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I'd love to see the Bobcats sign Allen Iverson.
He wouldn't start, of course.
That's the problem. How does coach Larry Brown convince Iverson, who eight seasons ago was the league MVP and helped lead Brown's Philadelphia 76ers to the NBA Finals, he no longer is good enough to start?
For the Bobcats?
The elite are reluctant to acknowledge when their talents have eroded. They lose credibility and quickness, and their teams lose games. Yet when they look in the mirror, they see a superstar. How can the world not see it?
Maybe Bobcats managing partner Michael Jordan could explain the phenomenon. If so, I think the conversation would go something like this.
Jordan: “It happens to everybody, Allen. It even happened to me. Just because I was great at my job once doesn't mean I'm great at it today. The trick is not to surround yourself with people who constantly tell you how great you are. Excuse me. That's one cream and one sugar, Fred.”
Last season was by far the worst of Iverson's career. Denver traded him to Detroit for Chauncey Billups, and behind Billups the Nuggets became one of the NBA's best teams. Detroit, in turn, became mediocre, except when Iverson was in the game. Then it became worse.
Here's how low Iverson has sunk: I found several pair of $146 Iverson shoes Wednesday for $79.90. And he's a free agent.
Why come to Charlotte?
Who else is clamoring for his services?
None of the teams that believe they are one player away from contending believe the player is Iverson.
Memphis supposedly is interested, but if Memphis entrusts him with its offense the Grizzlies will be eliminated from the playoffs by January. He's not that player anymore.
Charlotte can't offer a starting job. (It has starters.) But it can offer an opportunity.
Iverson is 34. He can show the league that he's realistic enough and mature enough to accept a lesser role. If he does, all the teams that believe they are a player away from contending will try to court him in 2010.
You imagine the reaction from fans in Charlotte when Iverson enters the game?
He still goes to the basket relentlessly, and he'll have a lot of young and impressionable Bobcats going with him.
Unlike boxing, the NBA doesn't keep track of knockdowns. But Iverson leads the league. He is fearless in the lane even though some big guy is always hip-checking him into the second row. And everybody is bigger than he is.
The first time I interviewed Iverson I wanted to say, “Call me when the rest of you gets here.”
I weighed 175 pounds and I could have posted him up. Well, probably I couldn't have. But he was the slightest 6-foot, 180-pound guy I ever saw.
Give it one season, Allen. Give Brown what he asks.
And if you help lead the Bobcats to the playoffs, you will be an absolute star, at least in Charlotte. I don't know if you care about your legacy, but what a way to preserve it.
They'll say you were selfless. They'll say you were a team player. And they'll pay at least $100 for your shoes.
