Grizzlies waive Iverson

He didn't negotiate the "no-trade" clause into his contract, so when he signed, he essentially agreed to perform for potentially any team in the league.

Well Walter since you quote me and address me directly by name, I'll attempt to respond.

This is just a difference of opinion Walter. You don't know that he knew EXACTLY what he was signing on for. And even if he had an inkling, there's no law against changing your mind when you realize that you really don't want to sit on the bench and play only 20 minutes a game on the worst team in the league. Contract, whatever.The money will be worked out. These things happen.

The concept of requiring anyone to be a "role model" has always been highly suspect to me also. It seems to me telling people that they need to alter their behavior in order to be role models for young people is just another way to try to control them. Again, we differ.

Walter, truly I must say that I don't know whether he made the right call. I can say as one of his biggest fans that I am glad that he is no longer a bench player for the Memphis Grizzlies. And for the record, most of my favorite people act like spoiled toddlers sometimes. They have streaks of brilliance, fascinating temperaments, complicated personas and profound flaws. I find all those solid role model type people to be...how can I say it...dull.

What Allen knew when about the Grizzlies is a moot point. He's outta there. You may not like the way he left, but you aren't the one who was going to sit on that bench and pass the ball every night to Rudy Gay and OJ Mayo for 12-20 minutes.

Well I guess it didn't end too badly. Short and sweet rather than dragging it out, lol

I don't think that Iverson ever set out to be a role model.
He doesn't seem to want to be a bench player either.
Certainly, he has entered the twilight of his career.
These things will limit the teams who wish to look at him.
It didn't have to be this way.....

I think its a good bet that the talk went something like....

Memphis "we'll play the player that gives us the best chance to win on a nightly basis"

AI "thats cool"

AI believed there was no way that anybody else in the league short of Kobe and James were better then him even at this point in his career.

So from both sides they think they were making a good faith agreement. Memphis thought that AI would be willing to come off the bench if it was in the best interest of the Club... And AI thinking he is still a top 3 player in the league there was no way they would bring him off the bench.

Don't let the sun go down on me

Or - maybe it did...

For your consideration - Destiny;

"you are free to take the first step, but as soon as you take it, your second step becomes inevitable and predictable. You become bound by the different laws of life which govern the outcome of an act. Let us take an example. Say, you are going to plant a tree. As long as you have not done it, you have plenty of options. You may choose not to plant the seed at all. You may choose the type of tree you wish to grow. But once you have taken that decision and acted upon it, your freedom is curtailed by many degrees. If you plant a mango tree, then no matter what you do you cannot get any other fruit from that tree. Of course, even for reaping the harvest of mangoes you have to keep you fingers crossed. You cannot guarantee that the seed you just planted will grow to a big tree at all. It may also happen that the tree grows, bears fruit, but you cannot taste even a single fruit. There might be plenty of reasons for this. In other words, your freedom is limited to the actions you take but not to the outcome of that act. This sounds logical because the outcome of any act depends on so many factors that one cannot realistically hope to have control over all those factors. That is why even the best laid plans of the mightiest and most intelligent people turn to dust. This concept is called "Law of Karma".
http://www.akgupta.com/Thoughts/destiny.htm

AI's fate might well be as simple as "he is what he long ago decided to become".

You're absolutely correct that he never "wanted to be a role model". He said so repeatedly as have many other athletes. What you want to be and what you are are? In the real world you don't own your image in your neighbors eye.

If you have chosen to lead a highly public life, your life is highly public.

The only choice after that is how you attempt to represent yourself in that spotlight, not whether the spotlight shines. Being a role model or a victim are two sides of the same coin once you've entered spotlights circle. I don't think one can honestly decry the fate they've already chosen. It ain't all bad as AI's fate along the way was filled with juicy perks.

His "fade to black" reminds me of some old lyrics from an Elton John album named Caribou, I think it eerily reflects his love/hate relationship with the NBA and his inability to recognize and embrace his place in space & time.

The song is called "Don't let the sun go down on me" the lyrics were penned by Bernie Taupin back in 1974.

Here, let me set the stage, it's a worn out holiday inn somewhere in the rusty midwest. It's karaoke night. No ones in the place except a pharmaceutical salesman, a boozed up janitor from the local high school and a fat balding guy in a corner booth nursing a tall glass of bourbon, oh wait - thats David Stern.

The door opens and in slinks a slouch shouldered unemployed AI.
He see's Stern, Stern see's him. Their watery eyes lock like two old sumo wrestlers across a worn out whale blubber mat.

AI whispers in the bartenders ear, slips him a c-note and takes his place on the stool, center stage under a fading yellow light. Never do the the two old sumo's misty eyes unlock. Iverson reaches out takes the spittle stained microphone and he slowly, haltingly begins to croon -

"I can't light no more of your darkness
All my pictures seem to fade to black and white
I'm growing tired and time stands still before me
Frozen here on the ladder of my life

Too late to save myself from falling
I took a chance and changed your way of life
But you misread my meaning when I met you
Closed the door and left me blinded by the light

Don't let the sun go down on me
Although I search myself, it's always someone else I see
I'd just allow a fragment of your life to wander free
But losing everything is like the sun going down on me

I can't find, oh the right romantic line
But see me once and see the way I feel
Don't discard me just because you think I mean you harm
But these cuts I have they need love to help them heal"

@ Round...I think so too.

@ G-man...Thoughtful post. Enjoyed it.

Well Aurora, pardon the cliche, but we're going to have to agree to disagree on this.

Oh how I wish I was!

How many mango trees has Kander planted?

Oh Walter how different our wishes are! I would have liked to have been DeMarre Carroll on AI's first game with Memphis against Sacramento instead of the besotted fan in Row 20 with a sideline view of the Memphis Bench with her binoculars trained on The Answer Himself.

The balance of the time that he was not poker face hand on chin apparently musing about how sore his butt was getting sitting on that bench was spent interacting with DeMarre sitting next to him - cutting up, jostling, joking, and generally acting like a couple of hyperactive high school kids waiting to get on the floor. AI looked relaxed and happy and I thought: Hey, I want to be DeMarre Carroll! I need to be THAT guy! The guy that sits on the bench next to AI. Well it would have been a short friendship for me anyways had I gotten my wish.

I love that Elton John song. I think that for any elite athlete leaving their prime must be agony. I was a national caliber athlete and when I retired I was depressed about it for years. I just knew I was never going to find anything as thrilling as doing a back 2 1/2 somersault from a 10 meter tower. And I never have. Every time that I see Allen Iverson do a crossover through traffic and then not finish at the basket, I cringe. It's painful. Physical prowess is something you can never get back.

Life is fleeting. Time is the great equalizer. Both cliches. Both true. It's also true that because of these realities of time marching on LeBron James will not always be the King of the NBA. There are some things to look forward to.

Also, don't underestimate the whole locker room scene. You, AI, just hanging out. Nothing wrong with 2 bros comfortable with their bodies sharing and comparing tattoos.

Indeed.

Okay this is just an update. As a result of being in chat last night and the reality check of this ongoing thread I am safely completely out of denial now and have managed to drop Allen Iverson from both of my fantasy leagues. Allen Iverson is no longer a Smooth Criminal in the Novice League or a Aurora Franchise player in my Daily League. I regret to announce that his unpredictable status and inability to sustain repetitive butt injury from the bench make us unable to carry him on either our active rosters or our inactive rosters. We have found it necessary to replace him with another improbable but charismatic longshot little man....lil Earl Boykins. Go get 'em Earl. And Allen...take this time to get some therapy. It really really really helps. And just for the record, this is no reflection whatsoever on Allen's continued hotness factor which is still through the roof. He is just having some profound professional life-altering crises right now. Therapy is in order.

For who?







;)

lol!!!

Rudy Gay is hot.

So is the knicks going to happen?

NBA.com: Iverson a Knick?

Y'all proobably already seen it, but check the Maxiell block!