Allen Iverson is one of the most iconic basketball players to pick up the orange. He was also the franchise superstar for the Philadelphia 76ers in the early-to-mid 2000s and commanded the respect of any team he went up against and/or played for throughout his career.
But according to AI, as his career entered the later stages, the Detroit Pistons didn’t get the memo and figured his skill set would be best served as a reserve. This was in stark contrast, however, to what they told him his role would be when joined the team for the 2008-09 season.
“They told me, straight up, ‘Allen, we would never disrespect you or your career like that,’ by making me come off the bench,” Iverson said in an interview with ESPN Page 2 columnist Scoop Jackson. “That’s what they told me to my face. And after that, I never thought about it again. I just went back to playing. Then, they came to me saying that they felt it would be in the ‘best interest of the team’ if I came off of the bench behind Rip [Richard Hamilton].”
Iverson said, “After that, they told me that if I didn’t come off the bench, the team was going to lie down on [not play with] me. … When he told me that, that’s when I felt that this was the worst career move, I’d ever made, and it was the worst year of my career.”
Iverson Says His Career Went Downhill: He Was Lied To In Detroit
Iverson spent two all-star years in Denver before he was ultimately traded to Detroit, where, according to Iverson, everything went downhill from there.
Though Iverson still managed to produce another All-Star season in Motown, averaging 17.4 ppg on 41% shooting from the field, and 4.9 assists per game, he only lasted for that one season before he went to Memphis.
But in Detroit, he revealed that he didn’t see eye to eye with anybody in the Pistons organization besides general manager Joe Dumars.
