You know, men are supposed to get wiser with age. After having lived through enough experiences in this tough world, guys are supposed to learn from their experiences and generally make smarter decisions as they get older, not the other way around.

 

Having said that, I wish someone would share that information with selfish head case Allen Iverson, a guy that has never seemed to learn that the game of basketball is not all about personal statistics and more of a team game that one man, no matter how great, cannot win all by himself.

 

Even after playing in the league for 13 seasons, Iverson, now 34-years-old, just doesn’t want to grow up. What’s worse is that he will clearly sacrifice the dwindling days of his Hall of Fame career simply because he doesn’t see himself as a player that is should have to take a role as a reserve that doesn’t start.

 

"I'm not a bench player," Iverson recently said following his one and only game with the Memphis Grizzlies this season. “I'm not a sixth man. Look at my resume and that'll show I'm not a sixth man. I don't think it has anything to do with me being selfish. It's just who I am. I don't want to change what gave me all the success that I've had since I've been in this league. I'm not a sixth man. And that's that."

 

I almost had a scrap with Iverson back in the day during one the Philadelphia 76ers’ Media Day sessions. I was a young (okay, semi-young) reporter and Iverson was at the height of his ‘total jerk’ behavior. He apparently still doesn’t realize that, as players age – their respective games change – along with their abilities and roles – with whichever team they may be playing for at the time.

 

I mean, just think, did Michael Jordan continue to fly sky-high and jam the ball down opponents’ throats in the latter stages of his career?

 

Hell no!

 

But Jordan’s jump-shot – and mental basketball acumen – had increased so much by that time that he’d routinely beat younger guys with his knowledge of the game.

 

Heck any guy that’s ever played sports, whether professional or not, will readily admit that if they could combine their years of knowledge while putting it in their younger body; they’d have been 10 times better than they were in their ‘younger days.’

 

Iverson however, is clearly not realizing that fact.

 

Now, I will admit that Iverson probably has a lot more ‘game’ left in his tank than most 34-year-old players, but the fact of the matter is that any young team building toward its future needs to play its younger players in an effort to get them on-court experience.

 

Now, while I believe that Iverson could still start for many teams in the league (and Memphis isn’t one of them with a pair of promising young guards that need minutes) he has failed to realize that he is caught between a rock and a hard place with a two-fold problem.

 

First, his advancing age won’t allow him to get the minutes he needs from a young team. Second, Iverson’s refusal to accept a reserve role and his well-documented selfishness won’t attract any veteran-laden, legitimate title-contending team to sign him knowing he’d almost instantly become a locker room cancer ruining that team’s chemistry.

 

After missing the entire preseason with a hamstring injury, Iverson played 17 minutes off the bench and then promptly went loco, saying "I had no problems with the hamstring. I had a problem with my butt sitting on that bench for so long."

 

Iverson could probably start for teams like Miami, Atlanta, Utah or even Cleveland – and would make an excellent offensive scoring option off the bench for contenders like Boston, Portland, L.A. or Phoenix – but when your ego outweighs your ability, no one will touch you.

 

Once known as ‘The Answer,’ A.I. now stand for Artificial Intelligence because he’s the only one believes the crap he’s spreading. Whether he knows it or not, he’s in the process of ending his long NBA career in an absolutely pitiful manner, whining his way out of the league when he still has plenty of gas left in the tank.

 

What a shame.