I want to be happy to see Allen Iverson taking his basketball talents to Turkey. I want to be happy to see him get a two-year $4 million contract to play the game of basketball. I'm really just happy to see him alive after Stephen A. Smith's reports of his drinking & gambling troubles this year.
Smith suggested that Iverson needed more than prayer from his friends and fans. Many of us prayed as hard as we could, but apparently Smith was right. Iverson needed more than prayers.
My prayers started with A.I. sorting out his personal problems. That part appears to have worked out. He's back with his wife, Tawanna, and their daughter is healthy again. I also prayed he'd solve his financial woes and $4 million will go a long way to helping with any money problems he may have had.
Lastly, I prayed for him to have basketball redemption. Maybe Mikhail Prokhorov and Jay-Z could bring Iverson in to the Nets to sell some tickets and bring some hype to Newark until they move to Brooklyn. If Jason Kidd could rebuild his image and rock New Jersey in the process, why couldn't Iverson?
Even Minnesota would've been cool. They just gave Darko Milicic $20 million for four years. Surely they could give Iverson the same $4 million that Turkey is giving him. A.I. must be better than Timberwolves guard Luke Ridnour, right?
I guess the basketball gods see it differently. Maybe they see a guy who left Georgetown before he was truly ready for the responsibility of being a team leader on an NBA team. Maybe they see a player who could work well with others as long as he was getting the minutes and shots he thought he deserved. Maybe they see a man who was given chance after chance to mature and represent a franchise in a business-like way, failing in three cities to do so.
Upon his arrival in Turkey, Iverson was mobbed by a contingent of lively supporters of his new team, Besiktas, at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul. Later, he went to see his Besiktas teammates play and thousands of fans cheered for him as he smiled in the stands. It looked like an HBO drama depicting the life of some wayward ghetto kid finding salvation in a foreign land, living out his dreams of getting paid to play basketball. I guess that's what the reality is, but Iverson's life was already so much more.
"The most important thing is to be accepted, to be wanted and to be appreciated," Iverson said of his reception in Turkey. He sounds more like an abused ex-wife looking for love in a better second marriage than a basketball player trying to win games and championships.
Bob McAdoo is the only other MVP in NBA history to finish his career in Europe after being voted the best player in the league. However, McAdoo's NBA career faded more gracefully, largely because he was willing to accept a lesser role on a great team. He won two rings in 1982 and 1985 as a sixth man with Magic Johnson's showtime Los Angeles Lakers. He embraced coming off the bench for coach Pat Riley behind James Worthy and Michael Cooper, neither of whom were as good as McAdoo had been in his prime.
I doubt Pat Riley gave any thought to bringing Iverson in to sub for Dwyane Wade with the Heat. Ditto Phil Jackson with the Lakers and Doc Rivers with the Celtics. Iverson says he wants to be accepted, wanted and appreciated, but he forgot to mention that he also wants to be exalted, praised and worshipped.
Kobe Bryant and Ray Allen are two other guards from Iverson's 1996 NBA draft class. Both are thriving and winning championships while working well with teammates . The same is true of two time MVP Steve Nash as well as Derek Fisher. Instead of going their route, Iverson has chosen to follow the Stephon Marbury path of "Me me me" all the way out of the league and overseas. Mike Tyson might say they've both faded into Bolivia.
I doubt we'll see Iverson play professionally in America again. Maybe one day we'll see him as an assistant coach in the NBA if John Thompson or Alonzo Mourning can pull strings for their Georgetown brother.
I prayed for so much more for Iverson but I guess he got what he wanted. He's accepted, wanted and appreciated. In Turkey.
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