Posts Tagged ‘Larry Brown’

The time has come. Allen Iverson could possibly be out of the NBA. Memphis Grizzlies experiment hasn’t worked out as well as everyone has hoped. Well, at least not as Iverson wanted it to be.

Relegated to coming of the bench, Iverson adjusted well to a reserve role that was never a part of his repertoire. Could a player such as Iverson ever really accept an unselfish role and be a real team player? Definitely not.

Larry Brown appeared to be the only basketball entity that was able to curtail Iverson’s whims. Thus, Iverson was able to reach the NBA Finals (eventually losing to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Iverson was loved in Philly, he gave the city of brotherly love his all, but apparently that was not enough. In the end he could not give himself to the city. In a city that would have lauded him as its greatest hero, maybe even greater than Rocky Marciano, Iverson could never mend himself in order to mesh with a personality that rivaled his own.

Chris Webber and Iverson could’ve taken the 76ers to the top.

Who in their right mind would want to play with Iverson? Did he solidify the Detroit Pistons? They probably wanted to trade him soon after he arrived in the Motor City.

Iverson, a player that pushes himself harder than anyone else can push themselves, is not the kind of player that demands respect and emulation. He is the prototypical ball-hog that so many of us have encountered playing on the playgrounds, the kind of player that no one wants to play with.

Iverson will probably make it into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, but he is not truly deserving of that honor. Being inducted into the Hall of fame should signify a player’s greatness. Great players are not judged solely on the stats that they accumulate over their careers. They are judged on the merit of their accomplishments and how positively they impacted the game. What positive impact did Iverson have?

Great players are supposed to make the people around them better. How many people can call themselves Iverson’s teammates? How many more can say that they were better of playing with Iverson?

Great players don’t always win a championship during their careers. In that way life is cruel in the way that it would play a sick joke on someone not deserving of that honor. If Iverson never wins an NBA championship throughout his illustrious (sic) career, that wouldn’t faze even one bit. But, if somehow an opportunity presents it self so that Iverson’s is close to one to that elusive dream, then failure would be a fitting joke that life can ever play on a man.