How Often Will The Word “Unfortunately” Be Used In Iverson’s Final Biography?

Posted by on Friday, November 27, 2009 4 Comments

A.I. never adapted. And while “me against the world” is admirable when it truly is you against the world, at some point you have to realize that you have four other guys with you, on your side, against the world. And they’re not interested in fighting your fight. They’re interested in winning the game.

And that hurts. Iverson accomplished quite a bit, but I’ll never shake the feeling that so much was left unaccomplished. That he could have learned so much and contributed so much to this game had he not decided to essentially flatline in his early 20s.

via Allen Iverson retires – Ball Don’t Lie – NBA – Yahoo! Sports.

You know when I knew it was over?

Two years ago, the Nuggets are in a late season fight with the Warriors for the last playoff spot. Every single game matters. Every possession is life and death. The Nuggets are at home against the Kings. There’s a Kings turnover and Iverson gets the ball on the right baseline at half court on the break. Kleiza is sprinting down the left side, he’s also ungaurded, wide open, and has 20+ points. If Iverson passes to him, it’s an easy two. He does not. He elects instead to try and force his way into traffic with two defenders guarding him, then waits for Carmelo Anthony to catch up, who is also being defended. Carmelo misses the layup. The Kings run the break and score at the other end.

It’s not just that he failed to pass to Kleiza, which looked very much like a decision and not a matter of failing to see him. It’s that it flies in what is such an instinctive and simple decision: pass to the open guy whose closest to the basket. I’m not going to say I pity Iverson, because I honestly don’t believe he thinks he should have done anything different. He make the choice to do things his way. And he never wavered. If you make that choice, you live with the consequences, but never have to say you wavered.

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About Matt Moore: Matt Moore is a Senior NBA Blogger for CBSSports.com's Eye on Basketball blog, weekend editor of Pro Basketball Talk on NBCSports.com, and co-editor of Voice on the Floor. He lives in Kansas City due to an unbelievably complex set of circumstances and enjoys mid-90's pop rock, long walks on the beach and the novels of Tim Sandlin.

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Petey

"Two years ago, the Nuggets are in a late season fight with the Warriors for the last playoff spot. Every single game matters. Every possession is life and death."

I also remember that bad loss against the Kings well, and I remember the bad loss at Seattle the next night well too.

But so what? The #7 seed was already out of reach. Do you remember the 33 & 9 at Oracle Arena? Iverson went into the lion's den and beat the Warriors for the last playoff spot. At the end of the day, only one game mattered, and the work got done.

-----

The entire time Iverson was in Denver, it was like watching a Beckett play of Waiting for Nene. And a healthy Nene never arrived.

A nimble big with good hands who can finish at the rim would've been catnip for Iverson, since he always drew bigs to himself on help defense duty on his drives. And a healthy Nene could've provided creditable defense on Duncan and Gasol.

With a healthy Nene, that team could've been a genuine contender. Without a healthy Nene, they were too thin on the inside to do much more than they actually accomplished.

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Petey

"Two years ago, the Nuggets are in a late season fight with the Warriors for the last playoff spot. Every single game matters. Every possession is life and death."

I remember that bad loss against the Kings well, and I remember the bad loss at Seattle the next night well also.

But so what? The #7 seed was already out of reach. And I remember the 33 & 9 at Oracle Arena. Iverson went into the lion's den and beat the Warriors for the last playoff spot. At the end of the day, only one game mattered, and the work got done.

-----

The entire time Iverson was in Denver, it was like watching a Beckett play of Waiting for Nene. And a healthy Nene never arrived.

A nimble big with good hands who can finish at the rim would've been catnip for Iverson, since he always drew bigs to himself on help defense duty on his drives. And a healthy Nene could've provided creditable defense on Duncan and Gasol.

With a healthy Nene, that team could've been a genuine contender. Without a healthy Nene, they were too thin on the inside to do much more than they actually accomplished.

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r po

. . . It should read There's a Warriors turnover, not Kings. But you could find a moment like that in almost every game AI played with the Nugs. He was definitely a man who did things his own way.
And it still feels so sad to be talking about his play in the past-tense.

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Matt Moore

the game was actually against the kings but the nuggets were competing for the last playoff spit with the warriors

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