Quote:
Originally Posted by Chief Rum
I guess I can understand Karl's hating on Iverson, and I'm not going to sit here and say AI was the perfect player or the perfect person. He certainly was not. And there was a time when he represented to me exactly what was wrong with the NBA in the late 90s and early 2000s; when there seemed to be a lot more "me" players, and a lot more nods to the thug mentality. I couldn't stand him at that point.
Since then, since the 2001 Finals and his trade to Denver, I have come more to appreciate just how hard Iverson played on the floor at all times, and how much he wanted to win, and, really, how incredibly brave he was. He was a terrific player who was fun to watch and gave it his all out there. Sure, he needed to be brave because ke kept putting himself in harms way with bad decisions, and his teams were always limited in what success they could have because his bad shot decisions would often keep other teams in the game or let them pull away.
But I can always respect effort and courage and talent, and he did have all of that. It's a shame he has to go out like this, and I will actually missing having him somewhere in the league.
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Courage and talent? Check. Admire both of those things? Check.
The problem is if Iverson was on the team you cheered for. I watched him singlehandedly cost Denver a playoff series against the Spurs. (Melo torching Bowen and shooting near 50% in doing it, Nene driving TD nuts and shooting 60%. . . so it was really smart of AI and his 30% shooting to take more shots a game than both of em, right?)
There will be a lot of people who love AI and will look back on him fondly. That's fine. My counter point will be this:
What other hall of fame player with something left in the tank would clear waivers with a one year, 3 million dollar contract? The great teams don't want any part of him because they know he'll throw a fit coming off the bench, the bad teams don't want him because he'll be a horrible influence on the kids.
How many other hall of famers will leave with that as their dying breath in the NBA?
People will debate Chauncey Billups for the hall of fame. My guess is he comes up short. yet the people in Denver will tell you CB is 15x the player AI was with us. Not just a better fit, a better player.
I'll love watching the AI highlight reels. I'll also always remember how his imaturaty, even as an older vet, imploded any chance he had of winning a title.