Friday, August 28th, 2009 at 11:30 am  |  99 responses

Billy King on Iverson: Buyer Beware

A.I.’s former GM warns that bringing in the free agent guard may not be such a wise move: “King, a former national defensive player of the year at Duke, spent 10 seasons in the Sixers’ front office, eventually trading Iverson to the Nuggets. ‘Everything is about Allen, and it can’t all be about Allen at this point in his career,’ King said. ‘He’s no longer that intimidating figure who can just blow by everybody. So he’s got to do other things, and I’m not sure he will…(Iverson’s) personality is to say, ‘I can still do this. I can take all the shots and stay out late and do everything I did in my 20s,’ King described.”

  • Add a Comment
  • Share
  • RSS

Tags: , , ,

← Older Comments
  • OneStep

    Point is, he may well be right.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    Myles
    I don’t think Billy King can keep Iverson from a job. He ain’t got that kind of clout.
    The way this blog post was presented, Billy King was issuing a warning to all the teams in the League not to hire Iverson because he is unwilling to change and incapable of change. That’s different from giving an honest assessment of Iverson’s flaws and strengths.
    But, I think a more interesting angle, at least to me, is how Billy King can be seen as perfectly within bounds giving this sort of detailed assessment of Iverson’s pros and cons.
    I also think it’s interesting that King is sought out of his opinion.
    I would like to see this same courtesy extended to players when GMs and Coaches are being considered. Like going back and talking to players who have dealt with these coaches or GMs in the past.

  • http://WWW.Facebook.com Watari Atari

    Go To the Betcats

  • http://www.slamonline.com Myles Brown

    Well the presentation of this post is on the writer, not King. The word warning was also used in the linked article, but again, not by King. In addition to having dealt with Iverson for quite a while, he is an ‘analyst’ on NBA TV, so its not completely questionable why his opinion was sought out. Regardless, I think he was speaking more towards AI directly in an attempt to get him to realize he needs an attitude adjustment rather than to the other GMs in saying ‘Do not sign him’. Like you said, he aint got that king of clout, and surely he knows it, so why try that?

    And as far as players v. GMs, I think players talk amongst themselves all the time about those things, its just different when the media is involved. Think Krause and Reinsdorf didnt get talked about? Or Isiah? Larry Brown? Of course the media pays more attention to the players, because they are the lifeblood of the league, not the GMs.

  • hillbilly

    ActionSports Bulletin!!! Former NBA star Allen Iverson is reportedly considering an offer sheet from the Washington Generals who are said to be “salivating at the prospect of acquiring a player who thinks defense is what keeps stray dogs off his property”…more at eleven.

  • http://slamonline.com Jacob J

    I say the knicks.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    Myles
    I don’t think it’s a lifeblood thing.
    I think it’s a power dynamic thing. For better or worse, players are seen as employees of the coaches and GMs. This despite the fact that they typically earn more money than the GMs and coaches and are more integral to team success.
    Since the players are seen as being subordinates, I think that the media doesn’t really view them as the proper folks to be issuing proclamations of the effectiveness of coaches or GMs. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, sometimes it happens, but that’s the general sense I get.
    Plus, I think most media folks find it easier to get in contact with GMs and coaches. They typically have better relationships with GMs and coaches because they have more in common with them. So, that’s why they are more likely to seek them out for comment.
    I understand the realities of why it occurs, I just wonder if maybe the whole practice shouldn’t be re-examined. If you’re going to hire somebody for a pseudo-management position, then it would make sense to talk to the folks they managed before. And if you’re going to write a story about someone getting hired, it would make sense to talk to the folks he managed before. Maybe use them as anonymous sources the same way GMs are used as anonymous sources.

  • tavoris

    Myles, to make the comment that AI is in this position because of his own words and actions is taking the blame from the Detroit Situatoin completely away from Dumars, Hamiliton, Curry, ‘Sheed (and any other Piston that mailed it in after the trade). If that situation was even moderately successful-and not the train wreck it turned out to be-AI woulda got snatched up the first week of free agency. While Billy King does have valid points, and the right to express them, does that make this an appropriate time to express them? Of course not…and that’s the messed up part about it. I think the blogging world has opened up a lot of opportunities for people to wax journalism, while having NO concept of TACT.

  • MaxiellEatsLittleOnes

    Spare me Ivo’s feelings, since when is it wrong to voice your opinion, especially if he was asked? “oh this might hurt Iverson’s job opportunities” no, IVERSON HURT IVERSON’s JOB OPPORTUNITIES. The second Iverson stated that he would RATHER RETIRE than come off the BENCH. What is so wrong what King said? He simply REITTERATED what Iverson has been saying all along. He will not accept a lesser role and unfortunately for him, at this point in his career, that may be the only role. Spare the millionaire’s feelings because its the truth? Seriously people? Wake up, quit being a bunch of ******es.

  • whooo!

    Billy King can’t keep Iverson from signing with a good team, but he never had to – Iverson already did that to himself with his play and his SELFISHNESS. i know everyone here loves AI, but let’s be real, dude was nice for what he was, but he’s so damn selfish and incapable of playing 2nd fiddle to anyone. he dominates the team way too much. the ONLY player i think he would’ve worked with is Tim Duncan or KG – nobody else. it’s sad to see him HOPING for chance to play for the laughingstocks of the league, but this is the future he created. he’s the only one to blame for his current situation, where no real team even thinks about signing the guy.

  • tavoris

    whooo! are you new?

  • http://www.hibachi20.blogspot.com BETCATS

    Billy King ruined the 76ers and has no right to now try and ruin Allen Iverson…But like others have said, Billys’ word wont keep AI unsigned.

  • C-Mac

    completely agree with BETCATS
    Billy King was a nightmare in Philly, AI may have some issues but he’s still a game/franchise changer. I say forget this Memphis or Charlotte stuff (although a wouldn’t mind him playin for LB again, him and Wallace/Chandler could play well) get him on a team that could realistically win a championship.

  • Flash

    come 2 miami allen we’ll take you! we’ll show that billy king who’s who!

  • http://sevendeu2u.wordpress.com/ Seven deuce

    Billy King ruined what? Almost every player on that team, he drafted. He’s not saying anything that hasn’t been said about AI already. Reminds me of how everyone was tap dancing around blaming him for Detroit’s fall fall last year. It was obvious and yet, no sportscaster went beyond, “It’s unfair to put Iverson in that situation.” Which translates into “You KNOW the reason people!” YouTube CWebb’s hilarious, “He’s real aggressive calling for the ball.”

  • Jess

    how about everyone just lets Iverson prove that he is still VERY deserving and capable of playing in the L. He’s just taking all this hate and using it as fuel..future HOF’er..I cant wait to see him play this season!

  • http://sevendeu2u.wordpress.com/ Seven deuce

    What team can he go to that will let him run the show? He had a good run, but his time as an alpha dog is about over. Definite HOF’er, but the game is going to go one with out him.

  • http://dfsjklf.com Jukai

    Myles:
    if a reporter asks Allen Iverson what he thinks about Billy King, and he describes him as an “overrated defender without the athletics to get him in the NBA, and a subpar GM at best who sees talent but lacks direction”, would you not have a problem with it because Iverson was telling the truth?
    Because if you don’t, then there’s no argument here, it’s just difference of opinion.

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    I think Billy Kings comments are accurate, AI has played his entire history of basketball within the framework of being the guy taking the shots, having the ball, and given the reigns to co-ordinate everyone else on the floor. Going forward, he won’t get a place on ANY team in the NBA with if his expectation is to have that kind of clout next season.

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    @jess…no one is arguing whether or not AI can play in this league. Because he could, twice on Tuesdays…where the great divide is coming from is that old old curse… A. G. E.

    He needs to develop his skills as a mentor, a guide, a contributor…not the dominator. Sure you would expect there would be nights where he’ll get 20 and 10 and it will be awesome to see him have some great games through the season. But going for months at a time averaging 30 and 8, playing 38-42 minutes a game ARE OVER. THEY ARE OVER. It’s a new dawn for him and he needs to show the maturity to make it work, for himself and for an NBA team. Otherwise go to Europe or the ‘bush league’ here in Australia.

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    Further and finally…the thing that stuck out for me is the comment Billy King made about AI’s life style…. about staying up late. He probably doesn’t eat as well as say Jordan did or Nash/Hill (but they really go all with the diet thing – Nash doesn’t have dairy or red meat) does. He doesn’t like practice/training (apparently :| ) so he’s not keeping his body fine tuned to the battle of the length of the season…it’s almost like AI “forces himself to get up for each game” as opposed to being ready to deal with the whole process of the season.
    It’s all part of the equation, and most/every guy fights the aging scenario…..but for athletes the drop off must be all the more noticable.

  • COLT6

    Billy King who? Go to Charlotte A.I. take the cheap check and dominate. These fools don’t know smack about PLAYIN’ (read: not yappin’) real basketball.

  • http://www.hibachi20.blogspot.com BETCATS

    just a guess: seeing that King made boneheaded moves, each worse then the one before, i am guessing he and Iverson had some ‘run in’ in the past that involved Iverson yelling at King for doing things that made the Sixers get gradually worse after the 2001 season.

  • ConeyIslander

    AI has Roy Jones JR syndrome. When your game is based on speed and quickness, the minute you lose a step you’ll just never be the same.

  • Shem

    Bad move,the man is fighting for a job and king (who is not at all affected) throws AI under the bus like that. Just goes to show sometimes the nba isnt a business.

  • PUERTO RICO #1

    THERE IS NO DOUBT AL CAN PLAY BUT THIS KING GUY MAY HAVE A SAID THE TRUTH IN SOMEWAY CAUSE A.L WAS UPSET COMING FROM THE BENCH FOR DETROIT BECAUSE HE THINKS HE CAN DO EVERYTHING HE DID WHEN HES WAS WITH THE SIXERS and HE CAN’T CARRY A TEAM ALONE NO MORE…ALLEN SHOULD SHUT UP GO TO A TOP FINAL CNTENDER WIN A SHIP AND RETIRE OR PLAY UNTIL YOU CANT NO MORE

  • JoeMaMa

    Don’t shoot the messenger.

  • http://slamonline.com 360vue

    as a sixers fan i can happily say that Billy King’s firing has probably been the franchise high point for the last three years. calling him a completely incompetent GM would be a touch too generous.

  • http://www.hoopsvibe.com/christopher_sells-authorHV106.html chiqo

    what did king say in that article that we haven’t heard from someone else or seen with our own eyes/heard with our own ears? so he sucked as a gm. does that make him wrong?

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    Wait wait WAIT. The article says Iverson might “ruin the Bobcats fine chemistry”… Remind me, if I’m a little confused here, what in the world this chemistry is?! Gerald Wallace dunking while his team stands around and watches?

  • http://www.slamonline.com Pardeep

    Billy King probably used to get yelled at by Iverson for making dumb moves and not bringing him talent in his prime which lead to first round exits. Billy King sucked as a GM first he ruined Iverson’s chances of leading a team to a ring with pathetic decisons now hes trying to keep him unemployed.

  • http://youtube.com/pyrobooby tealish

    @BETCATS: Definitely… sometimes it hurts to revisit those wasted years. Many people think 2001 was Iverson’s best year and considering where they ended up it very well may be, but dude was still consistently killing it with the Sixers after ’01. People forget the 31 and 8, 33 and 7.5 he put up from ’04-’06. Those were wasted years. Tragic.

  • http://slamonline.com Spaceship Jay

    Considering Ivo’s position, it’s a slimeball move, yes. Now raise your hand if, no matter who you are, have at one point thought or expressed they EXACT same thing King said. Exactly.

  • Rikson

    1. Cosign jay 2. Wasn’t king gm when the sixers got iverson out of the draft – surely that wasn’t a bad desicion 3. Philly didn’t get worse after 01 – the east just got better (seriously 01 was the worst eastern conference I’ve seen so far)…

  • whooo!

    tavoris, i’m not new. and i’m totally with Spaceship Jay on that. everyone here’s getting so riled up in Billy King. F’ Billy King, that’s not who we’re concerned with. do ppl honestly believe AI scoring 20ppg on a crapyy team is how he’ll “show the haters”? he’s done it “HIS WAY” for the past decade, and it worked 1 year. he’s not the same guy he was as an mvp 8yrs ago, but his game has not evolved at all! he’s not a deadly 3pt shooter, which would save his body of drives, and he still doinates the ball way too much. Andre Miller helped take hte Sixers to the playoffs. Billups made the Nuggets legit. neither’s pure talent level is any better than AI, but both were better for the team. the truth hurts, but AI can’t even get offers from contenders cuz they think so little of his team-focus – the only chance he has at success though is to just hope one of them has an injury and needs to sign AI for scoring. otherwise, he can sign with a really crappy team, sell some tickets for them and NOT win games.

  • whooo!

    oh, and if he has a chance, he should sign with Charlotte over Memphis. Memhpis is full on rebuilding, and they only want AI to put fans in seats and sell tix/jerseys. they have no prayer at making the playoffs, and the Southwest Division is brutal. if he signs with Charlotte, they actually have an outside chance of making the playoffs, and at least he’ll get get success as ppl may consider him being a big role to their transformation from bottom-dweller to playoff team.

  • knock

    iverson can take a “bottom dwelling team to a playoff team” LOL that’s never happened and it’s not gonna happen now.

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    @ knock aka knock knock: Maybe you’ve never heard of the PHILADELPHIA 76ERS…

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    @ Myles: Kobe didn’t want to play second fiddle to Shaq any more. Shaq left, won a ring. Kobe lost in the Finals to the Celtics a year ago. Ah

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    @ Myles: Okay, let’s get this straight. Let me use Kobe as an example, a year before his title.
    Kobe didn’t want to play second fiddle to Shaq anymore. Shaq left for Miami. Shaq won a ring. Kobe lost to the Celtics about a year ago. Shaq has criticized Kobe time and time again, even making a stupid freestyle. But hey, who cares? Kobe didn’t want to do it any longer, right? Shaq can ask Kobe how his @ss tastes because, well, Kobe’s own actions made him deserve it. Right…

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    Hmm, the post before last cut off and I had to retype it. Ah well, you get the picture.

  • Justin

    Anyone stop to think that maybe he was asked his opinion on signing AI? What’s he supposed to do? Lie? And pointing out that he put together lousy teams is a dumbass statement because it has nothing to do with his comments or the validity of them. Sad truth is, he’s right!

  • George B

    he is not the same player he once was but he can still help a lot of teams in the nba.

  • Brian S.

    Say all you want about Billy Kings’ comments (which are on point), but the facts bear themselves out, A.I. is still on the open market. Hmmm, I wonder why? Is he really that talented or a dated sideshow?
    The NBA is full of really bad teams, yet A.I. is still teamless. Hmmmm, I wonder why?

  • Hussman25

    In my Riley Freeman voice… ” Man… F#@k Billy King…. That Ni**a’s gay!”

  • tavoris

    whooo! in case you haven’t realized that there are alot of unsigned free agents-even young ones-as the leage is in a recession. I don’t think anyone realistically believes AI would get a firm offer before David Lee, Ramon Sessions, and Nate Robinson-as they are considerably younger. And the “are you new” comment was a joke, as you sound eerily similar to some other regular posters that frequent AI threads…And while Billy King’s comments make for interesting (and heated) debate, they hardly are substantiated. AI was sold to the Pistons fans as the scorer they needed. Curry promptly figured that Stuckey=Billups, and thus they didn’t need-or want-AI’s scoring. Also, the MAIN reason the Sixers have improved was NOT Andre Miller-it was Iguodala and Young…that’s why the Sixers let him walk. And if you think the Nuggets are more legit than they were with AI, then you don’t realize that they only won a couple more games in a down year for the Western Conference. Their playoff run ended a little later, but with the same fizzle it had in previous years.

  • tavoris

    Justin, the ADULT thing for Billy King to do was to given a sufficiently pleasant non-answer (just like the players are urged to do when asked about coaches and GM’s)

  • Melzaih Dia

    Ayo **uck Billy King……

  • Pat Hopkins

    Billy King is what he always has been a jerk. Let me ask this question if Allen Iverson was surrounded with half of what LeBron James has around him he would of won 3 titles at least. I watched him play since his rookie year and the teams other than the 2001 team that Larry Brown brought together were horrible. Mr King says Allen has never made anyone better, well what about all these young gruards that are in the league now and emulate Allen Iverson. This is now the small guard era and they are good
    and go to the hole the way Allen did. As for the players they brought in for Allen let me see Keith
    Van Horn had his best shooting year with Allen. Chris Webber who told Jim O’Brien he didn’t rebound under the basket anymore, but with Allen they were the hightest scoring duo in the league that year. Another wasted signing Billy, and there was Big Dog Robinson at the end of his career that Jim O’Brien wouldn’t even start. Billy and what about all of those great coaches you hired um Randy Ayers, Chrs Ford, Mo Cheeks who were all assistant coaches at best. Then you did hire a good coach in Jim O’Brien, but, Jim preferred to do it the right way and you fired him after a winning season (go figure) So
    Billy since you know Allen never talks about anyone
    no matter what they say about him and you are looking for a job in this league you figured you
    would make Allen you scapegoat. You don’t deserve
    to be in this league Larry Brown made you and when he left Allen Iverson kept you in the league you
    din’t deserve to be in.

← Older Comments
Advertisement