Allen Iverson: “I don’t want to be the eighth or ninth guy coming off the bench, play a couple minutes, win a ring and feel good about winning a ring”
December 10, 2009 – 9:50 am by Chris FedorI think Allen Iverson needs a reality check. I get that he is extremely talented, I get that he is one of the most lethal scorers of the past decade, and I get that he may be pound-for-pound one of the best scorers in NBA History. That’s who he once was. The reality is he’s no longer that player. He’s a player that is on his last legs in the NBA and there is a clear reason that no contending team went after his services in the off-season and there is a reason that when he left Memphis, the only team that brought him aboard was Philadelphia. Philadelphia is not a playoff team. They weren’t a playoff team before they brought in A.I and they certainly don’t become one because they added a 34 year old Iverson to their starting lineup.
I’m not saying that Iverson can’t be of help to playoff team. I think he can. I think he could come off the bench and provide instant offense for someone’s second unit. The only problem is he doesn’t seem content to do that. He doesn’t want to be a bench player. He still feels like he can play over 30 minutes a night and contribute in a big way to a contending team. He wouldn’t be happy with just getting an NBA Championship; he wants to have a big role in that. The problem is he’s not good enough anymore to have a big role in a contender getting an NBA Championship. That’s why he’s in Philadelphia playing for a 5-17 team and may leave the NBA with an empty ring finger.
Allen Iverson joined his former college coach John Thompson on ESPN 980 in Washington D.C. to talk about the decision to come back to Philadelphia, why he loves playing for the 76ers so much, whether or not he demanded being a starter ,and the toughest part for him this past offseason.
On what made you retire from the game of basketball:
“Just the fact of me and my family not knowing, waking up everyday and hoping that the phone would ring. Just growing frustrated. Every day as God opened my eys, that was the first thing that I wanted to know something about. There weren’t any good situations for me. I thought about being able to have a chance to give my wife and kids something that I have never been able to give them. From the NBA lifestyle, I was never able to give them the time that I know they deserved. It was just a good feeling, the little time that I was retired that I could be with them everyday.”
On coming back to Philadelphia:
“Yeah, it is my home. Like I said, I have a unique relationship with the people here for whatever reason. I’m pretty sure I can give you my reasons, but I think they can put it in perspective a little better than I can. It’s definitely on a personal level why they feel like that about me and why I feel like that about them.”
On whether or not he thinks he can still play:
“Yeah, I wouldn’t do that to myself. I wouldn’t do that to the franchise that invests in me. I wouldn’t do that to the fans. I wouldn’t embarrass myself like that. That’s the beauty of this whole thing is the fact that I get to show that I can go at a high level.”
On the idea that he is concerned about starting and getting minutes:
“All I want to do is play. From my experience in basketball, no guy was given a job in training camp anyway. You gotta earn it. I don’t want nobody to give me nothin. I’ve earned everything that I’ve accomplished in my life as far as playing time being a starter, I think I deserved it. It was nothing never given to me and I don’t want it to be like that now. (Host: But you don’t want it to be taken away just because of your age?) Exactly. That’s all I ever asked. Just let the guy in front of me or the guy that I’m fighting with for position to beat me out. I don’t have a problem with that.”
On not wanting to go to a contender and play limited minutes just to win a ring:
“Because winning a championship is something that I want, but I want to be a part of winning. I’m not saying that being a part of winning is playing 40 minutes a night. I want an opportunity to help my team. I don’t want to be the eighth or ninth guy coming off the bench, play a couple minutes, win a ring and feel good about winning a ring. That’s not me. And people will look at this situation, hear me say that and make something negative out of it, it’s just not me. I don’t want it that way.”
On having sit around this offseason and wait for phone calls to come in and the frustration that built up from that:
“What made it so frustrating is the fact that the calls weren’t coming in because of basketball related issues as far as me not being able to play. I knew it was because I was getting a bad rap and that’s why they weren’t coming in. I don’t think it had anything to do with basketball. I think another thing that hurt extremely bad is the fact that my peers call and say different things to me because they play against me, they play with me, they know what I can do and they asked me ‘what’s going on? Are you alright? Are you good?’ It started to eat at me ‘cause it was actually people in this basketball fraternity that we have that actually cared about me and how I felt. That was the frustrating part.”
Listen to part one of Allen Iverson with John Thompson on ESPN 980 here
Listen to part two of Allen Iverson with John Thompson on ESPN 980 here
Tags: Allen Iverson, ESPN 980, John Thompson, NBA, Philadelphia 76ers
One Response to “Allen Iverson: “I don’t want to be the eighth or ninth guy coming off the bench, play a couple minutes, win a ring and feel good about winning a ring””
AI is right he should never have had his starting job taking away in DET Stuckey is not a true PG. His is putting up what 4-6 assists a game now? His shooting % is even bad. He should also never have came of the bench for Conley. It’s a joke that he should come of the bench for anyone. Outside of the likes of Kobe/Wade/Chris Paul don’t know anyone that you could say is a better guard then AI. There are other player of course like Lebron who is better ect….Lebron is the best in the league. But AI is stil a top 10 player. DET messed up the last year in the half if Iverson’s career.
By Serge on Dec 10, 2009