While most of the Delaware Valley is waiting for AI to sign on the dotted line, I have had another thought. Could this Iverson-mania be the Sixers just covering their behind?
Could all this talk about the Sixers offering Iverson only a 1 year contract with no incentives be for a reason? Perhaps the Sixers offered it because they know he won’t take it?
If he doesn’t take the deal, Sixer fans can’t complain. The Sixers can say they tried to sign him, just couldn’t work out a deal. Turning the tables on Iverson, making it look like he didn’t want to come back to Philly anyway.
I can only hope the Sixers are smart enough to actually think this way.
Aside from that, things do look like they are progressing towards an Iverson return. There are positives, but the negatives far out-weigh them. Something I’ve made perfectly clear over the last week or so. Sure they’ll sell out the Wachovia Center, sure they’ll have a lot more National coverage. Though, it will come at a cost, make no mistake about that. Iverson is not going to lead this team to a Championship, he’s not going to win the MVP award and he’s not going to make anyone on this team better. He’ll drop 30 and the team will still lose by 10. Remember those days? We all love AI but we need to let him go, remember the memories and not tarnish the past.
A comment left by a reader in response to my last article perfectly described how I feel about this situation. Hopefully when others read it they’ll get it like this guy does.
“This team deserves to really really suck until we can get rid of some very large and undeserved contracts (Sam Dalembert) and hopefully get ourselves a good pick in future drafts. I’m willing to sit on a team that sucks if I know the future holds something better. Based on this, I think AI is the wrong choice…monetarily, team wise, age wise. It’s such a sixer move to bring in people who’s careers are over (Derrick Coleman, Chris Webber, Glen Robinison) and I have had it with that! The Sixers may manage to sham their way into the playoffs again and continue to stay mediocre, which is sooo much more frustrating than just being terrible. I will not buy into a sham any longer – a quick fix will not make this fan any happier. I loved AI, and I don’t want to hate him in the future.” -philsphever
-Mike Santa Barbara
*** Follow me on Twitter @Mike__SB ***
