Allen Iverson is right in not signing with D-League Texas Legends

There aren’t too many people who want to see Allen Iverson back in the NBA as much as I do. Check the image above and my profile logo. I was quite excited when news spread that Allen had been offered a contract by the Texas Legends, the D- League affiliate team of the Dallas Mavericks. Their pitch centered on the fact that they had just helped Mike James make his way from the D-League up to the NBA for the Mavericks. About an hour ago, Allen tweeted:

“I thank Donnie and Dallas for the consideration and while I think the D-League is a great opportunity, it is not the route for me.” Iverson added: “I realize my actions contributed to my early departure from the NBA, should God provide me another opportunity I will give it my all. … My dream has always been to complete my legacy in the NBA. To my fans, I love yall! Not a day goes by that I am not asked when am I coming back, we all must accept that my return is not up to just me.”

Some may condemn him for not taking the D-League offer. Maybe it would have led to a way back to the league. To them I’d say, don’t be quick to judge. The D-League is not a shot at making it to the NBA for Iverson. In fact, teams in Europe have superior competition than the D-League. The D-League offers lesser money so many stars choose European ball over it, even though D-League is a quicker path to the NBA. But not for AI. Allen Iverson has been out of the NBA for three years now. In the meantime he tried playing for Besiktas Cola Turka, a team in Turkey. That wasn’t what he was looking for. Allen did prove that he can play while in Turkey. But no NBA team came calling. There was a player named Mire Chatman on Iverson’s team at that time who played like a clueless bugger and jacked up shot after shot instead of deferring to the superstar. That experiment ended, AI proved he belongs and no NBA team came calling. Iverson got offers all around in these three years from many teams from different leagues around the world who would have loved to use the services of the superstar. Allen declined them. At this stage in his career, there is only one thing which matters to him. Winning a championship. A second close thing would be to play in the NBA again.

“I’m not a sixth man. Look at my résumé and that’ll show I’m not a sixth man.”- Allen Iverson.

To those who think that the D-League is a path for Iverson to make his way in the NBA again, think again. Allen did not leave the NBA because he wasn’t good enough. He was blackballed out of the league because he did not conform. Because he did not approve of or accept some of the off court obligations which came with playing in the NBA. He felt that he lived up to his responsibilities by playing harder than anyone else on any given night. Read what he has just said, he realizes that his actions resulted in his departure from the NBA. For him to make his way in a D-League team, it’s not a very good shot when you look at history.

After Allen was traded from the Nuggets to the Pistons, his ball usage came down and he averaged 17.1 points and 5 assists. Same numbers on which Mo Williams made the all star team. And he was made to come off the bench behind Rodney ‘Who am I?’ Stuckey. It was an attack on him to demean his career and to force him out of the league. Just ask Rip Hamilton “Michael Curry (Pistons coach) lied to us a million times. He sat me and A.I. down one time and was like, ‘I’m going to lean on both of you the whole year, just don’t go to the media. Say you’ll do whatever for the team and blah blah blah.’ This was a week before he brought me off the bench. He lied. So I feel for what Allen said. I think the person that we had didn’t know how to take advantage of (our roster). Instead of taking advantage of it, he killed it.”

Allen’s game did not deteriorate in Detroit. His reputation did, because critics got a chance to pick him apart. Next season he signed with the Grizzlies and again the coach misused and insulted him by putting him on the bench. Even though Iverson again outplayed Michael Conley.

“From my experience in basketball, no guy was given a job in training camp anyway. You had to earn it. Anyway, I don’t want anybody to give me anything. I’ve earned everything that I’ve accomplished in my life as far as playing time and being a starter. I think I deserved it.”- Iverson said back when he was brought off the bench in Memphis.

Imagine Kobe Bryant changed teams and missed training camp because of an injury. You think the coach will bring him off the bench? The coach would be fired. And when we are talking about off court reputations, Kobe has a much worse one than Iverson. Do you really think Allen Iverson needs to prove to anyone that he can play by playing in the D-League? Answer these questions:

- Has Iverson lost his shooting touch, or any part of his skill with the basketball by not playing these years?- Has Iverson lost a step? Is Steve Nash a better defender than Iverson? Who would win in a footrace between the two?- Do you think a surefire Hall of Fame player would have deteriorated so much in three years that he has to play in the D League before playing in the NBA? Can you think of any Hall of Fame athlete who would have to go through that?- Do you think there is a single reason related to basketball which would explain why Iverson is not in the NBA?

Plain and simple, he isn’t in the league because of off court issues. The man is a media draw and a crowd puller. There are always teams looking to capitalize on that. That’s one thing the Texas Legends stand to gain. If the Dallas Mavericks want Allen Iverson, there’s nothing stopping them from signing him to a 10 day contract. There are a lot of players who are worse than Iverson and older than him and are starting for teams in the NBA.

If you’re looking to pick apart Iverson’s game or image or are wondering if he was blackballed or if he is deserving of playing, or if you want to quote ‘Practice’, give this detailed piece a read. The one detractor of Iverson’s game would probably have been Larry Brown. The coach who advocated playing ‘The Right Way.’ Or as players took it, ‘his way’. Look at what Brown has to say about Iverson-

“I benefited so much from being around him and at the time I wasn’t really aware of it. His competitiveness, his compassion, his will to win, the way his teammates loved him, the relationship I had with him. Even though people on the outside might have thought it was like (strained) we were attached. Since I’ve been away from him, we’ve gotten closer at a distance. And I do find wherever I go, how much of an influence he had on the sport, and I was a part of that. I thought at the time I was coaching him that he had an unbelievable influence on the game. But as time has gone on, I’m finding out he had an even greater impact, especially among young black kids. And I love it. I love talking about it and talking about my relationship with him and what he meant in my life.”- Larry Brown

After all that Iverson has given to the game, he deserves to be in the NBA. Few players are more universally beloved as Iverson. He is still better than half the point guards in the NBA and he deserves a shot at a comeback with a NBA team. Not waste his time in a D-League team where he would be teased by the team on a comeback. He needs assurance that a team is serious about playing him. For goodness sake, would you put Kobe on a D-League team? Or Nash? Jerry Stackhouse is still in the NBA. Allen is in the same draft class as those guys.

He needs a legitimate chance, not a trial in the murky waters of D-League.