This is a situation that makes one scratch their head and think. Is his back really the reason he is not playing? If that's the case, why is he not traveling with the team, why will he not be at Detroit's home games? He then seemingly took a shot at the Pistons coaching staff by complaining about his role off the bench.
"Eighteen minutes, c'mon man. I can play 18 minutes with my eyes closed, with a 100-pound truck on my back." Iverson said. "That's a bad feeling. I'm wondering what the rush was to get me back. I mean, for that? It's a bad time for me mentally (but) I'm looking at the big picture."
Seems like quite the contradictory statement. He doesn't want to be back unless he plays the full game. It's a bad time for him to play mentally, but he complains about his minutes being too little.
Marc Stein went as far as to call him the Terrell Owens of basketball, or worse. And why not, the similarities are striking. They are amazing talent that in most cases just doesn't mesh with a team that plays a team game.
Iverson is a free agent after this season. Will he get another chance, do teams want to deal with him and the burdon he brings? It will be interesting to see.
Remember at his first news conference with the Pistons, he said he would do whatever his coach wanted him to do. He must have forgot that. Check that...he did do what coach wanted, he just complained about it.
When you think of the Pistons in years past, you think of one of the most dominant eastern conference teams. Since 2003, the Pistons were in the Eastern Conference Finals four times, and the NBA Finals twice, and winning one NBA championship. This year the Pistons decided the team wasn't right and shipped off Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson. The Pistons now are 36-39, and are the seven seed and fighting for their playoff spot.
The trade was a nightmare from the start. The Pistons tried to put a ballhog of a point guard onto a team that has a team oriented style of play. Now you can clearly see the trade was no good. Now not only are they NOT one of the most dominating teams in the East, but they are three games under .500 and Iverson has started opening his mouth. Iverson has made sure that he will not be in a Pistons uniform next year, and if he is, it will be a shock to most everyone.
So back to the original point, a back injury isn't going to make a player not travel with the team, or stay away from the home games especially in the post-season. There has to be more going on than on the surface.
By the sounds of it, the team, his agent, thay are just going to say that his back is the problem. And maybe it is, who knows. The whole situation seems just a little fishy. It will be intersting to see who will give Iverson a chance next year, he may be booking a one-way flight to Europe.
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