Best move for unhappy AI may be reunion with old adversary

There's only one place for Allen Iverson to go when this nightmare of a season ends for both he and the Detroit Pistons.

And that's ... Charlotte.
AI and LB, together again.

David, are you nuts? Larry Brown and Iverson feuded like a sack of wet cats in Philly. Brown said, 'He goes or I go.' Iverson said, 'I can't play for this man.' They also had other words about each other, most of which can't be printed here.

All true. And irrelevant.
Both Iverson and Brown are at different points in their lives than they were seven years ago, when Brown left the 76ers to take the Pistons' job. Brown is 68. If Charlotte isn't his last coaching stop, he can see it from there. There have been no long-term projects with Brown, and there certainly isn't one now. It's about winning as much as possible as soon as possible. He's got the Bobcats at the edge of the Eastern Conference playoff race, but Charlotte may come up a little short. With a healthy, committed Iverson next season, Charlotte becomes a factor. The more you roll it around in your noggin, the more you realize that Charlotte may be the only place AI can land next year.

NBA.com: Best move for unhappy AI may be reunion with old adversary

I don't see why CHA would do that. They have Felton, and then they have DJ. They have Raja at the 2. Who's going to go to accommodate AI starting?

I don't see why DET would do that. They have Rip, and then they have Billups. They have Stucky and AA. Who's going to go to accomodate AI starting?

OOPS...

I hear he wants a championship..though.

LOL!

AI seems to have pretty high demands at this point:
1. He wants major minutes.
2. He wants to be utilized in a way that suits his abilities (focal point of an offense w/ lots of shot attempts)
3. He wants to win a Ship.

It would seem to any halfway intelligent basketball mind that he'd have to forgo #1 & #2 in order to achieve #3.

#1 & #2 would present a scenario where he's "the man" on a scrub team.
#3 would be a situation where he plays a limited roll on a contender.

the ironic thing is that "limited" wouldn't even be necessarily have to be all that limited. it's not hard to imagine Iverson coming off the bench as a sub for both some contender's 1 and 2 spots, and so easily pick up 30 or more minutes per game. to state the obvious, the problem is that he seems frozen into the stance that limited is anything other than starting, playing 40 + minutes a game, and being the # 1 option. In a way I can understand that attitude, since it's always been his role and it can be difficult for anyone to accept and adjust to such changes. So I just hope, because I still like the guy, that he can somehow find his way toward that acceptance and adjustment.

I think his insisting on not coming off the bench is a bit much, it seems he's not going to get more than 20 here now from Curry's comments yesterday. Rip wouldn't have accepted that either. TBH I don't see how clinging on to win a title playing a limited role adds much to your career unless your whole career has been as a limited role player. The Professor's post about 30 mins starting or off the bench should suffice though, not the man but a major part.

It's hard to believe that this might be the last we se of AI.

If nothing else, he should be pretending to embrace the role for the contract next year. Shooting himself in the foot over and over and over.

He's already said he'll retire rather than have that role. So not really shooting himself in the foot...

I think the rift is because of a nuance. When AI says he wants to do everything he can to win a championship, I don't think he means as a role player. I think that he wants to win the championship as "the man" not as a James Posey or Robert Horry. Perhaps subconsciously he resents the inevitable; watching someone like Rip raise the finals MVP.

The problem is, that window closed about 8 years ago. There's a new window, but AI seems unwilling to go through it because he doesn't like the quality of the frame.

Felton and DJ shouldn't even factor into this since they play the 1 and if we've seen anything from AI's time in Motown it's that he's much more suited for the 2. AI or Raja?? I'd go with AI every time.

rip has justified his 35 mpg here. AI...has not been able to play well enough here to eat out will bynum or Bynum has played well enough to "steal" 10 minutes from AI.

no double standard here

HAS there been a double standard?

If I'm getting this right, Rip complained at first; then he came off of the bench and did ok in that role. He only resumed his complaining when the TEAM wasn't doing well.
...and the win/loss record proved him right.

Chuck complained at first; disappeered for two weeks with an injury; then he came off of the bench and did very little (with the exception of that stretch in the 4th quater the other day). He's whined the ENTIRE time and each post-game unearths new comments about how the bench roll is KILLING him.

I've stayed out of the fray all season when people start taking sides and making it an issue of "AI vs Rip" or "AI vs Chauncey". I refuse to take sides. I want ALL of these guys to bond together and give us fans some excitement in a playoff series or two.

Rip handled his "benching" situation pretty bad.
AI has handled it absolutley AWEFUL!

there was a "but" missing in my initial post between the bench and minutes comment.

The difference as I see it is that Rip was benched as an equal of AI simply because someone had to be benched; from Curry's comments yesterday, AI is Rip's back up so it not a case of one starts and then see how the game goes.

This is probably the only time we will ever agree.

I think Curry's comments are a passive aggressive response to AI's, but that's definitely an assumption on my part.

The difference here with Rip/AI is there were games where Rip played about 20 min and kept his mouth shut and then went out and played so well that he couldn't be taken off the floor. Iverson would benefit from letting his actions do the talking instead of his mouth.

Why? He was dead Venison that hump a ride on a week old trail route to stinkville.

Nothing contagious about that.

ahh, that's why there a those funny buttons...live and learn