How the Mighty Have Fallen: Allen Iverson’s Decline

By Paul Manzey

The NBA has seen many large free agent signings this summer with the additions of Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva to the Detroit Pistons and Vince Carter to the Orlando Magic.  Rasheed Wallace made his way east to the Boston Celtics to make the 2008 NBA Champs a formidable foe in the Eastern Conference once again, and the powerhouse Lakers replaced swing man Trevor Ariza with basketball’s “bad boy” Ron Artest.  In addition to this, they held onto another key piece of their recent championship, Lamar Odom.

Most of these acquisitions happened at the beginning of the Free Agent signing period. One notable free agent slipped through the cracks, so to speak, and remains unsigned at this time: Allen Iverson. Iverson entered the league as the number one pick of the 1996 draft. This flashy guard, who could make even the great Michael Jordan’s ankles break with his deadly crossover, became an instant scoring threat averaging 23.5 points per game his first season in the league and leading the league in this category four times over the next eight years. This tiny speedster also made his presence felt on the defensive end of the court, leading the league in steals for three consecutive seasons (2000-2003) and even led the Philadelphia 76ers back to the playoffs.

But what do people most remember about the glory years of Allen Iverson? Most people would answer that his run ins with then 76ers coach Larry Brown and his infamous press conference when all the media could talk about was PRACTICE. (“We’re talking about practice man…Practice!”)

Last season the Denver Nuggets decided that one of the leagues leading scorers was more of a liability than a savior and shipped him off to the Detroit Pistons for the playoff clutch Chauncey Billups. Detroit seemed to make the right decision as Billups led them to the Western Conference Finals while the disgruntled Iverson road “led” the Pistons to an 8-seed in the East, and an early dismissal by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

A lot of rumors have floated around about teams that Iverson may sign with this offseason. The Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks and Memphis Grizzlies have all expressed their interest in the 10-time All Star, but only Memphis recently offered the aging guard a contract. Is this the right move for Memphis? Is this the right move for Iverson?

Memphis seems to have tended towards a youth movement the the past couple of years, trading away their franchise player, Pau Gasol, during the 2008 season, but the rebuilding process seems to have a long way to go.

It would appear that Iverson is in the twilight of his career, and he is still without that cherished championship ring. With all of the troubles he has had with coaches in his past, and the fact that Denver seemed to be a better team after he left last season makes a person think that contenders probably won’t try to scoop him up for a late playoff push. So is this it? Will Iverson play his final years with a team that might not reach the .500 mark as long as he is there?

It’s been a long road for Iverson and some day we will probably see his name on the NBA Hall of Fame ballot, but the mediocrity that he may finish his career with seems a far cry from the superstar he once was. I hope we see Iverson’s flash and dash in the playoffs again someday, but for now we may just be able to read his name alongside O.J. Mayo in the Memphis box scores scoring 20+ points while the Grizzlies lose yet another lopsided contest.