Question Answered

Allen Iverson wants out of Philly. I’m surprised it took this long for this to happen. What appalls me about the whole situation is the disrespect the Sixers organization is showing him. They shopped him in the offseason despite the fact that they told him to his face that he was staying. And AI still said he wanted to be in Philly. To make matters worse, in the war of public opinion, the mainstream media is probably going to side with the hapless owners trying to accommodate the disgruntled, overpaid, hip-hopping, and not to mention black athlete.

Do you remember why AI is public enemy #1?

As this situation gets uglier, let’s remember the cornrows and the tattoos. How about the “gangster” element of the people AI surrounds himself with who are bringing him down as we speak. Also remember, this is a player who has been playing at a high level for over 10 years in the L. Someone with scoring titles, all star appearances and until recently, always got his teams in the playoffs.

Why don’t we remember about what a selfish player AI is and how he doesn’t make the players around him better. Also remember that unlike MJ, Magic, Dr J, Larry, Zeke, Hakeem, Wilt, Oscar, and pretty much every champion that has preceded him, Answer has never played alongside another Hall of Famer.

As long as we remember AI the malcontent, lets remember AI the coach killer. Poor Mo Cheeks! He’s just trying his best. What could be smarter than benching a (despite the knees) guy who drops 20 and 10? “Yeah Allen, I know he’s our second best player, but you know, 20 mins a game is good enough.” AI of course is expected to accept this.

We all of course know that AI was such a headache that it drove Larry Brown away. I mean, it’s not like Larry Brown takes a job, wears out his welcome and openly looks for another job while still employed at said job? As long as we’re remembering this tumultuous relationship, do you remember when the Sixers made it to the finals, and they tried to interview AI on-court and he refused to give the interview? What possible excuse could he have for being so uncooperative!?!?

Before he did anything, he wanted to congratulate “Coach Brown.”

In fact, we all remember that Coach Brown and AI were so much at odds that Coach Brown made AI a co-captain on the Olympic team. In fact, the Brown/Iverson relationship was so strained that it showed last year when Larry was in NY. Don’t you remember? Remember how Allen said that the Knicks should “listen to Coach Brown.” Sounds like a coach killer to me.

Which brings us back to the Olympics. We all remember how the Americans couldn’t shoot or share the ball and co-captain Iverson is a living symbol of that selfish American play. But didn’t he lead the tournament in assists? Of course AI was selfish. The truth is in the media. What did Allen have to say about the Olympics? He had the nerve to say how important this experience was to him, and how proud he was to represent his country and win the bronze. Just to prove his point further, he had tears in his eyes on the podium ceremony. Sure sounds like a selfish malcontent to me.

How about we remember how Allen never got the Sixers over the hump. Just as long as you remember that this team has one of the highest payrolls in the L. What does that buy nowadays? Igoudala, Will Green and Kyle Korver, not to mention an over the hill C-Webb.

Most damning, don’t we all remember the press conference with the “practice” meltdown? He doesn’t practice! That lazy son of a bitch! What if he doesn’t play hard every game? Oh wait. What if he doesn’t play hurt? Oh wait. What if his skills go downhill? I guess we already been over this point.

Besides, it’s not like we remember that before the “practice” tirade, Allen had to talk about the brutal murder of his best friend. Putting things into perspective, it’s a tough call to balance the importance of the death of a dear friend against the importance of practice.

“We’re talking about practice.”

So as the trade talks come to a fever, and AI once again becomes public enemy #1, remember AI the player, but most importantly, remember AI the man.

Remember Kevin Johnson.