Allen Iverson deal with Griz born of desperation - 籃球

Source: http://0rz.tw/SWjRk

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Allen Iverson deal with Griz born of desperation

By Scott Cacciola / September 27, 2009

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Timing played crucial role as both team, player met needs

Chris Wallace was struck by the silence. There was a stillness that he found
disconcerting at The Westin Buckhead Atlanta on Sept. 7. Even the hotel's
posh restaurant, The Palm, was closed for Labor Day.

If nothing else, Wallace and the rest of the Grizzlies' brain trust were
guaranteed an unexpected, almost unprecedented level of privacy for their
meeting that night with Allen Iverson, who arrived at the hotel by himself,
without an entourage, wearing sneakers, jean shorts, an oversized white
T-shirt and a New York Mets baseball cap. No one hassled him in the lobby,
because no one was around.

But there was nothing to hide from the public by then, not really anyway. It
was more or less a formality -- one that Wallace, the Grizzlies' general
manager, likened to a prenup, though this was the first time he had met
Iverson face-to-face. And in a conference room on the fourth floor, they sat
across from each other at a large oval table, Wallace flanked by owner
Michael Heisley and coach Lionel Hollins, Iverson sipping from a bottle of
water.

During their two-hour meeting, there was an understanding that each party
sought something important from the other. The Grizzlies, the faltering
franchise, wanted a veteran star. Iverson, the fading icon, wanted another
shot. And it became ever more clear as the minutes ticked away that this was
going to happen, that Iverson would agree to a one-year deal.

It is a grand experiment that will formally begin when the Grizzlies gather
for training camp in Birmingham on Tuesday, but it also was the result of a
restless process that unfolded in stages over the summer.

Iverson's periodic posts on Twitter created the impression that this was a
future Hall of Famer coping with the realization that he was vulnerable --
perhaps even unwanted. He seemed confident on July 2: "I'm a Free Agent,
healthy again, and capable of signing with any team." But by Aug. 18, he was
more aggressively pitching himself: "Getting in shape, running, lifting and
thinking about which team I will help compete for a championship! Whoever
gets me will be happy."

Around the same time, he sat down for an interview with Eric Snow, a former
teammate who works as an analyst for NBA TV. In the video clip, Iverson
slumps in his chair and speaks low and slow, his words heavy. Snow asks him
what sort of advice he would offer young men who want to emulate him.

"I would tell a kid, don't try to be like Allen Iverson," Iverson says. "Be
better than Allen Iverson. Be a better person than Allen Iverson. Be a better
student than Allen Iverson was. ... Simple as that."

This was the Allen Iverson who showed up at the hotel in Atlanta three weeks
ago, not the brash rookie who set the NBA ablaze as the top overall pick in
1996. Already chastened by his experience with the Detroit Pistons last
season, which was fraught with frustration and bad press, Iverson found his
quest for a new team listing to the point where some pundits predicted he
would land in Greece, banished from the NBA altogether.

Before then, he worked out with Snow at the Atlanta Hawks practice facility
for a couple of weeks, but was largely limited to shooting drills because he
was a man without a contract. He wanted to avoid injury. His prospects were
perilous enough without spraining an ankle.

"It was disappointing," Snow said in a telephone interview. "I think he was
most upset from the standpoint of not being able to place his family, not
being able to move and get settled and get his kids in school. That's the
thing that was hardest on him."

Even if the idea of turning the Grizzlies into an unexpected winner appealed
to him, there was little doubt that he had few other options. And yet his
advocates believed -- and still believe -- that the difficult summer
motivated him, that the Grizzlies were catching him at the right moment.

"He's going to give them a renewed energy, a renewed drive, a renewed life
that they've never seen before," said Gary Moore, his business manager.

Each meeting with a free agent has its own dynamic, and Wallace can still
remember one trip he made to Los Angeles as general manager of the Boston
Celtics. This was the summer of 2000, and there was a player that he and Rick
Pitino, then the coach of the Celtics, had been wooing for some time. So they
planned to meet him and his agent at an upscale restaurant one night in an
attempt to seal the deal.

Wallace and Pitino packed a couple of gifts, including a book about the
Celtics and a game jersey with the player's name and number. But Pitino
wanted to make an impression: Would Wallace wear the jersey when they entered
the restaurant? Imagine the reaction that would get!

"So I put it on, and I look like a little kid because the armholes come all
the way down to here," said Wallace, pointing to his hips. "But people are
just roaring at the restaurant, they think it's funnier than hell. And Austin
Croshere's laughing pretty good, too."

Yes, Austin Croshere, a glorified role player who wound up re-signing with
the Indiana Pacers. But it illustrates a larger point: There was no need for
such schmoozing this time around, not even with Allen Iverson as the target.
It was a marriage born of mutual desperation, and the courtship phase had
come and gone by the time Iverson took his seat at that conference room
table, a contract offer -- his only one -- there for the taking.

He needed the Grizzlies. And if the Grizzlies did not need Iverson, then
Heisley -- like Iverson, ridiculously rich and a Georgetown man -- had made
clear that he wanted him. This was a top-down decision, a Heisley operation
from the start. Anyone at FedExForum who may have expressed concerns about
bringing Iverson aboard was made aware of that, so there was no public
dissension.

Even Heisley retreated from his earlier position that he hoped to recruit
Iverson to back up point guard Mike Conley, a position that softened as talks
grew more serious. Heisley, Hollins and Wallace agreed before arriving in
Atlanta that they would not even broach the subject during their meeting with
Iverson, but they were to make no promises either. Hollins told Iverson that
he would see how the pieces fit during camp.

More than anything, the lengthy meeting featured a strange dance. The
Grizzlies sold their product, their roster rife with up-and-coming stars. At
the same time, Iverson kept selling himself -- his desire to compete, his
ability to mentor younger players, his hope of leading a team deep into the
playoffs.

"He said, 'Why can't we do that? Why can't we go out there and set goals?'"
Wallace recalled. "I like to hear that kind of talk. I'm not someone who gets
nervous about expectations. I'd rather have expectations and excitement and
deal with it than have apathy. So we saw that eagerness from him. And we also
heard him say, 'Hey, I'm not 24 anymore. I'm 34. But I still want to play,
I'm hungrier than ever and I want to make amends for last season.'"

Everyone at the table shook hands. Three days later, having signed a one-year
deal for the bargain-basement price of $3.1 million, Iverson arrived at
FedExForum for a press conference that doubled as an hour-long piece of
unscripted theater.

Despite the circus-like atmosphere (or maybe because of it), Wallace could
sense that Iverson was genuinely touched. According to those close to him,
Iverson is sensitive about how he is perceived and portrayed. He reads what
is written, hears what is said. He has an inability to ignore the tabloids, a
vulnerability that stems from the time he was incarcerated as a teenager for
his alleged role in a brawl at a bowling alley. He faced an onslaught of
negative press, felt vilified and grew guarded -- a leeriness that has
persisted through 14 NBA seasons.

So his reception at FedExForum signified something important -- to him and to
the people who packed the grand lobby. One man roamed to the dais to hand him
a book. Yet another felt compelled to tell him about a son who had committed
suicide. Others simply thanked him for coming.

As for Iverson, he basked. But he also dwelled -- on those who doubt him,
dismiss him.

"This year for me is so personal," he told the crowd of nearly 300. "It's
basically going to be my rookie season again. It hurts, but I turn the TV on,
I read the paper, I listen to some of the things that people say about me
having the season that I had last year and me losing a step, things like
that. They're trying to put me in a rocking chair already."

But now he has an opportunity for redemption, his fortunes tied to a team
seeking a rebirth of its own. It has become the theme of the season even
before Iverson launches his first shot: a franchise wishing upon a star.

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徵願意翻譯這一篇的人，稅前1500P

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