April 4
The most selfish player to ever play in the NBA, Allen Iverson, is out for the remainder of the season for the Detroit Pistons with a so-called ‘hurt back.’
Earlier this week Iverson whined about coming off the bench and that he’d rather retire than become a team player. Throughout Iverson’s career it has always been about him. He’s shown up late for practices, whether it was for the Philadelphia 76ers or the United States Basketball team, or sometimes didn’t even show up at all. He’s never had any respect for his coaches. Larry Brown and Maurice Cheeks were the most famous of his victims. And his selfishness on the court credited him with not being able to make any of his teammates better during his entire basketball career.
The NBA will be a better place if Allen Iverson retires after this year.
The Detroit Pistons knew what they were getting this year when they traded Chauncey Billups to the Denver Nuggets. They didn’t acquire Allen Iverson. They acquired his expiring contract. Allen Iverson’s expiring contract is worth more than Allen Iverson. When Iverson becomes a free agent this summer, he will quickly find out his services are not wanted anymore in the NBA. There is not one contending team or playoff team that will sign him.
He is a cancer. He is a plague.
The Philadelphia 76ers were not successful because of Allen Iverson, they were successful because of Larry Brown. Larry Brown was able to surround Iverson with a team of unselfish players. Players that didn’t care if Iverson dribbled the ball for 23 seconds before shooting. Players that were capable of rebounding and defending and helping Iverson when he wasn’t able to defend. And players who knew what their role was and played it to perfection.
In the meat of Allen Iverson’s career, he averaged almost 25 shots per game. Way too many for a guard whose FG% was around 41%. That is absolutely putrid and embarrassing. Iverson will go down in the history books as one of the worst-shooting guards in NBA history. Eric Snow has the same career FG% as Allen Iverson. And 76er’s fans know how horrible of a shooter Eric Snow was.
I understand there is a huge Iverson following and they have supported him on and off the court. They love him. They cherish him. But these are the people that don’t understand how the game of basketball is supposed to be played. It’s played as a team and Iverson is not a team player. He never was and he never will want to be.
When he finally retires, hopefully after this year, the NBA will be a better place.
Perry,
The world will be a better place without negative critics who thrive off of others misery such as this writer Perry. Allen Iverson is a legend and will be known as one of the 6 ft guards who ever played the game. What’s putrid is the scent of an envious writer who is anxious to see someone elses demise.
His teamates in Philly were not hindered by Allen. They lacked the skills to be a dominating force on their squad. That should not be attributed to AI. That is their inablity to progress as a player.
When AI is a free agent this summer he will reestablish his place a a dominating force in the NBA and rightfully so. There isn’t anything these naysayers and negative critics can do about it but sit on the sidlines and go back to hurling insults through trash writings such as this.
Typo:
Allen Iverson is a legend and will be known as one of the BEST 6ft guards who ever played the game.
This article is brilliant. Sometimes the truth hurts.
Allen Iverson is one of the best! He will end up being on of the best not one of the worst shooting guards ever!!!! You are an IDIOT!!!!!!!!! Allen Iverson ROX yo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A.I. is my favorite player! He rox and i rock!!!!!!!!!! :0 what now bruce springsteen!!!!!!!!
not hopefully for him to be out for the season it’s darn he’s out for the season cause he rox
o no you didnt
hi mom!!!
Most bias article I almost read fully in my life the person who wrote this is a dumbass who states all of Allen iverson’s negatives and tries to persuade dumbass Allen iverson haters
Whoever wrote this article, should be stripped of his lisence.
Great article, thanks. Time for “I-Me-and-Myself”-verson to say goodbye!
Perry how long have you been watching the NBA? One, maybe two years? This is probably the most uninformed, biased, and overall shit article i have read before. Allen Iverson is the third best, most consistent scorer behind Wilt and some guy thats named Michael. I have had the honor to shake his hand and he stands MAYBE 5′11. You say that Larry Brown made Iverson good? In case you don’t recall AI WON the NBA MVP that year and led a ragtag team of players albeit good defensively to the championship. Along the way during those playoffs he averaged 32 points nearly 7 assists and 5 rebounds. His 29.7 playoff average currently places him 2nd all time. He has also paved the way for guards such as Chris Paul to come into the NBA confident to play despite lack of height. As for people that don’t understand how the game is played.. you probably have never played the game before have you? As a 6foot guard your FG% will never be that high when the defense focuses you. You try shooting over men 4-6inches taller than you and see how your FG% will look. Envy, Jealousy, and outright Malice are not good attributes to have Perry. When Iverson leaves this league i guarantee plenty of fans will leave with him which will drop revenues considerably. I have said enough though Perry, have a nice day.
Nate Archibald shot 47% for his career. A player that Iverson is compared to a lot. Shatters Iverson’s 41%. Spud Webb shot 45%. Mugsy Bogues 46%. Do your homework, Chris. Iverson’s FG% is horrible.
And Chris Paul is a natural point guard. Completely different player than Iverson. Chris Paul didn’t need Iverson to pave the way for him to be an NBA player.
And I couldn’t care less about Iverson’s PPG. All he does is shoot. He’s a me-first player. By default his avg’s were high cause all he wanted to do was score. He never made his team or players on his team better. Look how good Denver is without him. Look at how much the Sixers improved when he left.
Iverson was a very exciting player to watch and gave it his all on the court, but players like him don’t equate to winning in the NBA. Allen Iverson’s career win-loss record is under .500.
you haters hate all u want because look who was rookie of the year amd mvp so hate keep hating u haterz
OK one allen iverson will be a hall of famer simply because of his toughness over the course of the last 12 years. Yea he shoots more then he passes but doesn’t kobe? not takeing anything away from kobe but you can’t say he shoots first passes second when all great scrorers do. Im born and raised in chicago die hard jordan and bulls fan, I watched damn near every bulls game from 89-now Mj the gratest ever shot more than anybody UNTIL he had teamates worthy enough of getting the ball teammates he knew would score. Just like kobe with shaq and now gasol, odom etc.. Now when has allen iverson EVER had someone he could trust to pass to? some one who was not on the decline? only 1 carmelo and he is just now matureing everyone else iverson ever played with WASHED UP or not ready to take off and mature.
Dude you should check Iverson’s career statistics before writing shit like this. He’s averaged 6.3 assists per game through his career and at the same time he had to do almost all the scoring during his years in Philly.. If you check his minutes and see his 40 mpg through his career it ain’t because he is selfish, it’s because he’s dominating in whatever team he’s in. He’s had one bad season on 14 years… when he moved to Denver his ppg went down for one reason.. CARMELO ANTHONY…. that was the first player in his career he had to help him score… consider things like that before you start complaining
(This was written in 2005, I thought it fit right here)
While Dan Le Batard of the Miami Herald broached the subject of race, and its impact in Steve Nash’s MVP award, the double standard between Nash and Allen Iverson is even more striking. The media dislikes AI; AI and Reebok crafted a commercial in order to restore his image, as AI looks into the camera to tell America he is not a gangster. When commenting on a Philadelphia 76ers game, announcers immediately resort to AI’s shot selection and shot attempts, insinuating that AI is a ball hog and a selfish player. While AI takes a high percentage of his team’s shots, and some are questionable, nobody jacks as many head-shaking shots as Vince Carter; in one of the play-off games last week, the commentators extolled Carter’s play, despite his 20+ missed shots, including such rally-killers as a contested, fade-away three-pointer, giving meaning to Carter’s “Vinsanity” nickname. While Carter is content to misfire from beyond the arc, at least Iverson takes on defenders and gets to the basket, creating an opportunity for a basket, a foul or a teammate to grab an offensive rebound. Everyone, it seems, is in love with the play of Steve Nash, whose craftiness and passing ability led Phoenix to the league’s best record. However, for all the derision AI receives, nobody handles the ball more than Nash. While the Sixers’ offense revolves around Iverson, he does not pound the ball incessantly; he runs off screens for a shot or uses 1-3 dribbles after receiving the pass to get into the lane. Nash, meanwhile, dribbles all over the court, darting and retreating, until he finds a man open for a shot. And, he is complemented on his unselfishness, while Iverson is derided for his ball dominance. When the 2003 “Dream Team” gathered before the World Championships in Indianapolis, the media used Allen Iverson as the goat to balance the lofty praise heaped on Tim Duncan, Jason Kidd and the others. In one article, the author spoke glowingly about every player, even mentioning Vince Carter as a team player (try convincing the Raptors of that one) before disparaging Allen Iverson as selfish. I understand the cranky, conservative media dislikes AI; he’s young, brash and confident and he wears cornrows. He actually expresses emotion, wears his heart on his sleeve. He says the wrong things. But, nobody plays harder. Nobody wants to win more than AI. And, unfortunately, the media-types cannot separate their dislike of the person from the player. AI is not selfish; he just shoots a lot. However, has he ever had a teammate who was a legitimate threat to score? He made Theo Ratliff millions of dollars by drawing swarms of defenders and allowing Ratliff to go get offensive rebounds. He made Matt Geiger seem like a good NBA player. He led a team whose second best player was a rookie (Andre Igoudala) into the play-offs and gave the defending champions a battle, even though his supporting cast included an aging, one-legged power forward (Chris Webber), a couple second round picks (Kyle Korver and Willie Green) and a pogo stick, lightweight center (Samuel Dalembert). Selfish players do not play defense, they do not dive on the floor. AI is consistently one of the league leaders in steals and always dives on the floor or in the stands for a loose ball. AI is on the court, ready to play, regardless of injury, playing through pain and battling to get to the basket and contest players who outweigh him by over a hundred pounds. Selfish is being a star and being afraid to take the big shot. AI is there, ready to shoot, ready to face the press if he misses, or accept the gratitude if he makes it. He is a star and plays like one, near the top of the league in minutes played every year and accounting for a remarkable percentage of his team’s points. For years, AI led the league in “blown dimes,” an unofficial statistic measuring how many assists a player should have had if his teammate had only made the shot. This season, with a competent shooter (Korver) and finisher (Igoudala), he averaged eight assists while still leading the league in scoring. AI does whatever he has to do to win. With the make-up of the Sixers, a team built around his scoring ability and team defense, he must shoot the ball to win. The onus is on his shoulders to create and make shots, and he accepts and relishes this opportunity. AI plays to win. Every game. Hard. Selfish players take nights off. They let loose balls go out of bounds. They miss games with an injury, but attend rap concerts. AI’s not selfish. AI is a winner, a player who does whatever is needed to win the game. He may not be the ideal role model off the court, or the best interview, but on the court, as a player, he does as much for his team as anyone in the league. It’s too bad most people are too easily offended by his tattoos and cornrows to see the value AI adds to his team and the L.
are u out of your mind iverson win loss record is not under 500, he had winning record when he left philly a pair of 50 win seasons in denver, in a way he made denver better they had there best overall franchise record with iverson, also when he left denver k mart, and nene were always injured,and jr smith just spent time getting thrown out of games and getting suspended, hes MVP season was the greatest ive ever seen litterly put a mediocre team on his back and led them to the nba finals with great play performances, get your facts straight fool just dont talk basketball anymmore idiot!!!!!! im not even an iverson fan but you gotta respect what his done for the nba, one of the most popular players in nba history
i agree with the writer of this article. it is clear that iverson is a selfish player who is incapable of playing team ball. chauncey billups came to denver, and with his class and matruity, led the nuggets to the western conference finals. denver excelled without iverson, and detroit bombed with iverson
I met Allen Iverson here in Atlanta and he is the same height and 165 just like me. I cant imagine doing the things he does playing against players like Lebron,Kobe,Bruce Bowen,Raja Bell,Dwight Howard,Shaq,Yao,T-Mac etc. This guy played these guys and killed them for over 12 years and you want to talk about him shooting 40% Kobe is 6/6 and for his career he shoots only 45% Lebron is 6/8 and for his career 47%. Kobe and Lebron are combined are 1 foot 3 inches taller than AI and they still shoot in the 40s. You cant tell me if AI was 6/6 or 6/8 he would be shooting 40% he would have 2 or three rings by know! This man is a small beast and the NBA will never see a little guy with a big game like this ever again. Chris Paul is great but try being great for 13 years and playing with with scrubs on your team for over a decade and still drop over 20 a game! All Im saying is respect this man! He is a one of the last real hoopers the game got left he may play the wrong way in some of our eyes but all of us who play the game like I do know there is never a perfect way. just as long as you love the game and your willing to lay it on the line for it like AI has done over and over again you will always be one of the best and to me he is pound for pound the best to ever do it!
I met Allen Iverson here in Atlanta and he is the same height and 165 just like me. I cant imagine doing the things he does playing against players like Lebron,Kobe,Bruce Bowen,Raja Bell,Dwight Howard,Shaq,Yao,T-Mac etc. This guy played these guys and killed them for over 12 years and you want to talk about him shooting 40% Kobe is 6/6 and for his career he shoots only 45% Lebron is 6/8 and for his career 47%. Kobe and Lebron are combined are 1 foot 3 inches taller than AI and they still shoot in the 40s. You cant tell me if AI was 6/6 or 6/8 he would be shooting 40% he would have 2 or three rings by know! This man is a small beast and the NBA will never see a little guy with a big game like this ever again. Chris Paul is great but try being great for 13 years and playing with scrubs on your team for over a decade and still drop over 20 a game! All Im saying is respect this man! He is one of the last real hoopers the game got left he may play the wrong way in some of our eyes but all of us who play the game like I do know there is never a perfect way. just as long as you love the game and your willing to lay it on the line like AI has done over and over again you will always be one of the best and to me he is pound for pound the best to ever do it!
Allen iverson will be a legend in da game no matter how many people are out there to say he is terrible player…who got the best crossover…Iverson…who is 16th all time scoring…Iverson…who is 12th on steals all time…Iverson…who will have fans no matter he does…IVERSON
who will be one of the toughest people in da leaugue sustain more injuries and PLAYIN with them….. Iverson…he might be getting older but basketball will miss Players like iverson if he dont come back
BigBlackRod’s post totally destroyed yours. It had many more facts, and it covered both sides. And I write for a newspaper and know that for a LEGIT article you MUST cover BOTH SIDES. therefore this crap you call an article is worthless.
Yeah Iverson’s style of play may not be looked up to by critics coaches, but looking at his stats shows that he is a great player, no matter what style he has.
And as for your last paragraph, you got the first part right about the large following Iverson has (me being one of them), but saying we don’t understand how the game is played because we like a player who doesn’t always “play by the rules” , now thats bull shit.
Because its all about the stats… that’s all you Iverson lovers see. Numbers, fantasy. He is an amazing player. And a selfish player. “Practice?!!? How can I make my teammates better through practice??” Yeah, who needs team chemistry when you play with a one on one mentality the whole game. The only reason why Iverson has so many assists is because he ALWAYS has the freaking ball! So if he does pass it to someone, they usually shoot it because 1. they don’t know when they might see the ball again and 2. its probably deep in the shot clock thanks to Iverson. Iverson then gets credit for those assists even though he didn’t create anything for anyone else.
Iverson: amazing athlete, amazing baller, amazingly bad team player and bball is a 5 man team sport.