<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Allen Iverson regularly has said he wants to finish his career in Denver. It hasn't been just talk. With Friday the deadline for Iverson to opt out of the final year of his contract, the star guard decided not to do so and will return to the Nuggets next season for $20.84 million. The move first was reported by the Rocky Mountain News after Iverson's agent, Leon Rose, confirmed his client's intentions in a phone interview. "Things have gone well for him (in Denver)," Rose said of Iverson, traded from Philadelphia in December 2006. "He's looking forward to taking the team (further)." Iverson's decision wasn't a surprise. But his personal manager, Gary Moore, had told the Rocky on May 30 that Iverson's camp had discussions with the Nuggets about Iverson possibly opting out and signing a multiyear deal. But a source said Friday the Nuggets, deep into the luxury tax, never ended up making a formal offer for Iverson to sign such a multiyear deal. Nuggets vice president of basketball operations Mark Warkentien declined comment. An NBA official confirmed Friday the Nuggets still could sign Iverson, 33, to a contract extension by June 30, 2009. If no deal is reached by then, Iverson would become an unrestricted free agent July 1, 2009. It appears unlikely the Nuggets would do anything this summer with Iverson's contract. The Nuggets have eight players with guaranteed contracts next season totaling more than $78 million. Considering the Nuggets want to re-sign restricted free- agent guard J.R. Smith and must carry at least 13 players on the roster, they're staring at a payroll approaching $90 million, which would be about $20 million in excess of the luxury-tax threshold. For now, though, Nuggets players are happy to have Iverson back.</div> Rocky Mountain News
Iverson always wanted freedom to be himself more than anything else, and the 76'ers and the Nuggets went along with his stated wishes. But I am afraid he ended up with a little bit too much freedom, because being a real contender got lost along that road. Did Iverson become so obsessed with freedom to be himself that he allowed that objective to crowd out everything else? I think I will determine the answer to that before my Iverson series is finished.
