The Philadelphia 76ers and Allen Iverson moved closer to one another on Monday, meeting for two hours in Dallas to discuss a potential reunion of the 10-time All-Star guard with his former team.
No contract was offered and Iverson will not be on the team's roster when it plays Monday night against the Mavericks. But in a significant development, senior management of the team has given the basketball side of the organization the go-ahead to sign Iverson if it wants.
Financial parameters for a potential deal were also discussed, according to a league source. The two sides were planning to meet again in the next couple of days.
>> David Aldridge's Morning Tip: As support wanes, Philly may be Iverson's only option
Iverson, his agent, Leon Rose, and his longtime personal manager, Gary Moore, met with the team's president of basketball operations, Ed Stefanski, assistant general manager and last year's interim head coach, Tony DiLeo, current head coach Eddie Jordan and assistant coach Aaron McKie, a former teammate of Iverson's when both played with the 76ers and still a close friend. The meeting, a source said, was for the coaching staff to gauge Iverson's willingness to be flexible when guard Lou Williams returns from a broken jaw.
Williams, who was injured last week, is expected to miss around 30 games. But the team does not want to retard his development, so it's likely he would go back into the starting lineup when he's healthy. That would mean Iverson would likely have to come off the bench, and that's been a non-starter for him the last two years, resulting in his being kept off the Pistons' playoff roster last year and having to work out a settlement of his contract with Memphis this year after just three games.
The 76ers are proceeding cautiously in determining whether they want to get back together with Iverson, who was traded to Denver in 2006 after a decade in Philadelphia -- at the end of a rancorous period in which Iverson had worn out his welcome with the team's top management. That included Sixers chairman Ed Snider, whose relationship with Iverson was frayed when he decided to grant Iverson's request for a trade.
But Snider has signed off on Iverson's return, leaving it up to Stefanski and the coaching staff, a source said.
"That was then, this is now," the source said.
If Iverson signs with the 76ers, it would be for a non-guaranteed, prorated amount of the veteran's minimum salary, a little more than $1.3 million for veterans with 10 or more seasons' experience. Keeping him for the 30-game period Williams is expected to be out would cost the team around $700,000 -- an expense that Comcast, the team's parent company, would have no trouble spending. If Iverson becomes difficult in any way, the team would just release him with no further financial obligations. That combination has addressed all of Comcast's concerns, so it is up to the basketball people to decide.
Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia first reported the Monday meeting between Iverson and the team.
A second source indicated Monday that the team has not yet contacted free agent guard Antonio Daniels, who has been available since working out a release of his contract from Minnesota earlier this season. The Cavaliers took a look at Daniels during the preseason but decided not to make him a contract offer. Still, Iverson is the best available player on the market.
He had announced his retirement last week, saying that he still felt he could play. However, most personnel people around the league believed that he would come back as soon as a viable team became available. The 76ers, next to last in the league in attendance -- and, more importantly, in desperate need of scoring punch -- fit the bill. Forward Elton Brand, who missed much of last season with a shoulder injury, was expected back in the lineup Monday night after missing the last few games with a hamstring injury.
The return of the iconic Iverson to the team that drafted him first overall in 1996, and for whom he played his best basketball, winning league MVP honors in 2001 and leading the 76ers to the 2001 NBA Finals, would be a shot in the arm for a franchise that has fallen by the wayside, both locally in terms of fan interest and in the Eastern Conference. Iverson won't make them contenders, but he'd make them more fun to watch.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Iverson can still play, but it will take unique situation
Allen Iverson never wanted to retire. He told us as much, via Stephen A. Smith, even when he was announcing his retirement in the first place. Smith conveniently the broke the news that A.I. might be coming back to the place where it all started.
That's brotherly love.
Iverson must have felt he needed the buzz and it made sense to turn to a confidant with last week's open letter. Smith's personal Web site, no doubt, cashed in on the traffic as Iverson returned to the sport's consciousness.
Kenny, Chuck and Ernie debated the reasons behind A.I.'s quitting on the NBA. Career retrospectives popped up on SportsCenter and NBA TV. This Web site has covered the story non-stop since Wednesday. Why?
A.I. polarizes. And he can still play.
The talent has never been a question. His peers were unanimous in praising his talent and impact on the game for the last 13-plus years. The league's megawatt young stars -- LeBron, Melo, D-Wade -- spoke in almost reverential tones about one of their heroes.
Many older players weren't buying the retirement talk, noting again that Iverson is too good to walk away. Former coaches Larry Brown and John Thompson rushed to the frontlines, trying to talk him into coming back. It seems no one wants to see A.I. go out this way.
But what would he be coming back to?
The NBA marketplace hasn't significantly changed since this summer, when only Memphis had interest in the former MVP. Philadelphia popped up last week, making for a tidy career arc for the 76ers' one-time No. 1 pick, but the move is more about injury than nostalgia.
We conducted an unofficial survey of general managers during the offseason, as Iverson remained unemployed into September, and to a man, no one had any real interest in signing the four-time scoring champ. Sure, the baggage and image played a part, but the league has long found a home for others with twice the problems and half the talent.
Perhaps the talents that so many players admire about A.I. are his downfall. The skills he's spent a lifetime perfecting, fetching fame and fortune, and taking him to the top of the profession, are now the issue. Even at 34, Iverson may be too good for his own good.
Just not great. The ghosts of Iverson's talents don't allow for a logical fit anywhere in the NBA. His game, while still productive, is not productive enough to play the way A.I. wants to play. As one high-ranking league executive said, "He takes an A-plus dominance of the ball and has B-plus skills."
There's nothing wrong with B-plus skills. Iverson isn't in the Kobe-LeBron-Wade stratosphere anymore. But once a lead singer, always a lead singer. "Probably time for him to sing a duet," the exec said. "He still wants to be the King."
Iverson also isn't ready for the oldies circuit. Blending in with other hit-makers just might not be in his DNA. For so many years, A.I. knew he was the best player on the court for his team. He knew he could do what his teammates couldn't, so he did it all.
Iverson knew that his leaning 22-footer off one leg was better than another guy's semi-open 15-footer. Iverson dribbled and dribbled in search of the better shot, and now he's left without one.
There are spots where A.I. fits, but they just haven't opened up yet. As a New York official told David Aldridge last week, "Allen deserves to be on a playoff contender." Contenders, though, don't have the room or, more importantly, the need for Iverson in late November.
Injuries, as we've seen in Philadelphia, change that dynamic. While key players getting hurt sounds like the most-likely scenario for an Iverson comeback, it's not the only one. Remember the Denver-New York brawl three years ago? Carmelo Anthony was suspended for 15 games and teammate J.R. Smith for 10.
A day after the suspensions were announced, the Nuggets traded for Iverson. He almost single-handedly kept the team afloat, and Denver did make the playoffs. The Nuggets had a veteran coach (George Karl) able to deal with stars, and the front office set the ground rules (we're talking about practice) with Iverson from the beginning.
The Iverson-Denver pairing worked, but it took a near catastrophe for it to come together. Is another desperate situation around the bend? Can Iverson and his ego afford to wait for someone else's misfortune?
Only Allen Iverson ... and Stephen A. Smith know for sure.
The talent has never been a question. His peers were unanimous in praising his talent and impact on the game for the last 13-plus years. The league's megawatt young stars -- LeBron, Melo, D-Wade -- spoke in almost reverential tones about one of their heroes.
Many older players weren't buying the retirement talk, noting again that Iverson is too good to walk away. Former coaches Larry Brown and John Thompson rushed to the frontlines, trying to talk him into coming back. It seems no one wants to see A.I. go out this way.
But what would he be coming back to?
The NBA marketplace hasn't significantly changed since this summer, when only Memphis had interest in the former MVP. Philadelphia popped up last week, making for a tidy career arc for the 76ers' one-time No. 1 pick, but the move is more about injury than nostalgia.
We conducted an unofficial survey of general managers during the offseason, as Iverson remained unemployed into September, and to a man, no one had any real interest in signing the four-time scoring champ. Sure, the baggage and image played a part, but the league has long found a home for others with twice the problems and half the talent.
Perhaps the talents that so many players admire about A.I. are his downfall. The skills he's spent a lifetime perfecting, fetching fame and fortune, and taking him to the top of the profession, are now the issue. Even at 34, Iverson may be too good for his own good.
Just not great. The ghosts of Iverson's talents don't allow for a logical fit anywhere in the NBA. His game, while still productive, is not productive enough to play the way A.I. wants to play. As one high-ranking league executive said, "He takes an A-plus dominance of the ball and has B-plus skills."
There's nothing wrong with B-plus skills. Iverson isn't in the Kobe-LeBron-Wade stratosphere anymore. But once a lead singer, always a lead singer. "Probably time for him to sing a duet," the exec said. "He still wants to be the King."
Iverson also isn't ready for the oldies circuit. Blending in with other hit-makers just might not be in his DNA. For so many years, A.I. knew he was the best player on the court for his team. He knew he could do what his teammates couldn't, so he did it all.
Iverson knew that his leaning 22-footer off one leg was better than another guy's semi-open 15-footer. Iverson dribbled and dribbled in search of the better shot, and now he's left without one.
There are spots where A.I. fits, but they just haven't opened up yet. As a New York official told David Aldridge last week, "Allen deserves to be on a playoff contender." Contenders, though, don't have the room or, more importantly, the need for Iverson in late November.
Injuries, as we've seen in Philadelphia, change that dynamic. While key players getting hurt sounds like the most-likely scenario for an Iverson comeback, it's not the only one. Remember the Denver-New York brawl three years ago? Carmelo Anthony was suspended for 15 games and teammate J.R. Smith for 10.
A day after the suspensions were announced, the Nuggets traded for Iverson. He almost single-handedly kept the team afloat, and Denver did make the playoffs. The Nuggets had a veteran coach (George Karl) able to deal with stars, and the front office set the ground rules (we're talking about practice) with Iverson from the beginning.
The Iverson-Denver pairing worked, but it took a near catastrophe for it to come together. Is another desperate situation around the bend? Can Iverson and his ego afford to wait for someone else's misfortune?
Only Allen Iverson ... and Stephen A. Smith know for sure.
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