Allen Iverson's spirit is in the same sorry state as his savings: broke. He doesn't have the change to pay for his chains, owing a jeweler over $850,000 and basketball in the U.S. has turned its back on him; even though he's willing to work his way up through the D-League, only a U.S. territory (Puerto Rico) has shown a shred of interest in his services. He's either hesitant to go because NBA scouts aren't about to travel to San Juan to see him or all he knows about the archipelago he learned from the West Side Story song "America" (he's especially leery of the "always the money owing" lyric) At his last three pit stops - Philly (again), Memphis and Turkey - he's been pitiful and petulant. He recoils from a reduced role like an A-list actor. Since every NBA team has taken a hands-off approach to A.I., maybe it's time he take one too, and switch sports... to soccer.
Enter: The Rochester Lancers, an indoor soccer team, that has officially and publicly offered him a contract for the team's remaining 2 games at $20K per, plus a bonus of $5K per goal should Iverson find the back of the net. They're also including a cut of merchandise sales, which we're sure total in the two figures. As an added incentive, the Lancers promise to house Iverson's friends and family, making us wonder if they remember how Iverson had a reputation for a populous posse in his heyday.
We think The Answer should answer the call. Don't dismiss the MISL member's proposal. Kick around the idea. $40K+ for about 3 hours worth of work (we assume they'll excuse him from practice) is a decent deal. The Lancers, who we think are in a playoff push (it's hard to tell since the league consists of 7 teams), will foot the bill, so all Iverson has to do is put his best foot forward. We hope to see him in uniform on Wednesday against Wichita. The way we see it, Iverson's life is messy, so he might as well adopt the game of Messi.
Is he going to do it? What has he said about it?
ReplyDelete