Allen Iverson Whines About his Role, Won’t Be a Team-Player

I thought for quite some time that the back injury that caused Allen Iverson to miss 16 games was just a case of bruised ego more than anything else. I felt that Iverson didn’t know how to handle his benching so his only response was to disappear and cool off. Looks like my initial reaction was validated by A.I.’s comments following Wednesday night’s game against the Nets. In his third game as the team’s sixth man, the former MVP bitched about his role coming off the bench:

“I’m having a hard time doing it now. You think I will try to do it all over again? No way. I wouldn’t do that to myself or the team that I am playing for. I don’t think I can give everything I have to give in that situation.”
…
Iverson doesn’t want to retire; he says his love of the game has never been greater. “I want to be out there on the basketball court,” he said, “but if (retiring) is something that I have to do, then so be it.”

What disappoints me is that I bought into all the stuff Iverson told us about how much more mature and grown up he was and about how much he changed. I remember what he said in his introductory press conference with the Pistons, that he would do whatever the coaches and organization wanted as long as it helped the team. I bought into all that and began to like Iverson. Now I just feel like I was had and that The Answer betrayed me. Maybe retirement is the only solution to his problems because he’s made each of the last two teams he was on worse, not better.