A Few Words On Allen Iverson

The Philadelphia 76ers sent Allen Iverson home yesterday in light of his asking for a trade and their stated wishes of honoring his request. The Sixers, if there was any doubt, went out and proved that they could lose without Allen Iverson just as effectively as they could lose with him, falling to the Wizards by 15.

The news that Iverson will soon be moved sent Kevin Garnett's heart a-flutter. After the game, Garnett said, "Bring it on, I love 'The Answer. We welcome A.I. with open arms. Where's Kevin McHale?" Well, my guess is that he's upstairs in his office, trying to figure out how he's going to spin it when he fails to acquire Iverson and appease Garnett, but I could be wrong.

Wherever Iverson ends up, his tenure there likely won't be nearly as captivating as it was with Philadelphia. He went first overall in the draft, won the rookie of the year, won an MVP, had a Sam-and-Diane relationship with Larry Brown, performed his one-act play entitled, "Practice?," got the Sixers to the NBA Finals, and won game on nearly by himself in one of the most memorable individual performances in Finals history.

Uniting him with Garnett seems almost too good to be true. Everyone's wanted to see what Iverson could do on a normal team with another star-level player (and no, Chris Webber doesn't count), and everyone's wanted to see what Kevin Garnett could do when freed from the Wolves refusal to surround him with anyone who looks like a basketball player.

That's probably asking a bit much, though.

Iverson Trade Watch Update [NBA FanHouse] Trading Allen Iverson [SLAM Online] Stars line up to make pleas for Iverson [Mercury News]