Allen Iverson is retiring from the NBA this
week. He spent 14 years in the NBA, amassing over 24,000 points while
averaging 27 points per game to go along with 6.2 assists.
While he will go down as one of the best small
guards to play the game (Isiah Thomas and Calvin Murphy being the others),
Iverson will probably be known more for his antics off the court.
He was known to clash with coaches, demand and
take shots away from teammates, as well as not been willing to mesh with his
teammates for the good of the teams he played on. Let's face it,
Iverson basically quit on three of the four teams he played on during his
otherwise illustrious career (Philadelphia in 2006, Detroit last season and
Memphis this season). Detroit was fed up with Iverson and paid him to
stay away, and you know if Memphis pays you to stay away, you've basically
hit rock bottom.
And who can forget this...
Upon his latest release, other teams basically
told Iverson that despite the fact he still has the game to compete in the
NBA, he wasn't wanted. Other teams decided that Iverson was not worth
the trouble at this stage of his career.
That's unfortunate because Iverson does have
the game to help other teams. Don't you think teams like Cleveland,
Boston, Toronto, and Miami need a reliable scoring presence off the bench?
Therein lies the problem: Iverson is adamant over not coming off the bench.
His pride -- along with his bad attitude and selfishness -- eventually bit
him in the backside.
Hopefully Iverson realized that his pride led
to the end of a career from the game he loves. After all, as the
singer Sade puts it, "love is stronger than pride"...
