18 Minutes Later
The drunken-Vegas wedding that was Allen Iverson to the Memphis Grizzlies is already off to a rocky start. Raise your hand if you are surprised.
After missing the Grizzlies first three games, Iverson made his debut last night, scoring 11 points in 18 minutes off the bench in the Grizzlies 116-127 loss to the then winless Sacramento Kings.
After the game Iverson dropped this gem to the Memphis Commercial Appeal:
“I had no problems [with the hamstring]. I had a problem with my butt sitting on that bench for so long,” said Iverson.
“I’m not a bench player. I’m not a sixth man,” he continued. “Look at my résumé and that’ll show I’m not a sixth man. I don’t think it has anything to do with me being selfish. It’s just who I am. I don’t want to change what gave me all the success that I’ve had since I’ve been in this league. I’m not a sixth man. And that’s that.”
This stance is in stark contrast to the message Iverson conveyed after being signed by Memphis this summer. It looks as though his self proclaimed revenge season didn’t get off to the start that he imaged.
The move was puzzling from the beginning. The team was coming off yet another dismal season and had invested back-t0-back top 5 picks on backcourt players (Mike Conley, number 4 overall in ‘07 and O.J. Mayo, number 3 overall in ‘08). The move still stinks of a desperate PR move and attempt to sell tickets and jerseys.
So, with Iverson already unhappy, what are the Grizzlies, and more specifically GM Chris Wallace, to do? Here’s my idea, and I’ll preface it by saying there is no way it will happen. Get a divorce, sever ties and forget that you ever laid your eyes on him and thought, “hey, that ain’t a bad idea.” If Iverson is already complaining after 1 game off the bench, can you imagine what he’s going to be saying in January when the Grizz are already out of the playoff hunt and Iverson can’t pay Mayo, Rudy Gay or Zach Randolph to pass it to him?
Yes, release him and cut your losses. It’s bad enough having Zach Randolph around as a role model to your young players.
On the bright side, Marc Gasol is looking like a certified monster which once again begs the question, why did they draft Hasheem Thabeet. But, that’s for another column.
Iverson is a head case. Memphis can’t deal with him, and I agree it was a PR move. A trade would be their best option, but I don’t know who would take him or what they could get in return. One landing spot I heard that seemed to make sense was Charlotte where Larry Brown is the coach. Iverson played under Brown in Philadelphia when he was first in the league.
Andrew, I agree with you 100 percent on the Charlotte idea. It was the general consensus this summer that it would be a ’slam dunk’ of a move for both sides. If I’m Michael Jordan, I’m on the phone with Chris Wallace right now. Charlotte’s offense is flat out awful, Iverson could score 20 ppg with them easily. All parties win.
Side note, is there a worse possible GM collaboration that Chris Wallace and MJ? Yikes, gives me the willies.
In response to your side note, the only worse combination of GMs I can think of is probably Kevin McHale and anyone.
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