With Linsanity reaching a Tebow-high, news of his actions are practically TMZ-level. It's no surprise that, according to everyone's 2nd least favorite ESPN personality, Stephen A. Smith (Skip Bayless is the first) is reporting that Jeremy Lin was going to have a waiver claim put on him by the Los Angeles Lakers. And who else were they targeting? The hologram of what was formerly known as Allen Iverson.
Per Stephen A, via Scott Schroeder:
He apparently wasn't willing to meet their demands. Not only would he have had to practice, according to Smith, he would've had to do it while wearing the jersey of their D-League affiliate L.A. D-Fenders.
Raise your hand if you were surprised that former Sixers squeeze Iverson didn't want to go to the D-League in order to play for the Lakers. While Lin is now gaining much fanfare for his extremely impressive (and unsustainable) play with the Knicks, AI is still waiting for a call from somebody, anybody, who will give him a contract. So long as he doesn't have to prove himself in a lesser league. There's nobody outside of Terrell Owens who has a less accurate sense of their own abilities than he does. Maybe Brett Favre.
Anyway, LINtlemania is en vogue. Overreact accordingly.
0 recs | 34 comments
"There's nobody outside of Terrell Owens who has a less accurate sense of their own abilities than [Iverson] does"
Freddie Mitchell says, “hi!”
Justin F. - February 12, 2012
haha Rec
KJ Brophy - February 12, 2012
I love his conspiracy theories. Apparently he believes that McNabb, Lurie, Reid and Banner got together in order to convince other teams not to sign him.
tst29 - February 12, 2012
Outstanding!
dweebowitz - February 12, 2012
There are a lot of people I find more annoying then Stephen A. on ESPN
KJ Brophy - February 12, 2012
I might have stop watching TV , going on the internet, and making public contact in order to stop hearing about the Giants, Whitney Houston and Jeremy Lin.
tst29 - February 12, 2012
Anyway, I hope NYK goes on a losing streak as soon as Melo returns- expose him for what he his.
tst29 - February 12, 2012
I’m rooting for the Knicks to win just so that it can all crumble when Melo/Amare get back. It will be fantastic.
Though if they actually put it all together and Lin is the distributor they so desperately need…that would really suck.
Drew1750 - February 12, 2012
I hope they miss the playoffs but not be bad enough to get a top 7 pick. They gave up their 2012 1st round draft pick (top 7 protected) to Houston in the Tracy McGrady trade.
tst29 - February 13, 2012
everyone continues to pile on on iverson. i am relatively fond of stephen a. smith and have reason to believe his sources are decently reliable but also this doesn’t add up with regards to iverson as he has played in turkey and is almost set to play in puerto rico just to play basketball and hopefully earn a spot in a franchise so i doubt that he would turn down any offer to be apart of a franchise in a playing capacity. even iverson knows the d-league is greater than turkey and rico if your plans are once again being in the nba.
his situation is pretty much identical to terrell owens: still serviceable when we last saw him but by far too many bridges burned via ego to get a job at this point. and just like t.o. if a team offered him a job as a janitor, i’m sure he’d be all over it.
J.Michael Woodson - February 12, 2012
Really? I wanted to put a bullet through my monitor two years ago when he would label Eddie Jordan as a victim and would say that Iguodala was hurting Willie Green’s development. I’m actually happy that he stopped writing for the Inquirer. However he is MUCH MORE tolerable that Skip Bayless.
tst29 - February 12, 2012
FREE BILL GREEN!!!!
dweebowitz - February 12, 2012
yea often times his material and points are very out there. in general i think he has a decent overall perception of things but when he hits you with those things sometimes that make you say “okay… this guy is just talking”
J.Michael Woodson - February 12, 2012
I understand AI's
refusal to do that. I mean, I know his skills aren’t what they used to be, but it is the D-league…as in D for development. What is he going to develop at this point?
DeuceisLoose926 - February 12, 2012
Come on, AI is not overrating his “abilities.” He’s certainly better than Derek Fisher and Steve Blake, and they don’t have to go to the D-League. The Lakers’ offer was a slap in the face and I would’ve turned it down if I were him too.
splinter27 - February 12, 2012
Yea, I thought a 34 year old Iverson was a decent PG a few years ago when he signed with the Sixers. Maybe not a starter but definitely a decent guy to have off the bench.
tst29 - February 12, 2012
he gave you 14 points and 4 assists on 11 shots in 30 minutes while he was allegedly beer-swilling and causing casino ruckus. some of these 24 year old point guards in the league cant even do that while living a healthy lifestyle. if iverson is so washed up, it says alot about them! give the man a job.
J.Michael Woodson - February 12, 2012
i bet he has a huge chip on his shoulder
I would love for the Sixers to take him back. As a reserve
webadinc - February 12, 2012
Those who do not learn from history’s mistakes are bound to repeat them. I’ll never forget going to AI’s first game back with the Sixers. It was like a dream come true. But in the end, it was all just a dream. I believe AI honestly meant to reform and recommit himself to basketball. But the spring was no longer in his step. An AI without quickness is like a dog without teeth. No matter how hard he may have wanted it, he no longer had the physical ability to play at a level that he was willing to accept. Now he’s even older. It saddens me to say it. His time has passed. Maybe tomorrow I’ll dig it XBOX and NBA Live 2001. After all, AI deserves a 40 point performance once in a while.
Blunt Philly Guy - February 12, 2012 via iPhone app
he doesn’t need to score 40. he was efficient even in his last “stint” outdoing what MOST reserve guards do in the league, at 10 years their senior.
J.Michael Woodson - February 12, 2012
This is absolutely not an opinion that will be tolerated.
Michael Levin - February 13, 2012
No way
He might be a good fit as a reserve on another team that lacks guards, i.e LA, NY, etc. If he came back to the Sixers, he wouldn’t be better than Jrue, Turner, Iguodala, Meeks, or Lou. Eventually you’d have to take away playing time for one of those players to get AI on the court.
tst29 - February 13, 2012
Oh Jeremy Lin, enjoy your hot streak now because once Melo comes back the offense will go down the crapper. Unless Melo somehow finally realizes that he is where offensive flow goes to die.
EREX21 - February 13, 2012
His usage rate right now is almost as much as Melo’s one Knick fan I know said that Melo won’t have the ball in his hands as much when he gets back because of Lin I laughed hysterically.
KJ Brophy - February 13, 2012
But isn’t a high usage rate common for a PG? Or am I totally wrong there?
EREX21 - February 13, 2012
Not sure.
Rondo, Williams, and Paul have a usage rate at around 24%. Lin’s usage rate in the past 5 games has been around 32%
tst29 - February 13, 2012
Well if I understand Usage Rate enough, and I may not, I would expect Lin’s rate to go down once he has guys to actually distribute the ball to.
EREX21 - February 13, 2012
True.
The question is whether or not he can be as effective. I don’t know how its going to work out, but I hope it fails miserably when Melo comes back. Failure to the point that Knicks fans start bitching about Melo.
tst29 - February 13, 2012
I agree. I hope it does as well. I think he can work perfectly fine with STAT. Nash-STAT was deadly. I actually know a few fans who would rather have Lin over Melo. Which I find hilarious.
EREX21 - February 13, 2012
Don’t blame them. NYK has two talented bigs and Melo doesn’t run the PnR. Melo takes too many jumpers and too many shots off isos. Chandler and Amare are more effective with Lin than Melo. The Knicks could be a championship team if they simulated the Celtics.
tst29 - February 13, 2012
Oh I don’t blame them per say. What I find hilarious is that they were all about Melo when he was traded there. So was I for that matter but for completely different reasons.
EREX21 - February 13, 2012
Almost every player from NYK gets hyped up- Landry Feilds, Iman Shumpert, etc. I remember when people thought that McGrady came back to his old form when he score 20 points in his Knicks debut.
tst29 - February 13, 2012
Imagine the hype machine if Boss were a Knick.
tk76 - February 13, 2012
Fingers crossed :)
Michael Levin - February 13, 2012
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