Allen Iverson done as a Sixer?

Certain pro athletes provide fans with that familiar Yogi Berra-ism “like deja vu all over again,” and what I am referring to is the ne-er-do-well types who are supremely talented, but doggedly committed to engaging in a never ending succession of dramatic, uh, distractions. If you ever played sports in school, or even in Little League, for that matter, you have seen the way that coaches and league officials coddle players who have extraordinary talent. And in this era of a guy like Lane Kiffin recruiting 13-year-old kids, things are certainly not getting any better. When adults continually bend to the whims of immature young adults because it’s ultimately good for their bank accounts, the athletes often times wind up economically rich but emotionally and intellectually bankrupt.

This is not always true of course, but it plays itself out right before our eyes every day when we read the sports pages. Anyway, this is a timely news story concerning the report out of Philadelphia that A.I., The Answer, Allen Iverson has probably played his last game as a Sixer. The Memphis Grizzlies showed Iverson the door in November when he acted out over playing time, no offers were forthcoming, he retired, and then he un-retired when the Sixers gave him a shot at a homecoming. It was almost heartwarming for a minute there, but A.I. was spent more time away from the team than with them recently, and his frequent comings and goings seem to have led to a future for him that features way less comings and a lot more goings.

It is true that Iverson claims that he is tending to a sick child of his. If that’s the case, then he should have no problem with losing this pesky NBA gig so that he can do what he feels that he has to do for himself and his family.