AI Gone? Blame It On The Shavlik

It just hasn’t been the same for Iverson since 76ers teammate Shavlik Randolph fractured his ankle. After the brutal event Iverson called: “The worst injury I’ve ever seen”, it almost seems like AI has been a different person – missing team functions, leaving practice early… oh wait, that’s the Allen Iverson we all know and love.

The luster of AI’s career in Philly has been dulled for a while now. The feeling his days were numbered was very apparent in the off-season when he was shopped around like one of Borat’s favourite prostitutes.

When I saw Iverson in Toronto on November 8th, it felt like a part of that tough little guy was missing. The Sixers were down 3 in the dying seconds and AI, the 2nd, raced up court and fired up a shot that clanked. Iverson sauntered to the locker room, head down. 5 days after hitting the game winning shot against the Magic it was Iverson’s heir apparent, Andre Iguodala, who got to take the important stroke.

Iverson has played second fiddle to no one in Philadelphia. It’s been his squad since he was drafted in 1996. The team is undoubtedly going in another direction. They want to start over again with younger players like Iguodala, Dalembert and Korver.

AI doesn’t like it. He truly has given his everything to the city. He has been the toughest player in the NBA for the last decade. No one has gotten hit more than Iverson. He almost brought Philadelphia a championship when he took the team on his back in 2001. He has cried on national TV, he has feuded publicly with coaches. He does it all because he loves the game of basketball and the city of Philadelphia. He has worn his heart on his sleeve and been the face of the franchise for a long time. That’s why he can’t take a back seat to anybody. There’s no way he can become a 2nd option on the only team he’s known. That’s why I wouldn’t be surprised if Peter Vescey’s report about AI asking to be traded is true.

I don’t see him as an unworthy superstar crying his way out of a situation. He’s scoring 31 points per game for Cheeks’ sake! Although he knows the team is going nowhere, he wouldn’t have a problem if he were the go to guy. Can he learn that secondary role on a new team – say if he’s traded to play with Kevin Garnett in Minnesota? Maybe, no one can be sure. I just think he’s too prideful to do it in Philly.

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By Tas Melas at 9:15 am on 12.08.2006 — Tags: Allen Iverson, Trades, Sixers

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5 Responses to “AI Gone? Blame It On The Shavlik”

  1. Matt at 1:28 pm on 12.08.2006

    Yes, free Garnett and AI in one motion… put them together… I like that 1-2 punch.

  2. KD at 1:33 pm on 12.08.2006

    I, too, feel sick about Shavlik. Just a couple of days before the break, I was watching some game where a player sprained his ankle, and the sideline reporter breathlessly told us that the player “was going for X-Rays to find the extent of the damage.”

    And, of course, nice guy that I am, I say out loud, “yeah, like anyone’s ever broken an ankle in a basketball game.” There was even a witness to it, though neither of us can remember the game/player.

    I’ve sprained each of my ankles — nasty, air-cast worthy, out for three weeks things — probably nine or ten times each over the hoops-playin’ years, but as bad a roll as those were, I couldn’t conceive of what it would take to break the damn thing. Ick.

  3. rem at 3:30 pm on 12.08.2006

    so Ai has flinched, and has asked for “the” trade well…it’s about time

    it would be the honorable thing to do

    trade machine spit this out:
    http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=366%7E99%7E2381%7E2456%7E3032&teams=4%7E20%7E20%7E20%7E20

    P.S.
    nice to see a post again (not that the ‘casts aren’t pulling their own weight)

  4. Jared at 6:00 pm on 12.09.2006

    I really don’t think he was being asked to take a bactseat to anyone. Nor was that the reason behind him asking to be moved. It’s just time. The team is going in one direction; he is hoping to go in another.

    He doesn’t like his coach (as a coach, per his statement), and he doesn’t have anyone around him to help contend in a bad Eastern Conference. Now, he has to listen to Chris Webber complain while limping around on one leg.

    It was just time.

    The franchise knew this deep down too, but failed to pull the trigger this summer, hoping Ivy could lead them on one more run.

    This is the best thing for all involved.

  5. basketball at 9:12 pm on 12.10.2006

    It is time for a move. Sometimes players, coaches, GMs…anyone overstays their time and has to move. It’ll be good for both sides.

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