Grizzlies waive Iverson

Boston Celtics' Rasheed Wallace and Memphis Grizzlies' Allen Iverson handling reserve roles differently - ESPN Boston

Sheed vs. AI

Max - official recovery requires enrollment in the 876 step program known as "IGRH" (Iverson is God's right hand).

It all begins with you signing up and making public your "manlove";
(shout-out to AG for my using her "manlove" in a new thread)

Allen Iverson Official Fan Club - Allen Iverson Official Fan Club

and here;

http://twitter.com/ALLENiVERSON

and here;

Allen Iverson Live - The Number One Source For Allen Iverson Fans

and here;

MySpace - Allen Iverson Fan Club - 19 - Male - CALIFORNIA - myspace.com/iversonstreetteam

and here;

ALLEN IVERSON FAN CLUB | Facebook

You'll have to buy a sweatshirt to wear to all your family's holiday events, weddings, christenings and Bris ceremonies


You'll have to answer many poll questions like this one;

Does Allen look better with or without hair? - Allen Iverson - Fanpop

I really thought that it was going to work out well for him in Memphis.
...I gotta say, I'm a little shocked.

Allen has managed to make the Grizzlies owner look competent.

New York Knicks to meet with Allen Iverson after former guard parts ways with Memphis Grizzlies

I think AI will be back.

It's going to be like when SVG left Miami because he wanted to spend time with his family. After a while these guys get tired of spending time with the family and go back to work.

Hopefully AI will read the Sheed article first and come to terms with his aging status.

You are kidding aren't you BDL? Memphis has been so horrible for so long that they got those high draft picks all those college stars. You don't just let those college superstars wither on the vine: Mike Conley, Rudy Gay, OJ Mayo. All guards. It was an impossible fit unless they committed to AI as a starter and how could they, they wanted their cake and eat it too! They wanted the fan draw, the veteran superstar, fan favorite, #2 selling jersey in the NBA, they wanted all that and they also wanted their up and coming college boys to "develop" and I guess rightly so. Whether anyone actually ever told AI he would be coming off the bench behind the kids is questionable. It's unlikely he would have agreed as he stated that he would rather retire than do it when he was in Detroit. He seems to have backed up his commitment to his position about not coming off the bench however ill-advised (and I think it is extremely ill-advised because I love watching him play and would love to see him in a sixth man role on a contender) but hey, it's his career to extend or end.

But I don't see how anyone including the Grizzlies owner could have thought this was going to work out. Everyone involved was delusional about it. It's like a worse version of what Joe created. We had Iverson, Hamilton, Stuckey and our commitment ended up being to Stuckey, Hamilton and Iverson in that order when it all came down. In Memphis as far as scoring options went it was Rudy Gay, OJ Mayo, Mike Conley, Zach Randolph and then AI? I mean come on. How long was that man going to sit on that bench and lose games as the fifth scoring option? He took less shots and dutifully passed to the other guards. And then he got the hell out of there.

He can't say he went out on top for sure, that would have been several years ago, maybe Denver. But he doesn't have to sit at the end of the worst team in the league's bench and be humiliated for an entire season. Especially, because the truth about the playing time and his priority level was surely muddled or at worst steeped in denial when they signed on the dotted lines. But once the writing was on the wall, why would he stay? What does Allen Iverson have to prove that he can prove from that position on that bench in the NBA? He made the right call, I'll miss him horribly though. My hope really is that he just retires, although he probably won't be able to resist an offer to play.

I don't care what anyone says about not being a team player, not being a loyal organization man, a chemistry killer all that. I think Allen Iverson has cujones. He may not be right but he doesn't lack courage saying that he is just not going to play off the bench and that's that. It's the #1 reason IMO he had next to no free agency interest and if he does play again it will be for another bad team most likely. I'd rather see him play for a good team off the bench. But hey he's the one that doesn't like the sore butt and I still like that he flat out announces "I'm not doing it." He's going to play the way he thinks he can be effective playing, or he's not going to play. So be it. May we all be so singleminded in the pursuit of our dreams instead of making compromises we later toss and turn and think "what was I thinking when I did that for a whole year thinking somehow it would work out?"

The Grizzlies gambled. They didn't lose much. They still are a bad team. They gained a little respect because they are seen as AI's latest "victim."

AI gambled. He lost. He is still Allen Iverson and he can still gamble.

P.S. I'm really going to try to take a break from posting about AI. Try to be patient with me. This is my most serious post and I am really making an effort not to be all reactive to the more negative and bashing comments about him. I do feel that it would be so much better if he had never been a Piston because then my NBA peer group (you guys) and my heartfelt projection and identification with Allen Iverson would not have collided so violently and dramatically. This is a hard time for me to have Allen possibly never play again. I wish Star Jones was still here but she was an AI fan first and not a Pistons fan first, unlike myself. So if you feel irritated with me, try to think of me as a GRIEVER! And I promise not to ever do a post this long again, well at least not about Allen Iverson. This is my tribute post.

He needs to become a player/coach and control his playing time himself.

Otherwise, he will be at the mercy of coaches who think he'd help them more off the bench and GM's who lie to him (to use him for cap purposes-Det, or for fan draw, jersey sale purposes- Mem).

Or, I guess he could just target the team with the weakest SG and offer to sign with them for a very low amount and take his chances.

...Yes I was kidding. (I'm a little sarcastic sometimes and it makes me a bit of a jerk! )

This signing was doomed from the initial concept.
I gotta admit. I feel (a little) bad for BubbaChuck. I have to believe that the Grizz told him that he had a spot locked in as a starter and that he'd be getting big minutes. Why else would Allen agree to sign with that joke of a franchise. A bit of blame has to go to him though. EVERYone with half of a basketball mind saw this playing out exactly the way it did. AI prolly should have kept looking for a situation that he could actually flourish in.

I'm sure the Grizz got what they wanted out of Iverson (pre-orders for season tickets and some inflated merch sales).

What AI should have done from the get-go was hold off on signing with a team until after the season was underway. I guarantee you that before the F/A deadline, a contending team is going to have a guard get injured and Allen can step in and do the job.

Just think for a second if Rondo, Mo Williams, Kobe, D-Wade, B-Roy, etc. were to come up lame and be out for the season, Chuck would be a pretty darn good solution to keep hope alive for a solid playoff stretch and a possible 'ship.

...I have absolutely NO IDEA what the Grizz OR Allen Iverson were thinking when someone suggested that this might be a good idea.

Aurora, come on. Nobody forced him to sign that contract. He knew EXACTLY what he was signing on for. "He made the right call"? PLEASE. He quit on the last two teams he played for. Yeah, Detroit wasn't his choice. But, he put himself in the situation he was in with the Grizzlies.

He is a horrible role model for young NBA players. He's acting like a spoiled toddler. It's a terrible ending to an otherwise colorful career.

Woj has a really good article about this whole mess and the Jackson mess in Golden State.
Iverson, Jackson followed path to freedom - NBA - Yahoo! Sports

And, here's an article about the potential Knicks interest:
Iverson hopes to resume NBA career - NBA - Yahoo! Sports

Maybe he is just a delicate genius?

As you are still in recovery, let me give you a little peace of advice.

Stay away from those suicide jokes!