Quote:Allen Iverson leaves Grizzlies for personal reasons
By Ronald Tillery
Posted November 7, 2009 at 4:33 p.m. , updated November 7, 2009 at 4:34 p.m.
LOS ANGELES –- The Allen Iverson saga has taken another turn as the veteran guard asked for and was granted permission to leave the Grizzlies to deal with a personal matter, according to an NBA source.
Not really surprising. I knew before they even signed him that he wouldn't ever accept playing off the bench.
Just saw Wolken's tweet on this. I wonder if he will be back.
There is a moral to that story in there somewhere.
You know, for a second after reading that article I thought to myself "No big deal, could be anything. Maybe a family member is sick or something. Happens all the time." Then I remembered that we were talking about Allen Iverson and the Memphis Grizzlies.
I'd be shocked if this DIDN'T have to do with Iverson's role on the team. Hopefully I'm wrong.
(11-07-2009 06:11 PM)Jenkz Wrote: [ -> ]You know, for a second after reading that article I thought to myself "No big deal, could be anything. Maybe a family member is sick or something. Happens all the time." Then I remembered that we were talking about Allen Iverson and the Memphis Grizzlies.
I'd be shocked if this DIDN'T have to do with Iverson's role on the team. Hopefully I'm wrong.
If it is something serious like family stuff, that is understandable, but somehow i just have this feeling this is not the case.
If it's true that he is leaving because of his role, then he will be messing up badly career wise. It will not look good if he quits on a team like that.
Either way, after just a few days of hearing iverson complain or create some kind of drama, do some of you understand why i was so against getting AI?
(11-07-2009 06:11 PM)Jenkz Wrote: [ -> ]You know, for a second after reading that article I thought to myself "No big deal, could be anything. Maybe a family member is sick or something. Happens all the time." Then I remembered that we were talking about Allen Iverson and the Memphis Grizzlies.
I'd be shocked if this DIDN'T have to do with Iverson's role on the team. Hopefully I'm wrong.
Apparently, Heisley went to LA to talk to Iverson today. See this story
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4631552
Some choice quotes:
Quote:"I think that's probably the worst part of all this," Iverson said Friday. "That while all this is going on, [Coach Lionel Hollins and I] have never talked to each other. That's probably why it's at this point right now. We've just never had a conversation, so it's probably going to always be hard for me and him to see eye-to-eye, because we've never even talked to each other. Obviously that's what you do if you're trying to accomplish the same goal."
Quote:"I'm not trying to figure out how to contribute to no team," Iverson said. "I contribute to a team by just playing. That's it. I don't have to figure it out. Obviously, they signed me for a reason. They've been watching me play this game for 13 years, and they know what I do on the basketball court, so I don't have to figure out how I'm going to play or anything like that. I just go out and play basketball."
You have to wonder just what in the heck is going in if, as Iverson has previously claimed, they never talked to him about coming off the bench, and, as he said last night, he has literally never talked to Lionel Hollins.
Wow grow up AI. You miss the ENTIRE preseason and expect to be starting?
If he had waited another week he would have been the unquestioned starter and leader of the team. Ridiculous. F 'em.
Well that didn't take long.
(11-07-2009 06:29 PM)Briskbas Wrote: [ -> ] (11-07-2009 06:11 PM)Jenkz Wrote: [ -> ]You know, for a second after reading that article I thought to myself "No big deal, could be anything. Maybe a family member is sick or something. Happens all the time." Then I remembered that we were talking about Allen Iverson and the Memphis Grizzlies.
I'd be shocked if this DIDN'T have to do with Iverson's role on the team. Hopefully I'm wrong.
Apparently, Heisley went to LA to talk to Iverson today. See this story http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4631552
Some choice quotes:
Quote:"I think that's probably the worst part of all this," Iverson said Friday. "That while all this is going on, we have never talked to each other. That's probably why it's at this point right now. We've just never had a conversation, so it's probably going to always be hard for me and him to see eye-to-eye, because we've never even talked to each other. Obviously that's what you do if you're trying to accomplish the same goal."
Quote:"I'm not trying to figure out how to contribute to no team," Iverson said. "I contribute to a team by just playing. That's it. I don't have to figure it out. Obviously, they signed me for a reason. They've been watching me play this game for 13 years, and they know what I do on the basketball court, so I don't have to figure out how I'm going to play or anything like that. I just go out and play basketball
."
You have to wonder just what in the heck is going in if, as Iverson has previously claimed, they never talked to him about coming off the bench, and, as he said last night, he has literally never talked to Lionel Hollins.
I've been saying it for weeks. Someone lied, and i think it was the grizz. All we heard before AI was signed was that the grizz would make it clear to him that he would possibly have to accept coming off the bench. The day he was signed, you never heard it mentioned again.
(11-07-2009 06:30 PM)GoTigersJoe87 Wrote: [ -> ]Wow grow up AI. You miss the ENTIRE preseason and expect to be starting?
If he had waited another week he would have been the unquestioned starter and leader of the team. Ridiculous. F 'em.
I knew there would be some uniformed comments here. Most writers, locally and nationally noticed there was a problem with Hollins when it came to AI. The national media had questions after the first practice and Hollins got mad. It got even worse and Gary Parrish even talked about it. This is not about Iverson, this is about Hollins and Conley and the love affair. You do not sit down and not discuss Iversons roll and not tell him in advance. "Now we got him signed, he works for us and do what we say". This is a sport driven by a product and that product is people/the athletes. How can you say F AI and be happy to have Thabeet, Gooden, Troy Bell, D Jones, Warrick, and the countless number of signing that was from the CBA and the DLeague. The fans deserve better and this city deserves better!
(11-07-2009 06:35 PM)tmoneyinmphs Wrote: [ -> ]I've been saying it for weeks. Someone lied, and i think it was the grizz. All we heard before AI was signed was that the grizz would make it clear to him that he would possibly have to accept coming off the bench. The day he was signed, you never heard it mentioned again.
Even if they literally never broached the subject with them, which I find difficult to believe (but, hey, the whole thing has been bizarre from the start), how in the world could he not know that he'd be coming off the bench given, I dunno, the zillion questions he got about it before the season started.
Iverson was certainly lying to himself, one way or the other.
fire the "D" coach!!! how many great players have come thru memphis and leave and their careers take off?? we are talking about allen iverson. who cares if we like him personally? he can help your team win games!! its crazy to not start him. thats why the memphis grizzlies is and always will be a joke of a team! we finally get a franchise type player and this is how we treat him! he could have helped to fill the stands and maybe generate a lil income for this team! his scoring record proves why he can miss a preseason and still start. how many other guys on this team has put up the numbers he has this long? get real memphis!
This is sad. Not sure A.I. is goint about it the right way, but it was the Grizz that caused this. Pathetic.
(11-07-2009 06:33 PM)UOFMGLENN Wrote: [ -> ]Well that didn't take long.
Nope. But the Grizz sold some jerseys.
Looks like the Grizzlies hacreated yet another cluster%#€k forthemselves.
(11-07-2009 06:30 PM)GoTigersJoe87 Wrote: [ -> ]Wow grow up AI. You miss the ENTIRE preseason and expect to be starting?
Preseason is practice. And you know how he feels about practice. We talkin' 'bout practice.
Throw AI's punk arse off the team. If he doesn't like the bench, let's see how much he enjoys not playing at all.
F'n diva. He can bite it.
Didn't AI sign here in the first place with the understanding he would be coming off the bench
(11-07-2009 08:19 PM)the other Greg Childers Wrote: [ -> ]Throw AI's punk arse off the team. If he doesn't like the bench, let's see how much he enjoys not playing at all.
F'n diva. He can bite it.
Couldn't agree more.
For those of us who actually follow and support the Grizzlies and want them to do well, we all know that this boils down to simply the unexplained, unbelievable, and irrational love affair that Hollins has with Conley. Conley is by far the worst starting point guard in the Association and I would take about 80% of the backups before I would take his worthless arse. There are at least 3 rookie point guards this year who are already far and away better than Conley.
Why Hollins has decided to hitch his wagon to the plummeting career of Conley is completely baffling. The offense runs much smoother when AI is in the game. I don't blame him for being upset for playing behind Conley. I would be upset with AI if he were causing trouble because he was playing behind a rising star like Jennings, Curry, Bayless, Fernandez, or Stuckey. But I completely understand his anger at playing behind a complete dog like Conley.
Put Conley + Gay + Thabust in a package and build around Mayo + Gasol + Carroll + Randolph
AI sucks. I'd rather have Conley than AI. AI is a locker room cancer.
(11-07-2009 08:51 PM)Stumpbuster Wrote: [ -> ]For those of us who actually follow and support the Grizzlies and want them to do well, we all know that this boils down to simply the unexplained, unbelievable, and irrational love affair that Hollins has with Conley. Conley is by far the worst starting point guard in the Association and I would take about 80% of the backups before I would take his worthless arse. There are at least 3 rookie point guards this year who are already far and away better than Conley.
Why Hollins has decided to hitch his wagon to the plummeting career of Conley is completely baffling. The offense runs much smoother when AI is in the game. I don't blame him for being upset for playing behind Conley. I would be upset with AI if he were causing trouble because he was playing behind a rising star like Jennings, Curry, Bayless, Fernandez, or Stuckey. But I completely understand his anger at playing behind a complete dog like Conley.
Put Conley + Gay + Thabust in a package and build around Mayo + Gasol + Carroll + Randolph
The love affair is one of the main reasons they took Thabeet 2nd pick
(11-07-2009 09:03 PM)the other Greg Childers Wrote: [ -> ]AI sucks. I'd rather have Conley than AI. AI is a locker room cancer.
Actually, it's pretty well known that the "locker room" supports AI over Conley. This is true especially of Mayo, and his opinion matters the most. I don't know if you've watched games this year but Mayo, Rudy, and Gasol are literally afraid to throw Conley the ball. There have been multiple times where they choose to throw to a double teamed player rather than a wide open Conley. And the fact that you say you prefer Conley over ANYBODY kind of shows me that you have not closely watched many games this year. Conley is absolutely horrible.
(11-07-2009 09:26 PM)Stumpbuster Wrote: [ -> ] (11-07-2009 09:03 PM)the other Greg Childers Wrote: [ -> ]AI sucks. I'd rather have Conley than AI. AI is a locker room cancer.
Actually, it's pretty well known that the "locker room" supports AI over Conley. This is true especially of Mayo, and his opinion matters the most. I don't know if you've watched games this year but Mayo, Rudy, and Gasol are literally afraid to throw Conley the ball. There have been multiple times where they choose to throw to a double teamed player rather than a wide open Conley. And the fact that you say you prefer Conley over ANYBODY kind of shows me that you have not closely watched many games this year. Conley is absolutely horrible.
I've watched games and I cringe every time AI comes in the game.
On the season:
Conley - 35 assists - 5 steals - 18 TOs
AI - 11 assists - 1 steal - 7 TOs
If you think AI is better, you're smoking some serious herb.
AI is not "the answer." He hasn't been for years.
There is only one solution to the Grizzlies problems now. They need to trade Conley,Mayo,Gay,Randolph,Gasol,Iverson,etc. for first round picks in the upcoming draft and forfeit the rest of the season. We then need Heisley to be declared mentally unstable and have the team turned over to his wife, who would then sell the team to the local group for a cheaper price. Then that local management group would fire Lionel Hollins on the spot and promote Dave Joerger to head coach. They would then fire Chris Wallace and hire me as the General Manager at which point I would make the choices who to draft with our 10 picks in the upcoming draft. This will be later known as the best draft by a single team in NBA History. We would win a championship 1 year later.
(11-07-2009 09:03 PM)the other Greg Childers Wrote: [ -> ]AI sucks. I'd rather have Conley than AI. AI is a locker room cancer.
My only comment is you can't be serious. Plus give me an instance where AI was a cancer! Not the press conference about practice which he missed once. Or are you just doing a D. Woloshin and listening to what you heard?
(11-07-2009 09:26 PM)Stumpbuster Wrote: [ -> ] (11-07-2009 09:03 PM)the other Greg Childers Wrote: [ -> ]AI sucks. I'd rather have Conley than AI. AI is a locker room cancer.
Actually, it's pretty well known that the "locker room" supports AI over Conley. This is true especially of Mayo, and his opinion matters the most. I don't know if you've watched games this year but Mayo, Rudy, and Gasol are literally afraid to throw Conley the ball. There have been multiple times where they choose to throw to a double teamed player rather than a wide open Conley. And the fact that you say you prefer Conley over ANYBODY kind of shows me that you have not closely watched many games this year. Conley is absolutely horrible.
And the coach lets that go on? Hollins is the problem. AI probably told him to kiss his azz.
(11-07-2009 09:34 PM)the other Greg Childers Wrote: [ -> ] (11-07-2009 09:26 PM)Stumpbuster Wrote: [ -> ] (11-07-2009 09:03 PM)the other Greg Childers Wrote: [ -> ]AI sucks. I'd rather have Conley than AI. AI is a locker room cancer.
Actually, it's pretty well known that the "locker room" supports AI over Conley. This is true especially of Mayo, and his opinion matters the most. I don't know if you've watched games this year but Mayo, Rudy, and Gasol are literally afraid to throw Conley the ball. There have been multiple times where they choose to throw to a double teamed player rather than a wide open Conley. And the fact that you say you prefer Conley over ANYBODY kind of shows me that you have not closely watched many games this year. Conley is absolutely horrible.
I've watched games and I cringe every time AI comes in the game.
On the season:
Conley - 35 assists - 5 steals - 18 TOs
AI - 11 assists - 1 steal - 7 TOs
If you think AI is better, you're smoking some serious herb.
AI is not "the answer." He hasn't been for years.
I agree with you that AI is not the answer, at least long term. But if this Memphis wants anything resembling a successful franchise in the coming years then Conley is definitely not the answer either. Talk about cringing, I cringed last night as I watch Jared Bayless playing for the T-Blazers, I cringed the other night when I watched Steph Curry play for the Oakland Warriors, and I cringed when I watched Brandon Jennings play for the Bucks. Any of which could have easily been in Beale Street Blue. Instead, I get to watch Conley pound the ball into the parkay for 18 seconds every possession, get torched off the dribble by the likes of Beno Udreh, and lay brick after brick whenever he does finally decide to shoot the rock. Pathetic. The only reason he is in the Association is because he got to lob the ball to Greg Oden during his high school and college years.
The only players that I would say are untouchable are Mayo, Gasol, and Randolph. They can trade the rest of the team as far as I'm concerned. Take Hollins with them.
Thank goodness the Lakers still owe us another first round pick.
(11-07-2009 09:34 PM)the other Greg Childers Wrote: [ -> ] (11-07-2009 09:26 PM)Stumpbuster Wrote: [ -> ] (11-07-2009 09:03 PM)the other Greg Childers Wrote: [ -> ]AI sucks. I'd rather have Conley than AI. AI is a locker room cancer.
Actually, it's pretty well known that the "locker room" supports AI over Conley. This is true especially of Mayo, and his opinion matters the most. I don't know if you've watched games this year but Mayo, Rudy, and Gasol are literally afraid to throw Conley the ball. There have been multiple times where they choose to throw to a double teamed player rather than a wide open Conley. And the fact that you say you prefer Conley over ANYBODY kind of shows me that you have not closely watched many games this year. Conley is absolutely horrible.
I've watched games and I cringe every time AI comes in the game.
On the season:
Conley - 35 assists - 5 steals - 18 TOs
AI - 11 assists - 1 steal - 7 TOs
If you think AI is better, you're smoking some serious herb.
AI is not "the answer." He hasn't been for years.
Minutes played?
(11-07-2009 09:56 PM)Dak10 Wrote: [ -> ] (11-07-2009 09:34 PM)the other Greg Childers Wrote: [ -> ] (11-07-2009 09:26 PM)Stumpbuster Wrote: [ -> ] (11-07-2009 09:03 PM)the other Greg Childers Wrote: [ -> ]AI sucks. I'd rather have Conley than AI. AI is a locker room cancer.
Actually, it's pretty well known that the "locker room" supports AI over Conley. This is true especially of Mayo, and his opinion matters the most. I don't know if you've watched games this year but Mayo, Rudy, and Gasol are literally afraid to throw Conley the ball. There have been multiple times where they choose to throw to a double teamed player rather than a wide open Conley. And the fact that you say you prefer Conley over ANYBODY kind of shows me that you have not closely watched many games this year. Conley is absolutely horrible.
I've watched games and I cringe every time AI comes in the game.
On the season:
Conley - 35 assists - 5 steals - 18 TOs
AI - 11 assists - 1 steal - 7 TOs
If you think AI is better, you're smoking some serious herb.
AI is not "the answer." He hasn't been for years.
Minutes played?
For the record, Conley has 191 and AI has 67.
In those minutes:
Conley's asst/TO ratio is 1.94 while AI's is 1.57.
Conley averages an assist every 5.45 minutes.
AI averages an assist every 6.09 minutes.
Conley averages a steal every 38.2 minutes.
AI averages a steal every 67 minutes.
Conley averages a shot attempt every 3.98 minutes.
AI averages a shot attempt every 2.58 minutes.
AI is a sloppy, shot jacking ball hog.
Conley is a stable (although unflashy) team-first player.
IF the Griz brass never talked to AI about coming off the bench AND IF Hollins truly has never sat down and talked with Iverson, they all should be fired. They were smoking dope thinking he would just adapt to playing off the bench and accept it. There is NO way that was gonna happen.
TOGC, finally starting to agree with you. I have been on the "well, now that he is here, start him" train of thought, but we need to jettison him. We still have major issues at the 1, Conley isn't the guy. I think this is AI's fierce pride coming out as he thinks he is better than coming off the bench for a joke of a franchise. But, I would rather see us develop the young core if he is going to be this way and see what happens. He is a drama queen.
(11-07-2009 09:55 PM)the other Greg Childers Wrote: [ -> ]The only players that I would say are untouchable are Mayo, Gasol, and Randolph.
I would throw Hahmed Addaddi in there as well.
(11-07-2009 10:11 PM)jtgavigan Wrote: [ -> ]IF the Griz brass never talked to AI about coming off the bench AND IF Hollins truly has never sat down and talked with Iverson, they all should be fired. They were smoking dope thinking he would just adapt to playing off the bench and accept it. There is NO way that was gonna happen.
TOGC, finally starting to agree with you. I have been on the "well, now that he is here, start him" train of thought, but we need to jettison him. We still have major issues at the 1, Conley isn't the guy. I think this is AI's fierce pride coming out as he thinks he is better than coming off the bench for a joke of a franchise. But, I would rather see us develop the young core if he is going to be this way and see what happens. He is a drama queen.
If AI didn't realize that he was coming off the bench, he's a moron. They only discussed it publicly in the media dozens of times before they signed him.
(11-07-2009 10:11 PM)Stumpbuster Wrote: [ -> ] (11-07-2009 09:55 PM)the other Greg Childers Wrote: [ -> ]The only players that I would say are untouchable are Mayo, Gasol, and Randolph.
I would throw Hahmed Addaddi in there as well.
Do they still have the rights to Juan Carlos Navarro? We could use his scoring off the bench.
Well.....I think that folks can read between the lines on this one. He wasn't going to accept coming off the bench so he decided to leave for "personal reasons." He did the same thing in Denver and Detroit but called it back spasms. To many people on this team need the ball and none of them play defense.
The crux of the problem is this:
Memphis will rarely ever be able to attract quality free agents who are desired by many franchises. This is due in small part to the size of the Memphis market and in large part to the lack of credibility and purpose that still plagues the franchise.
Ergo.....
When faced with this reality, QUALITY draft picks will be the key to building this franchise. This is the same situation that the Utah Jazz regularly find themselves in. Unfortunately, they have an illustrious history of sound draft picks. The Grizzlies not so much. The NBA's collective bargaining agreement gives the team that drafted a player the advantage when a player's contract is up because they are allowed to offer more money than other teams. So once you've drafted a player, a franchise has a better than average chance of keeping the talent around. Unfortunately, the Grizzlies have been cursed when it comes to the lottery and have faired even worse when it comes to picking talent:
Drew "Drizzle" Gooden (instead of Amare)
Troy Bell (instead of Tayshaun Prince)
Daunte Jones
Laurence Robertson
Rudy Gay for Shane Battier
Mike Conley
"that guy from Kansas who failed high school math"
Hasheem effin' Thabeet
Besides Mayo, our drafting seems to get worse with every year. That has to be remedied before this franchise will be able to rise from the ashes.
p.s. I am beginning to think that Micheal Heisley's favorite movie character of all time is the bitch owner from Major League
(11-07-2009 10:16 PM)the other Greg Childers Wrote: [ -> ] (11-07-2009 10:11 PM)jtgavigan Wrote: [ -> ]IF the Griz brass never talked to AI about coming off the bench AND IF Hollins truly has never sat down and talked with Iverson, they all should be fired. They were smoking dope thinking he would just adapt to playing off the bench and accept it. There is NO way that was gonna happen.
TOGC, finally starting to agree with you. I have been on the "well, now that he is here, start him" train of thought, but we need to jettison him. We still have major issues at the 1, Conley isn't the guy. I think this is AI's fierce pride coming out as he thinks he is better than coming off the bench for a joke of a franchise. But, I would rather see us develop the young core if he is going to be this way and see what happens. He is a drama queen.
If AI didn't realize that he was coming off the bench, he's a moron. They only discussed it publicly in the media dozens of times before they signed him.
(11-07-2009 10:11 PM)Stumpbuster Wrote: [ -> ] (11-07-2009 09:55 PM)the other Greg Childers Wrote: [ -> ]The only players that I would say are untouchable are Mayo, Gasol, and Randolph.
I would throw Hahmed Addaddi in there as well.
Do they still have the rights to Juan Carlos Navarro? We could use his scoring off the bench.
Ironically, we released navarro's rights to sign AI. Navarro ain't coming back anyway. He gets paid too much to play in his home country.
There are only 3-5 decent players in every draft. Most of the rest suck. We lucked up when we traded with LA and picked up Marc Gasol. He was a second round draft pick and he's one of the best centers in the west, possibly the league. Everyone keeps bitching about their draft picks, but it's like throwing darts in a room with no lights.
somebody mentioned Dahntay Jones - would like to have him back - he can play some D with attitude. People forget that he was the starting 2 guard for Denver last year and gave every top scorer hell in the playoff last year.
(11-07-2009 10:42 PM)the other Greg Childers Wrote: [ -> ]There are only 3-5 decent players in every draft. Most of the rest suck.
Absolutely disagree. Take a gander at the San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz, Portland TrailBlazers, and the Miami Heat. The core of those teams, especially the Spurs, came straight from the draft. To say that there are only 3-5 decent players in every draft is completely erroneous. Maybe you could say that there are only 3-5 stars in every draft but there are always numerous quality players. If every draft yielded only 3-5 "decent" players, then the NBA is full of a bunch of $hit players with the occassional average player. Come on man, at least be logical.
(11-07-2009 09:26 PM)Stumpbuster Wrote: [ -> ] (11-07-2009 09:03 PM)the other Greg Childers Wrote: [ -> ]AI sucks. I'd rather have Conley than AI. AI is a locker room cancer.
Actually, it's pretty well known that the "locker room" supports AI over Conley. This is true especially of Mayo, and his opinion matters the most. I don't know if you've watched games this year but Mayo, Rudy, and Gasol are literally afraid to throw Conley the ball. There have been multiple times where they choose to throw to a double teamed player rather than a wide open Conley. And the fact that you say you prefer Conley over ANYBODY kind of shows me that you have not closely watched many games this year. Conley is absolutely horrible.
The announcers of the Clippers game just said that multiple sources said that Allen Iverson "sucked the life out of the locker room."
Grizzlies up by nine in the first quarter against the Clippers.
Chad Ford on ESPN's TrueHoop page just wrote that multiple GM sources have told him that:
"according to a number of league sources unconnected to the Grizzlies, is that Iverson's gone for good from the Grizzlies."
"One rival GM, citing a conversation with someone from the Grizzlies coaching staff, told ESPN.com that the Grizzlies and Iverson had mutually agreed to part ways. According to this source, the word is that Iverson was causing too many distractions and the team didn't want to deal with Iverson's insistence that he be put in the starting lineup."
(11-07-2009 11:11 PM)Stumpbuster Wrote: [ -> ]Chad Ford on ESPN's TrueHoop page just wrote that multiple GM sources have told him that:
"according to a number of league sources unconnected to the Grizzlies, is that Iverson's gone for good from the Grizzlies."
"One rival GM, citing a conversation with someone from the Grizzlies coaching staff, told ESPN.com that the Grizzlies and Iverson had mutually agreed to part ways. According to this source, the word is that Iverson was causing too many distractions and the team didn't want to deal with Iverson's insistence that he be put in the starting lineup."
Surely, this comes as no surprise.
(11-07-2009 11:21 PM)dan o Wrote: [ -> ] (11-07-2009 11:11 PM)Stumpbuster Wrote: [ -> ]Chad Ford on ESPN's TrueHoop page just wrote that multiple GM sources have told him that:
"according to a number of league sources unconnected to the Grizzlies, is that Iverson's gone for good from the Grizzlies."
"One rival GM, citing a conversation with someone from the Grizzlies coaching staff, told ESPN.com that the Grizzlies and Iverson had mutually agreed to part ways. According to this source, the word is that Iverson was causing too many distractions and the team didn't want to deal with Iverson's insistence that he be put in the starting lineup."
Surely, this comes as no surprise.
I wonder if this will set the record for the shortest tenure of a free agent signing (3 games played)?
As Chad Ford pointed out, if AI never plays another game for the Grizz, then he earned a little over 1 million per game played.
(11-07-2009 11:21 PM)dan o Wrote: [ -> ] (11-07-2009 11:11 PM)Stumpbuster Wrote: [ -> ]Chad Ford on ESPN's TrueHoop page just wrote that multiple GM sources have told him that:
"according to a number of league sources unconnected to the Grizzlies, is that Iverson's gone for good from the Grizzlies."
"One rival GM, citing a conversation with someone from the Grizzlies coaching staff, told ESPN.com that the Grizzlies and Iverson had mutually agreed to part ways. According to this source, the word is that Iverson was causing too many distractions and the team didn't want to deal with Iverson's insistence that he be put in the starting lineup."
Surely, this comes as no surprise.
It is a surprise. And don't call me Shirley
(11-07-2009 11:11 PM)Stumpbuster Wrote: [ -> ]Chad Ford on ESPN's TrueHoop page just wrote that multiple GM sources have told him that:
"according to a number of league sources unconnected to the Grizzlies, is that Iverson's gone for good from the Grizzlies."
"One rival GM, citing a conversation with someone from the Grizzlies coaching staff, told ESPN.com that the Grizzlies and Iverson had mutually agreed to part ways. According to this source, the word is that Iverson was causing too many distractions and the team didn't want to deal with Iverson's insistence that he be put in the starting lineup."
Like I said, a locker room cancer.
(11-07-2009 08:37 PM)Tigerbert Wrote: [ -> ]Didn't AI sign here in the first place with the understanding he would be coming off the bench
I recall seeing an interview AI did and he discussed this very same thing. I did not think it was a good thing to sign AI since the grizz are so young. These guys need a veteran leader / teacher type of role player not someone like AI. jmo