It's no secret that Denver made out like gangbusters when picking up Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson, and that AI hasn't done anything for Detroit, but this is just rubbing it in....



Man, that is just wrong....but very very funny.

The Hate For Allen Iverson Is Strong (BSO)

In the pantheon of famous Sports' speeches, the Allen Iverson "Practice?" one ranks up near the top for me. I'd include it on a short list with Jimmy V's at the ESPYs, Lou Gehrig's "Luckiest Man", Jack Buck's Poem after 9/11 and Jim Mora's "Playoffs?" rant (sarcasm people). I don't know why but every time I hear the clip, I just start cracking up.

Well fast forward to AI's press conference today announcing him as the newest addition to the Pistons. Iverson was sitting with Joe Dumars, and discussing how much he's willing to sacrifice for a Championship, when he walked right into it....

Hilarious! I can't stand how good the East is now. Not that the Pistons weren't good with Billups, but every single team got better except the one I root for. Good times in Detroit, but I still don't entirely understand the trade.

So Scoop tries to follow up on the piece he wrote about 3 days ago by backing it up with....umm.....evidence??? Yeah....I guess that's what he was trying to do. Let's revisit shall we?

Awful Announcing: Zero Teams Interested in Allen Iverson

Recap:

• No teams want to trade for A.I.
• A.I. "cosigned" his walking papers to Billy King???
• Allen Iverson has "defied the odds"
• Used Race Card in comparing Iverson to Nash
• "Hypocritical Value" is a major factor in trying to trade for Iverson.

Here we go again.......

Scoop Jackson: Unanswered

We have now reached the "why" point. The bigger-picture moment. The footnote.

Why is it taking so long? Why are we still talking about Allen Iverson not being traded?

It has been a week. Seven days with no end in sight.

Or has it been longer?

Do we add the previous four years to this week to emphasize the point?

That is the question that we need to be asking -- of general managers around the League, team owners and coaches, but also to ourselves

Dammit Scoop. Why did you have to go back to the one sentence crap? Anywho, you're an idiot. How is something that's the bigger picture a footnote?!?!?!?!?! It's a footnote because it's not part of the bigger picture you ass. Good lord. And why do I need to ask that question to myself? GMs on the other hand don't ask the question they automatically do it. Why would you ever make a trade without taking past performance into account? Hmm, maybe because you don't want to end up having to continue pay someone like Bryant Reeves or Vin Baker. (I know unfair comparison, but come on already.)

Why isn't he in another team's uniform, in another team's arena, on the court, balling?

That's not a sentence. I strike it from the record.

Why does an ultraluxe superstar in the NBA, a sports icon, a global phenomenon, not have any takers? Not just after a week, but after four years of the Sixers trying to move him.

Do you really even watch basketball Scoop? I'm being serious.....do you??? It hasn't been other teams it's the Sixers who didn't want to let him go. Because their team (and attendance) would be shit without him. Where have you been the last four years? (P.S.- Ultraluxe is not a word)

And even when the trade finally does happen (and it most likely will within the next week), we still need to ask the one-word question: Why? Why it took so long?

You seriously don't watch basketball or understand the business of it. It's because the Sixers are trying to get the most out of the deal. Not because no one wants him. He's on the market for 40 cents on the dollar and they are trying to get 50. Also, if he's going to an Eastern team....why give him to them so quickly? Just so he can burn you?

Are Sixers owner Ed Snider and GM Billy King asking for something that is so unreasonable in return that teams are finding it an insult to deal with them? (Word is they asked Charlotte for Raymond Felton, Sean May and Adam Morrison, for which Iverson killed the deal because he would have been worse off than he is in Philly.)

That is the biggest bunch of b.s. I've ever heard. First of all asking for that is ridiculous. Even if this was two years ago Charlotte would never do that. Second if Bernie Bickerstaff even thought about considering that he should kill himself because he's dumber than Billy King. Scoop probably just plugged that into the ESPN Trade Machine and was like...."Yeah man, that's shocking. People won't suspect I made that up for a second"

Either there is something about Iverson that we (the public) are severely naive about or King and Snider are a worse combination than Mitch Kupchak and Jerry Buss back when they decided to trade Shaq.

Hahahaha okay Scoop. First of all that wasn't THAT bad of a trade. How many games has Shaq played in this year? Plus the Lakers got Odom and are in the West. What a dumb comparison.

Personally, I think it's more the former than the latter.

Wait what? What don't we know about Allen? He cheated on his wife, he isn't always there for the team, and he's anywhere from the second to fifth best basketball player in the league. If you think this doesn't have everything to do with Billy King being the worst GM in sports (besides Isiah) then you are just flat out blind.

Why Nash and not Iverson?

Basically, they are one and the same. Same amount of time in the League; both are two of the three best players (along with Kobe Bryant) out of arguably the best draft class ever (1996); both have (although different) brilliance that overrides the flaws in their games; both of their bodies have taken about the same amount of beating over the years; one is ranked 11th and the other 13th on John Hollinger's PER system; they are comparable in height, weight, position and responsibility when on the court. One player has the label of being able to make those around him better but has never taken a team to the NBA Finals, the other a label of being selfish but has taken a CBA squad to the Finals.

One has one MVP, the other two.

One has a contract that pays him 18.2 million dollars this year making it difficult to trade him, and the other has a contract of 10.5. That's right the MVP of the league isn't even in the top 30 in the NBA and is 3rd.....3rd!!! On his own team (Marion- 15M, Amare- 12M)

Are you sure you want to pull that race card I KNOW you're itching to grab for???

And before anyone goes there, the analogy is not necessary based on color (although I'd be a hypocrite to say that this has nothing to do with color). I could pose the same question about Gilbert Arenas or Kevin Garnett. Carmelo Anthony, for that matter. But even that's not it. The question of "Why?" with AI is not a question of him being black, but the type of black person he is.

Why did you do that? I warned you it was a bad move. First, I don't even know the comparison, or reason you brought these players into the discussion. But okay. Kevin Garnett is making $21 Million Dollars this year. And haven't teams been trying to trade for him for years? Gilbert Arenas would never be traded by the Wizards....he's a bargain at $11M this year.....WHICH IS STILL MORE THAN STEVE NASH!?!?!?!?!?! And Melo????? Why even bring him up? He hasn't done anything in his young career. Sure he looks good this year, but let's wait until the playoffs.

So what was your point again.....I forget. My head hurts.

His Cablinasian is that of Michael Vick, Barry Bonds, Ray Lewis, Jeremy Shockey and Mike Tyson … with something extra. With something none of them ever had or ever will have: his personality, his existence, his way of life, his means of survival, his being. And that extra has everything to do with who he is as a person. And that extra is what most of the NBA teams are afraid of.

That's right.....I remember now. You were busy making no sense. What the hell does "extra" mean???? You have to f'ing define it........it could be anything from illigetimate children to cotton candy for fans in the front row! And there's not a chance it's the "extra something" Mike Tyson has.

Anyway(s), Scoop....friend......can you wrap this up for me so I can go cry in a corner because you have a writing job at ESPN and I write for 500 people?

They are afraid of his contract ($59 million over the next three years), his age (31 going on 40 in their minds), his play (a career 42 percent shooter and under 2-1 assist/turnover ratio), his lifestyle and habits (choose your own facts and adjectives). But mostly they're afraid that the words "mercurial" and "magnet for trouble" that have followed him throughout his career will follow him to their team.

Thank God.....I'm glad you finally realized that. I can take a break now......Oh wait.....there's more.....

And even with all that, we have to ask whether it should have taken this long?

Why?

Is the fear of Iverson so deeply rooted in things that have nothing to do with the game of basketball that what was initially a sweepstakes has become a rummage sale?

At the end of every day, every day Iverson remains untraded, a sociological issue in sports goes unanswered. Further reminding us that professional sports is not a game.

Seriously, WHAT IN THE HELL are you talking about!?!? What sociological issue? And, $59 million dollars is a hell of a lot to pay someone you are comparing to having a personality like Mike Tysons!!!! Ugh.

A change of venue for Iverson apparently will be based on a change of mind of someone else. And even though that GM and owner will never admit it, the fact that it took this long to trade one of the most meaningful players in the history of the game is all the evidence most of us should need to prove them wrong.

I'm done. I can't read him anymore. Let me know when he writes something that makes sense.

Or so says Scoop Jackson. I can't believe that this hack still has a job. I've only enjoyed one article of his ever (The Rucker HOF one), and I routinely get mad after reading anything else. Not like "I don't enjoy this writer" Mad.....but "I f'ing hate this f'er" Mad.

Side note: I know that I shouldn't be the one to harp on this, but please....PLEASE!.... Stop with the one/two sentence paragraphs. It's very annoying, and destroys the flow of an article. And no I'm not picking on African-American writers. Even though Scoop and SAS are famous for it....Bill Plaschke perfected it. And he's as white as they come.

Anywho, Scoop is weighing in on Allen Iverson.....Let's see what he has to say....."Neither Side Will Like The Answer"

After being shopped – honestly – for six years (especially if you include the summer of 2000, when the Sixers tried to trade him less than a year before he would take them to the NBA Finals and win the MVP award), Allen Iverson has finally reached that point most parties reach in a broken marriage.

Scoopster....first off let's get something straight. If you are going to use parenthesis don't put the worst run-on sentence ever inside them. And two, don't make the entry longer than the rest of your paragraph! It defeats the whole purpose of parentheticals. Also, we don't need the honestly....everyone and their mom knows this. It's not like you're breaking new ground here.

They've been done. He's literally done. The differences are beyond irreconcilable … it's Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston time.

What differences? Is it the fact that he is tough to coach and somtimes doesn't show up to practice??? Because if that's the case any team he goes to....will have the same problems. Or are the differences the fact that he hates management, is on the one of the worst teams in the NBA, and he needs a change of scenery. Because if that's the case, those aren't exactly differences they are problems.....you are comparing apples to oranges here.

But there's one problem: No one wants him. For so many reasons that have nothing to do with basketball, it seems none of the 29 teams outside the 215 area code want anything to do with Allen Iverson.

Umm what??? Are you kidding me?!?!?! I'm confused. Why then are there at least nine reported teams involved in trade talks with the Sixers?

Why? Because the only difference in today and almost every offseason this century is "the demand." The one that AI apparently put on Sixers GM Billy King when he walked into his office Tuesday and verbally cosigned his walking papers.

Oh okay.....wait.....cosigned his papers? There needs to be two people to CO-sign something, or you can sign for someone else. I'm confused. And the the word "in" does not need to be there....extra words confuse me (and apparently his editors).

Ever since he came into the NBA in 1996, Iverson has done things he was not supposed to be able to do. Every season, he has proved people wrong.

Scoop....buddy.....he was the first pick of the 2006 Draft. I think you can safely say he has lived up to that pretty big burden. He hasn't succeeded because he has done things he wasn't supposed to do, but because he did the things he WAS supposed to do (and more).

Still they doubt. Still they say that one day his smoke and mirrors will be exposed, the David Blaine act over. He has been over-the-hill, over and done with, over and out'd since he was 25. He's 31. He's 16 months younger than Steve Nash. But you'll never hear any GM concerned over trading for Nash, reluctant because his game is on the verge of falling off.

Just a dumb dumb dumb argument. First of all you can't compare the two players. They play two different styles of ball and they play different positions, but hell let's do it anyway(s). Is the reason they would take Nash over Iverson because he's over-the-hill as you say, or because he's hard to coach? Or is it because he misses practice and team functions? Because his style of play paves the way for more injuries? Or even that his body has to be that of a 70-year old by now?...............Or because Nash is a pass first point guard and two time MVP?
P.S.- The race card is bullshit if you have no backing when you use it.

So, let it be said that the Allen Iverson Sweepstakes will not be the bidding war that many would expect for a player of his brilliance. Instead, the unfortunate dark side of the game is about to reveal itself in the form of 15 teams fighting not to make a trade for Allen Iverson.

Let it be said that you are an ass. I have only the slightest idea of the point he is trying to make, but he does the worst job in trying to make it. And how did we go from zero teams to 15 in 500 words?

Sit back and watch how one of the game's best players gets treated in the open market. See how a player of Iverson's value learns how hypocritical "value" can be in the business of the NBA.

"Hypocritical Value"?!?!?!?!?!?! What in the world does that mean. Well I'll try to define it for you.....

Hypocritical- adj., a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess

Value- noun, relative worth, merit, or importance.

Hypocritical Value- A term used completely wrong by a hack writer that makes zero sense.

The term is meant for the "sociological" value....i.e. the ideals, customs, institutions, etc., of a society toward which the people of the group have an affective regard. Not for the monetary/trade value that you are using it with. How about going with devalued, weakened, watered-down, weakened, or even depreciated if you want to stick with the Economic angle.

P.S.- Who did you try to steal that term from Karl Marx?

I'm an unabashed A.I. lover (as a basketball player).........take away the cheating on his wife, the affair with admitted sex hound Carmen Bryan (700 Level), and the whole "getting into a racial fight at a bowling alley in Hampton, VA and hitting a woman in the head with a chair" thing......and he's a pretty good guy.

Seriously though despite his flaws he's been an amazing basketball player for the city of Philadelphia. He fits the "Rocky" mentality perfectly. If Dwayne Wade is to "Get Knocked down 7 times get up 8".....AI is to "Get knocked down/out, broken, dragged, and maimed 400 times. Get up 401."

But besides all of that.....I blame Allen Iverson for one thing. One thing above everything else. ONE THING that is so atrocious it cannot go unpunished!

What do I blame him for you ask? One Stephen A. Smith.

In 2004 S.A.S. got a job for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Since then he's parlayed 40,000 A.I. articles into an analyst position for the NBA on ESPN and the television talk show Quite Frankly. (Little known fact. Smith's first college was the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. I actually have a friend in admissions for the school....I might have to have him do some research.) Anywho, I blame Allen Iverson for letting this Cheez Doodle eating loudmouth onto the scene. And for this crap piece of an article......

Deal is All that Matters Now (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Here's what we know: Allen Iverson is gone.

Here's what we care about: Whatever the 76ers will get for him.

Here's what we'll hear: "It's his fault! It's their fault!" Coming from both sides.

Perhaps we'll care in the days and weeks to come.

Well thanks for that synopsis Scoop er Bill Plaschke er, Steve-O. So I guess I don't need to read the article then...

Today, the primary concern should be preventing Iverson from becoming Charles Barkley, Part II, making sure the Sixers don't let go of their latest mercurial star for a bag of cheap beans thrown in the trash after Thanksgiving.

Umm okay, so I guess I do. What the heck does that mean? I understand the Barkley part, but what the hell do beans have to do with this? And Beans in a Bag??? And Thanksgiving? And.....Okay......I'm already lost.

We'll all ponder one day what life would be like for the Sixers right now if they had traded Iverson years ago when former coach Larry Brown insisted it was best for the franchise. We'll wonder what would have become of the coaching careers of Randy Ayers, Chris Ford, Jim O'Brien or even Mo Cheeks if they were faced with the challenge of coaching someone else instead of Iverson.

Questionable decisions by Billy King, the Sixers' president and general manager, will come into focus, as will those of team chairman Ed Snider, who some - not me, though - believe should fire himself. But none of that matters now.

Why will we ponder that one day? Isn't that what everyone is saying right now? And "questionable decisions" by Billy King/Ed Snider?!?!?!?!? Riiiiight. I'd use the word "questionable" regarding those moves. Yep, Larry Hughes/Billy Owens/Bruce Bowen for Toni Kukoc is "questionable".

So what do we need to know Screamin' A. Smith?

"King's imagination can capitalize on potential deals with Minnesota, Boston, Denver, Sacramento or Golden State if any of those teams are willing to play ball. His knack for politics may even position him to pull off a heist with Chicago or Dallas."

Do whaaaaa? Imagination.........Knack for Politics???? Are you kidding me? Did those politics come into play when he traded Toni Kukoc, centers Theo Ratliff and Nazr Mohammed and guard Pepe Sanchez to the Atlanta Hawks for center Dikembe Mutombo and forward Roshown McLeod? Or when he acquired Glenn Robinson?

Come on S.A.S. I know you've got a nugget in here for me somewhere.....

Said one Sixers source: "There was a time when Billy [King] cared about sending Iverson to a contender, just out of gratitude for all he's meant to this franchise. That time has passed. He ain't thinking about A.I. anymore. At least not on that level."

Hmmmm.....and you wonder why Philadelphians want King's head on a stick?

Of course, there is always the possibility of multi-team deals, or a remote possibility that Iverson could be bought out of his contract. But that's venturing into the absurd, especially for a franchise with a few employees holding on by the skin of their teeth.

Multi-team deals are absurd? Since when??? Now I'm completely lost. But my favorite part is the very end. Where everything goes haywire.

Save the hostility for then. Not now.

Stephen A. Smith | Looking for a King's Ransom?

Sixers general manager Billy King fielded calls from numerous teams yesterday in trade talks for Allen Iverson.

Here are some of the players being discussed:

Everybody on the team is fair game except Paul Pierce. Expiring contracts of Austin Croshere,

Jerry Stackhouse plus Devin Harris.

Expiring contracts of P.J. Brown, Michael Sweetney, plus Ben Gordon, No.1 pick. Deal would need to include Corey Maggette, Shaun Livingston.

Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Jason Richardson. Sixers most interested in Monta Ellis.

Wait a tic....is that a separate article, a summary of this one, or just a 4-year old's report on the NBA? What I gathered....

• The Philadelphia Inquirer is unsure which team Paul Pierce plays for.
• They think that Austin Croshere and Paul Pierce are on the same team.
• They think that the Bulls and Clippers have blended into one team called the Bullippers, and can offer PJ Brown, Sweetney, Ben Gordon, Corey Maggette, and Shaun Livingston
  

All in all it was an interesting read from Mr. Smith. AA's guess??? I don't have one. All I know is that the Celtics will offer King...Theo Ratliffs expiring contract, 18 young studs, and a draft pick......and he'll turn it down.

(P.S.- He'll probably take Steve Francis, Channing Frye, a bag of magic beans, and Yinka Dare's ashes instead)

(P.P.S.- HoopsHype's collection of transactions is sick. Check out Billy Boy's here)