The Detroit Pistons Destroyed Allen Iverson's Career

When the Detroit Pistons traded Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson in November of 2008 nobody would have thought that a year and a half later the Pistons one of the best teams of the past decade would be sitting at 13th place in the Eastern Conference getting ready for the 2010 NBA Draft and nobody would have thought that one of the greatest players of all-time and arguably the best scorer of the past decade Allen Iverson would be out of the NBA because no teams are interested in him. Some believed that Detroit had the chance to win it all again or at least make another Eastern Conference Finals but it did not end well.

The sad part of the whole situation was that Iverson was made the scapegoat for the failed season and his already bad reputation was tarnished even more. Now Iverson is sitting at home(or a casino) because no teams want him and his wife Tawanna has filed for divorce. It gets worse though because reports say that Iverson has drinking and gambling problems which probably put the nail in the coffin for his legendary career. Iverson has gone through a lot in the past year and a half and nothing has gone his way but it makes you wonder if Iverson would be in this horrible position if the situation in Detroit would have worked out. Well it could have worked out but many people blame Iverson for the failed situation in Detroit and say it is his fault that he is in this position but it isn't if you know basketball you would agree with me.

In the 2007-08 season just a season before the Detroit trade Iverson was having an amazing season he was averaging 26.4 ppg, 7.2 apg and 2.2 spg and was shooting a career high 46% from the field. He was as quick and explosive as he was in his prime and he didn't show any signs of slowing down as a matter of fact with his improved jumper Iverson was looking like he got better. He was still one of the best players in the game. That is why when Detroit acquired him many believed they would get what they were missing an elite scorer and a tough player who gets to the line and forces defenses to make adjustments every time he is on the floor. But that 07-08 season was forgotten easily because just a couple months after the trade people started saying Iverson had slowed down and needed to come off the bench! The entire Pistons team didn't care how good Iverson was they were upset because their best friend Chauncey Billups was traded even though nothing was wrong with the team. Some players on the team really lost the love they had for the game and have never been the same since the trade.

But Iverson was excited because he felt he had chance to get the one thing that his incredible career was missing which was a NBA Championship he was ready to sacrifice because he realized this team had more talent than any team he had been on and he would no longer have to score 30 points for them to be competitive and it would just ruin the team even more if he tried averaging 30 a game. Iverson started off playing well because the Pistons were still testing things out and whenever they let him play his way he had a great game and the Pistons won. But than things started to fall apart for the Pistons when the rest of the team lost the heart they played with and started complaining. The frustration from their friend Chauncey Billups being traded away kicked and then they didn't let Iverson do what he wanted on the court either.

Iverson started to sacrifice stats to win he took a career low 14 shots per game which no scorer as good as him has ever done and showed that he didn't care about scoring points he just wanted to win. Iverson's usage rate which was usually one of the highest in the league wasn't even in the top 20 anymore and even Richard Hamilton was being used more than him. Another thing was Iverson was coming down the court and sometimes not even touching the ball for 5 minutes. When he would get it he would be out of his rhythm and could not score. When does a player as good as Iverson and a player that has scored as many points as Iverson make those kinds of sacrifices? Never has there been a player offensively as good as him that has made those kinds of sacrifices. Even his minutes per game were at a career low 35 mpg. Iverson would finish the season averaging a then career low 17.5 ppg and 5.0 apg these stats hurt his outstanding career averages as well. He was much better than this hell he could have been averaging 28 and 7 again but he didn't want to ruin the Pistons who are used to only playing team basketball. Iverson was frustrated though because his low stats had people thinking he had lost a step and was no longer the incredible force he was once was even though he could have been putting up the stats he put up his whole career.

Iverson sacrificed and the rest of the team didn't care they were still upset about the trade and would not recover from that all season. Than once Michael Curry realized this team was not going to do what it was expected to do he began giving youngster Rodney Stuckey more playing time which cut into Iverson's playing time which did not sit well with him. Curry than sent Rip Hamilton to the bench and made him a 6th man than once that never worked he sent Allen Iverson to the bench and made him a 6th man. It didn't sit well with Rip when he was sent there and it sure as hell wasn't sitting well with one of the greatest players ever Allen Iverson so he spoke his mind and said he'd rather retire than come off the bench. This statement sent shock waves throughout the league and Iverson was beginning to look like a selfish brat. Should he have said that no? but should he have been sent to the bench? not at all. Iverson went from being one of the best players in the league just the season before to coming off the bench for a kid named Rodney Stuckey.

Iverson did not play well coming off the bench and than when he addressed coach Michael Curry and GM Joe Dumars about coming off the bench and this is what Iverson said they told him: "... After that, they told me that if I didn't come off the bench, the team was going to lie down on [not play with] me. ... When he told me that, that's when I felt that this was the worst career move I'd ever made and it was the worst year of my career."

Pretty sad if you ask me and this was after they told him they wouldn't disrespect his career by asking him to come off the bench. In April of 2009 Iverson and the Pistons agreed to part ways and Iverson was sent to the 2009 free agency labelled a selfish washed up stubborn thug who did not want to come off the bench even though he was declining. This was a false judgement of Iverson and really hurt him in the free agency that is why he had to settle for the Memphis Grizzlies even though he could have lead the league in scoring and been the main option on a contender. The thing was the Pistons had falsely taught the league the Iverson was a bench player and was slowing down and then Coach Lionel Hollins in Memphis brought A.I off the bench as well. The reason Iverson left so fast was because he didn't want to make another bad move that could end his career especially in the season where he was going out to prove that he is still one of the leagues elite players. Iverson was than waived by the Grizzlies because he did not want to come off the bench and when he was a free agent once again the Knicks looked at signing him but even they decided not to. Iverson would than announce retirement and in his retirement statement he stated that he still had a whole lot left in the tank and felt he could still compete at the highest level.

Iverson who had not played basketball for over 40 days than got a call from the Philadelphia 76ers who wanted to sign him. It was a great sitatuon for Iverson he was returning to the team where he became an NBA legend and the fans loved it. But the thing was Iverson had not played for over 40 days and god knows what his diet was like when he was sitting at home (or a casino). Iverson gained weight and it wasn't muscle plus he hadn't had a training camp and the last time he played a proper basketball game was in May of 2009. He was not in game shape and he was not in the elite shape he was always in but he still could score and play. Even in Philadelphia he got limited minutes and that is because Detroit taught the league to do this to him and he was shooting even less shots than he was in Detroit his usage rate was also lower. But Iverson still managed to have a bunch of 20 point games and it could be argued that he was still the best player for the Sixers when he was with them. Iverson was now averaging a career low 14 ppg and just 4 apg. But he did not complain once in Philadelphia he kept his mouth shut no matter what decision the coach made and he helped a lot of young guys on the team. But after just 27 games for the Sixers Iverson's 4 year old daughter Messiah was extremely ill and Iverson left the Sixers to care for her. The Sixers and Iverson would agree to part ways and that was it probably the end to his amazing career but it was one sad ending.

No matter what happened to Iverson in the end of his career he will go down as one of the greatest players ever. He is the best little man ever, one of the most prolific scorers of all-time and probably a top 22-25 all-time great. He did it all in his career. There were few players in this past generation better than him and those three players (Tim Duncan, Shaq and Kobe) will probably go down as the 10 greatest to ever play the game. Iverson will go down as a cultural icon he brought hip hop to the NBA. Never did the league have a player let alone an MVP that had tattoos, wore du-rags, had cornrows and dressed in baggy clothing before Iverson came along and now the whole league is doing those things. He is the single reason there is a dress code and he will be remembered for a long time.

But right now his life is horrible he is getting a divorce and will be split from his family. Iverson is dealing with drinking and gambling problems and many believe it could be because of the frustration of this past year. Detroit can be blamed for the stat Iverson is in right now. He went to Detroit and didn't get one positive out of it all he did was bring down his career average by sacrificing for passionless teammates and a lying front office who only brought him in for his $22 million contract and his ability to put butts in the seats. What did they do with the money Iverson made them? spent it on Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva and are now playing meaningless basketball while sitting at 12th place in the Eastern Conference.

Joe Dumars destroyed his franchise by trading the heart of the team Chauncey Billups but he and his team shouldn't have destroyed the career of one of the greatest and most iconic athletes of all-time, Allen Iverson.