Allen Iverson considers retirement

November 9, 8:11 AMMemphis Grizzlies ExaminerJohn Hoffman

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Allen Iverson may retire from the NBA without ever having played a home game for the Grizzlies.
AP Photo/ Lance Murphey

Looks like all the talk about personal issues with (for now) Grizzlies guard Allen Iverson was correct, if not about family. The “Commercial Appeal” this morning quotes a source close to Iverson saying he is considering retirement from the NBA, since it looks like he will be relegated to the bench with the Grizzlies. If true, and if Iverson follows through, majority owner Michael Heisley’s gamble that he can sell tickets to see Iverson play on an otherwise weak team will have fallen flat, and brought new waves of criticism to the struggling franchise.

Based on Iverson’s history, this should not really be a surprise. He fell out with the Detroit Pistons last year when they wanted him to play off the bench. At the time, A. I. said he would rather retire than play as a reserve. It appears he may soon make good on that statement.

The criticism also should not be a surprise. It has followed the team, from sources both local and national, ever since Heisley pulled in the spending reins when former GM and Hall-of-Famer Jerry West left the franchise. Today’s latest round takes Heisley to task for not being clear with Iverson about what his role would be. If true, Heisley may have thought he could finesse Iverson into a reserve role, which, by the way, many basketball experts say would be ideally suited to his game at this point in his career. But A. I. has never, so far as I can find, made a single public statement suggesting he would accept such a role. If he wishes to retire rather than play off the bench, he is entitled to make that choice, and the fallout should not land on him, but on anyone who thought he would accept such a role without frank discussion of the issue.

Fans of A.I. will be heartbroken if he retires, never having played a game at FedExForum, and it will be interesting to see if their attitude toward the team matches that of the critics toward Heisley and top management.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team is laboring through a 1-and-6 start, having lost five straight on their season-opening road trip. In only their third home game of the season, the Grizz take on the Portland Trailblazers Tuesday night. The Blazers dismantled the Minnesota Timberwolves Sunday, 116-93, in Portland, and come to FedExForum with a 4-and-3 record. The Grizzlies hit the road again Wednesday night, at Houston, with another home game on tap Saturday night, against the T’wolves.