Here's the conundrum of the year in the NBA.
Allen Iverson has never been better.
And yet the Sixers still couldn't make the playoffs in the woeful Eastern Conference.
He finally got the productive low-post presence everyone said was crucial, in the form of Chris Webber.
And it didn't matter.
He's still every bit the acrobatic, breathtaking scoring dynamo he's always been.
And yet it seems the hometown fans are now tired of the show.
So what do you do if you are the Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers?
Trade Iverson? To whom? For what? And why?
You want irony, here's irony. The old thinking on Iverson was: "He's untradeable."
As in, "he's untradeable, because the gritty, basketball loving City of Brotherly Love/Hate would burn down the stadium if they ever dared."
Now, it's "he's untradeable, because what team wants to rip up their current offense to accommodate a 30 year old 5 foot 11 inch shooting guard?"
What does it say about the NBA, that a player of Iverson's indisputable brilliance would be such a difficult sell in trade talks? Perhaps it says that the league's formula for building and hyping stars is sorely out of step with actually winning basketball games.
Iverson could be a phenomenal component to a team looking to get "over the top" and win a title. But here's the catch: he would have to be just a component. Not the star. Not the focus.
Could he ever do that? Would he? Right now, it doesn't seem likely. The ego fall for a guy who has been nicknamed "The Answer" would be nearly fatal.
Mind you, I'm not saying Iverson would become a 15 minute a game cog. Hardly. He could be a devastating point guard if he would reinvent his game. His quickness and court vision are the stuff of freaks, not men.
But his whole basketball life has been about getting 30 points or 30 looks, whichever comes first.
To become a guy who accepts 12 points and 14 assists as a great night, would take a whole lot of therapy for a guy who once thought he was too good to even worry about practice.
If you think I am exaggerating the difficulties involved for a team who might want to get into the A.I. business, think again. A team that makes that trade, would almost have to get rid of their existing superstar to make Iverson feel welcome.
And forget about trying to mate him with another backcourt scorer. Remember how well the Iverson-Stackhouse backcourt worked out years ago?
There's also the nagging suspicion that Iverson just doesn't make his teams any better. I know it seems odd, to suggest that the NBA's second leading scorer at 33.0 ppg, can't help his team, but the evidence is starting to pile up.
I'm not even saying he's a net negative, or a cancer. I'm just saying, if he's really that good, how come his team isn't in the playoffs? And don't start with that old "lack of support" thing.
Chris Webber and his numbers are back from the dead. He's a 20-10 guy, who has now played 75 games for the first time in six years, and only the second time since he was a rookie.
Andre Iquodala is a fast rising 6-6 swingman averaging 12 and 6 this year. He's never missed a game in his young career, and he's shooting over 50% from the field.
Now, you tell me that's enough ingredients for a decent tasting NBA ham sandwich?
The fans of Philly just aren't jazzed by seeing this show much longer. While Iverson remains a stout road draw (where the Sixers are a top-10 road attraction), home attendance for Philly is languishing in the bottom third of the league.
So while pundits say that the Sixers simply have no choice now but to close the book on the "Iverson Era," I'm going to believe it when I see it. Philly, of all cities, understands all about getting junk back for a superstar.
Been there, done that with one Charles Barkley. If you remembered the names Jeff Hornacek, Tim Perry, and Andrew Lang - the trio of guys who couldn't carry Barkley's jock - give yourself a cookie. That's what the team got last time it felt it had "no other options" with their star player.
For better or worse, it looks like Philly is stuck with Iverson - till NBA death do they part.
Steve is a native Washingtonian and has worked in sports talk radio for the last 11 years. He worked at WTEM in 1993 anchoring Team Tickers before he took a full time job with national radio network One-on-One Sports.
A graduate of UC Santa Barbara, Steve has worked for WFNZ in Charlotte where his afternoon show was named "Best Radio Show." Steve continues to serve as a sports personality for WLZR in Milwaukee and does fill-in hosting for Fox Sports Radio.
