) and an all-chocolate, one-Argentine roster.

I mention race because Iverson, his tatts, his swagger, his rap sheet and his style of play all supposedly gave him a special level of street cred and no-sellout status.

How you like Iverson now, Detroit?

The view from up close is quite chilling and enlightening. His ghetto-warrior reputation couldn't be any further separated from reality than had the producers of "Lost" written his script.

Iverson is a one-man, no-country Army, more than likely the victim of a dysfunctional upbringing that left him incapable of embracing the concepts essential to teamwork, winning and sacrifice for the benefit of others.

We're a nation of Allen Iversons, and the unchecked Wall Street greed that has us on the brink of collapse is nothing more than our chickens coming home to rot.

The assault on, the destruction of and lack of appreciation for the American family has created a nation of independent contractors. We're no longer connected.

Your destiny has nothing to do with mine.

Iverson has always been a soloist.

He could've been the second-best point guard in the history of the game (after Magic Johnson). But the idea of being a distributor first and scorer second stood in the way of a futile, ridiculous effort to chase Jordan. At 6-foot, 165 pounds, Iverson had as much of a chance of filling Jordan's Jordans as yours truly being the next Ron Jeremy.

Iverson tailored a compromise position — points guard. For much of his career, he played both backcourt positions at the same time, leaving his teammates plenty of opportunity to stand around and watch. In 13 NBA seasons, he's averaged 22 shots, 27 points, six assists and 42 percent shooting from the field. In comparison, Isiah Thomas averaged 16 shots, 19 points, nine assists and connected on 45 percent of his shots. In 11 seasons, Thomas played in 111 playoff games and won two titles. Iverson has played in 71 postseason games and advanced to the conference and NBA Finals just once. (It's also worth mentioning that in two college seasons, Thomas won an NCAA title, and in the same amount of time, Iverson never made the Final Four.)

In 2001, after the Sixers embarrassed him with threats of an offseason trade and with Larry Brown brow-beating Iverson nightly, he put together a remarkable, MVP season and carried Philadelphia to the NBA Finals.

That season was the one glimpse at what Iverson should've been. He won a career-high 56 regular-season games with Aaron McKie, Eric Snow, Tyrone Hill and 34-year-old Dikembe Mutombo providing support. Focused and motivated, Iverson reluctantly listened to Brown and pretended to be a winner.

Of course, it didn't last long. Iverson's narcissistic play and demeanor prevented him from developing a Tonto, a Pippen, a McHale, a Worthy, a Dumars. Iverson has never been accused accurately of making the players around him better.

Iverson didn't bring out the best or worst in Carmelo Anthony in Denver. The two stars simply co-existed. Chauncey Billups, the other half of the Iverson-to-Detroit trade, has Anthony and the Nuggets sitting at No. 2 in the West and a sexy pick to win it all.

Iverson, a free agent this offseason, will return to the league next year. I'd imagine he'll try to cherry-pick a title by attempting to join LeBron James. It won't be a replay of Kevin Garnett teaming with Paul Pierce.

It'll be Titanic II with Allen Iceberg.

You can e-mail Jason Whitlock at ballstate0@aol.com

Courtesy of FOXSports.com


I thought this article of dead on.

[Donoghus]

I actually think Whitlock is harsh on AI and disagree with a lot of what he wrote.

Iverson is certainly a polarizing figure but I always enjoyed watching him play.  He was a little guy that could score with the best of them and often had to carry his teams.  In his prime, I enjoyed watching him.  He carried that '01 Sixers team to the Finals and did his best with a questionable supporting cast.  He was one of the few olympians that I came away with a positive view after that bronze medal performance in Athens back in '04.  I remember Jordan's last All Star Game and Iverson's unselfishness and attempts to get Jordan his "one last hurrah".

There were times that I disagreed remarks of his and some questionable actions but I was/am a fan.

EDIT:  I don't think you could've found a much worse fit in the NBA for Iverson than going to play for the Pistons.  That relationship was doomed from the start and it was a move made for long term salary cap purposes not for Iverson's game.

[moiso]

The entire article has a harsh tone to it, but I agree with most of it.  Iverson is one of the most overrated players(as far as contributing to winning) of his generation.  The thing that bugs me the most is his "warrior" reputation, which apparently was only on display on the offensive end of the floor.  He's the alltime leading offensive flopper.  The guy would take a wide open layup and jump into the camera men like he was pushed... and then everyone would say what a warrior AI is.

[Eja117]

I disagree with almost all of that. I don't think Jordan "developed" Pippen for one thing. If he thinks AI was going to "develop" Aaron McKie into Pippen he's out of his mind.

True he didn't like practice, but he played harder than anyone and was on the court a lot when I guess guys that Whitlock thinks were better weren't.  If AI is a loser then what is TMac? A super duper double tucan loser?

Everything was asked of this guy and they gave him nothing back. True AI wasn't the most efficient guy around, but his career is like if Toine led the Celts to the finals entirely by himself and then people dump on him.

Considering all the energy AI was expending doing everything on his team I might not want to practice either.

If Larry Brown is so great explain what happened with the Knicks and don't even say Starbury cause other coaches existed with him and he isn't destroying the Celts or anything

Nobody said AI was perfect, but this article just sounds like a stupid me-first writer who actually expected an AI at the tail end of his career to win a championship for the Pistons or something, even though he knew the only reason he was there was salary cap and is mad cause AI couldn't and didn't and didn't pretend he could

[the_Bird]

I don't doubt Iverson's desire to compete and to win.

I doubt Iverson's self-awareness, to recognize the flaws in his game, to recognize when to be a shooter and when to be a distributor.  I doubt his self-awareness to recognize areas of his game than have needed improvement.

Thinking about players that we're all familiar with, Pierce came into the league pretty much a one-dimensional slasher/scorer, but recognized the need to flesh out his game.  So, you saw him become a better shooter.  You saw him become a better rebounder.  You saw him become a better distributor.  You saw him become a better defender.

The *best* players leave in the spring and come back in the fall with specific improvements to their game.  As much as we all hate him, you see the same with Kobe.  We've seen LeBron add new elements to his game every summer.

Does Iverson do ANYTHING better than he did in his first few years?  I mean, he was never going to be an elite rebounder, but is there a single element of his game where you can see a positive progression over the course of his career?

Maybe that aversion to practice has something to do with this?

I see Iverson as a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve, who really IS desperate to win but lacks a basic understanding of what it takes to get better.  For the longest time, he was clearly the best player on his team, so he always seemed to think that meant that the best way for the team to have success was for him to dominate.  That ego does not allow him to use the strengths of his teammates, does not allow him to see the flaws in his approach.  The success that he had early on in Philly perhaps cemented into his psyche that THAT was the way to victory.

It's a shame, he could be a helluva weapon off someone's bench next year, but he won't accept that maybe he just isn't as good a player as he should be.  

[Lucky17]

Pretty much agree with the_Bird here, and with eja.

Bit of a hatchet job by Whitlock. I'm pretty sure that Iverson's comments about retiring >> coming off the bench were in the context of his playing *next* year, not this year.

[Hoyo de Monterrey]

This is really harsh. AI submarined the Pistons? It wasn't trading away Billups? I defintely disagree with that.

[greenwise]

I really don't like the article. It's easy to be hard on Iverson now that he is going through the hardest part of his career.

He had his good years and even took the Sixers to the Finals once, he's been All Star for many years and has been a symbol for a lot of fans. What is this journalist's career resume??

 

[Atzar]

I don't doubt Iverson's desire to compete and to win.

I doubt Iverson's self-awareness, to recognize the flaws in his game, to recognize when to be a shooter and when to be a distributor.  I doubt his self-awareness to recognize areas of his game than have needed improvement.

Thinking about players that we're all familiar with, Pierce came into the league pretty much a one-dimensional slasher/scorer, but recognized the need to flesh out his game.  So, you saw him become a better shooter.  You saw him become a better rebounder.  You saw him become a better distributor.  You saw him become a better defender.

The *best* players leave in the spring and come back in the fall with specific improvements to their game.  As much as we all hate him, you see the same with Kobe.  We've seen LeBron add new elements to his game every summer.

Does Iverson do ANYTHING better than he did in his first few years?  I mean, he was never going to be an elite rebounder, but is there a single element of his game where you can see a positive progression over the course of his career?

Maybe that aversion to practice has something to do with this?

I see Iverson as a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve, who really IS desperate to win but lacks a basic understanding of what it takes to get better.  For the longest time, he was clearly the best player on his team, so he always seemed to think that meant that the best way for the team to have success was for him to dominate.  That ego does not allow him to use the strengths of his teammates, does not allow him to see the flaws in his approach.  The success that he had early on in Philly perhaps cemented into his psyche that THAT was the way to victory.

It's a shame, he could be a helluva weapon off someone's bench next year, but he won't accept that maybe he just isn't as good a player as he should be.  

This could have been said any better.  TP.

[davemonsterband]

The basketball world's full of morons. It was a contract dump from day one and everyone could see it, most acknowledged it. If the guy's not built around he's useless. Same as Steve Nash, same as lots of guys. There shouldn't be one thing written or said about the guy, he has every right to complain after being sent to the least AI ready team in the league. What a bunch of idiots. Yeah, he's outspoken, we get it, people still care about this?

[liam]

AI is a great player. But you need to play him the right way. What were the Pistons doing before he got there? Choking in the ECF every year. The Pistons wanted to tank this year so they made a trade that didn't fit and now Dumas can let AI take the heat. Dumas messed up this teamby letting Wallace and Billups go and picking Darko in the draft. None of that is AI's fault. AI is a hall of fame player.

[MattG12]

Iverson is the question.

[CelticsWhat35]

AI is a great player. But you need to play him the right way. What were the Pistons doing before he got there? Choking in the ECF every year. The Pistons wanted to tank this year so they made a trade that didn't fit and now Dumas can let AI take the heat. Dumas messed up this teamby letting Wallace and Billups go and picking Darko in the draft. None of that is AI's fault. AI is a hall of fame player.

Actually, Dumars was right about not resigning Ben Wallace.  He got way overpaid by the Bulls and has been a shell of his former self ever since leaving Detroit.  And the AI trade wasn't to tank, it was to free cap space after this season.  The way the team was constituted going into the season, they weren't going to be able to match up with a healthy Celtics team.  There window had passed.  Dumars made the right move to look towards the future.  Although I doubt he envisioned the team fighting just to make the playoffs after that trade.  AI is a great player and future HOFer, but he's been pretty bad this year, and his unwillingness to come off the bench and pack it in is going to be added to his legacy, which isn't a good thing.

[orrzor]

This is just crap journalism honestly. The guy is blaming all the Piston's problems on Iverson, when he should be blaming Dumars for trading for Iverson, and then pretending like they would still be a good team. And speculating that Iverson had a dysfunctional upbringing, and talking about his race, that is just plain offensive. Then saying we are all a nation of Iversons. This dude is just screaming for attention with his writing.

[indeedproceed]

This is just crap journalism honestly. The guy is blaming all the Piston's problems on Iverson, when he should be blaming Dumars for trading for Iverson, and then pretending like they would still be a good team. And speculating that Iverson had a dysfunctional upbringing, and talking about his race, that is just plain offensive. Then saying we are all a nation of Iversons. This dude is just screaming for attention with his writing.

seconded.