The Search for The Answer

This is the end of the line for Allen Iverson.

If A.I.'s career was the movie Zoolander, we would be at the part where Hansel and the DJ breakdance fight.

You know there's probably nothing great left, but you watch just to see if there is. And then you watch the rest of the movie and there really is nothing great left. All the quotable quotes are said, and all the absurdly funny moments have passed. Sure Derek unleashes Magnum, which somehow stops a ninja star mid-flight, but honestly nothing in the last part of the movie ranks in the top 50 best moments of the entire movie.

Allen Iverson has had his best moments, his MVP, his run at a championship, his scoring titles, his brief time as the "face of the league". Now all we're left with is a guy who is pretty much useless for most franchises out there.

He won't stop shooting eleventy billion times a game. Iverson is a volume shooter. He makes 2 of the first 11 to get his rhythm going and sinks 7 of the last 10 to get 9/21 for the game. This is a deeply embedded part of his game, and he can't be effective without shooting 20+ shots a night. In Detroit he shot a little under 7.5 less shots per game than his career average, and his field goal percentage was one of the worst of any year in his career.

He can't be built around. This is well documented, and it's not like you're going to start building a team around a 34-year old anyway.

He can't become a role player, and he won't come off the bench. The only thing he knows how to do is handle the ball and create opportunities for himself and his teammates. That's not what role players do, yet that is the only role he is competent in playing. Therefore, he can never be a role player. Role players shoot 7 shots and make 4 of them and get scraps of stats across the board - not very Iversonian.

The only teams remotely interested in Iverson are the Clippers and the Grizzlies. Iverson could certainly be a focal point of either offense while he's on the court, but I'm sure he'd rather play for a contender.

Yet, no contender would stand to benefit from Iverson's skill set.

This is a Catch-22 if I've ever seen one. Iverson can't play for a contender because he can't be a role player. Iverson can't play for a non-contender because he gains nothing career-achievement-wise by playing for such a team.

Though true Catch-22s leave the victim with no choice, Iverson has a couple of options.

1. Retire.
2. Take the veteran minimum and sit on the bench for a contender. Play 12 minutes a game and shoot as many shots as humanly possible during that time. Hopefully try to win the ever elusive ring.
3. Sign with a crappy team and score as many points as you can over the next 2 years to try and get past Dominique Wilkins (2685 pts away) and crack the top 10 in all time scoring. Actually he needs to get past Oscar Robertson (2727 pts away) because Kobe is right behind him, and will crack the top 10 before Iverson.

I don't expect him to retire, but I also don't expect him to sign with a contender for a reduced role.

For someone who had such a loud career both on and off the court, and for someone who always caught your attention, whether it be fan, opposing player, or opposing coach, it will be an uncharacteristically quiet exit. My guess is that he will sign with the Clippers and fade into the night, probably citing an injury as the main culprit. He will retire after next season, and wait for his Hall of Fame induction.

Not a bad way to head into retirement, if you ask me.