He's going to start, if not, he wouldn't be coming back. We all know the only reason he retired is because no team was willing to start him. He couldn't put his pride aside and be a 6th man. I guarantee he wouldn't come back if he wasn't going to start.
i was watching jordan's last game as a wizard- the wizards entered the game out of playoff contention and they lost by 20 + points against iverson's sixers (when they were actually good). in the waning minutes, the fans were demanding that jordan get some more run and coach doug collins obliged. his career lasted one more minute before the sixers gave him a token foul so he could hit two foul shots and he left the game after the shots were made. i thought to myself- the greatest player of his generation, leaves the game he used to dominate- down by 20, his team sucks and the other team has to extend a token gesture of appreciation because he isnt good enough to earn it himself. then i thought- who cares what i think, its jordan's legacy not mine. same goes for A.I.- if he wants to leave the game as a role player, then so be it.
Philly's 5-13. They have nothing to lose by starting Iverson. Worst case is he puts some butts in the seats.
How long will he last? I'm not exactly devastated about this, but im certainly not happy. I was rejoicing in the fact Iverson retired, one the greatest ballhogs of his generation, in fact he is the most inefficient, unsuccessful, selfish and just plain dumbest person in the NBA. yes he can pull crossovers galore and whichever defender, but this is not Rucker park or some Philly street court, it a professional basketball association that pays its players huge sums of money expecting a mature approach to the game of basketball. I don't mind the tattoos, the swagger, all that, I mind the attitude that Iverson brings with it though. his "thug-life", Tupac inspired approach to a professional career is immature and offensive to those players that put honest hard work to earn their paycheck. now the sixers are once again rewarding Iverson for screwing them and everyone else around and this is why he will continue to do what he does. Iverson has won nothing for the Sixers, nor any other team he has "contributed" to. A bad teammate, and a bad sport, Iverson should be retired, not playing in the NBA, because if players such as Stephon Marbury cant get away with their shitty behavior, then why can Iverson?
I'll admit, I'm not nor eve will be an Iverson fan. However, even I give him more credit than this. I'll say, he was a selfish douche, but he is actually a pretty accomplished player. He did win 4 scoring titles, went to the All Star team 9 times, and even carried a garbage Philly team to the NBA Finals and managed to steal a game from the best postseason team in the history of the NBA in that season's Lakers. He's also got the 6th highest scoring average of all time if I'm correct. Now don't get me wrong, I hate him, I despise him really, but at least give him the very little credit he's got. He does have quite a few individual accomplishments, just nothing much in regards to the team.
Oh yea, one last thing, the NBA doesn't pay it's players, the owners do. And the owners usually pay their players to put points on the board, which is something he's always done (albeit inefficient for chunks of his career).
oh i totally agree with you here, and it is my point exactly, yes he has reached personal milestones in his career, been a terrific scorer, but at what cost. we all can see how he has ended up. look at kobe, nash, ray allen, three players drafted the same year as iverson, look at ho well their careers have spanned out compared to iverson's career. im sure iversons emotional return to the sixers is purely honest and commendable, but im awaiting to be proven wrong. he seems like he feels very strongly about hi return to philly, but this again is just how he feels, his emotions. if he can come in and do the job he's supposed to, and go back to playing on the bench once LWilliams returns then id have to think twice about what i say about him, but right now iverson remains the selfih and uncommitted teammate he's always been, despite his scoring ability and mvp or finals appearance. look at the state of the ixers, yes its bad management over the years, unfourtunate injuries and the like, but iverson has played a huge role in the downturn of this franchise and he is not the player they need right now to try turn things around. though i could be wrong, and would love to see a humbled iverson accept a bench role and contribute valuable effort to a team in need of something to get back on track. but it is yet to happen and i am yet to be convinced otherwise on my feelings toward him.
Well, he won't accept a reserve role. We all know that. The only reason he's coming out of retirement is because he's going to be a starter. If he wasn't going to start, I guarantee he'd stay retired. As for your rant, I can't necessarily disagree with you. However, I'd like to put one thing out there. What makes Steve Nash so much more successful than Iverson? In reality, he's had less team success (no Finals appearance), and arguably less individual success (more MVPs, but lacks the scoring accolades and All Star appearances). As for the 76ers demise, I don't know if I'd really put it on Iverson. Sure, no one really wanted to go there because of his selfish play, but I'd blame management as well as lack of experience moreso than him. Look at some the moves they made? They signed Elton Brand to a big deal coming off a year in which he barely played. They also gave Sam Dalembert way too much money. I do love the drafting of Iggy, Thaddeus Young and Speights, I think they've all got a really good future, but you have to wonder how long the latter 2 will stay around. The 76ers have a lot of money wrapped up in Iggy and Brand, so I don't know what kind of money they're going to be willing to give the last 2, and those guys will be just as important to the development of this team as anyone for them. They've also been poorly coached as of recent. I can't think of a single good coach they've had since Larry Brown left. You can try and blame AI for the downfall of that team, but I don't think it's really at all his fault, especially since he's spent the last 3 years away from Philly.
