Is Iverson the answer for Pacers?

August 7, 2009
Back to TopCommentsE-mailPrint
iversonHow desperate are the Indiana Pacers to sell tickets? Allen Iverson might be The Answer. The 34-year-old guard is available and some NBA insiders say the Pacers could use his scoring punch alongside Danny Granger.

Iverson’s agent, Leon Rose, has indicated Iverson could be signed to a one-year deal worth $5 million to $6 million. Even in this economy, that’s not exactly break-the-bank money. If Iverson could boost attendance by an average of about 2,500 per game, revenue from those ticket sales alone would pay his salary.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, Miami Heat and Houston Rockets are reportedly among teams that are interested.

True, the Pacers in July signed guard Earl Watson to a one-year deal for about $3 million to fill the back court need. Pacers’ chief of basketball operations Larry Bird said at the time that while Iverson was available, Watson is best for the team’s needs.

What this team needs most is to sell tickets, and Iverson—controversies or no—does that. Iverson also might be enough to push the Pacers into the seventh or eighth playoff spot in the East, and no one is hungrier to win that Bird, who was unavailable to comment today.

In the last three weeks, speculation has intensified that Iverson could don the blue and gold. But Pacers executives are keenly aware how important image is to Indiana fans, so they won’t take lightly the habits of a man who once had a press conference tirade when asked about his practice habits.

To follow The Score on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ibjthescore.
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Da HooeyAugust 7, 2009 12:27 PM
    haha. this will go over well....:lol:
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment
  • thundermuttAugust 7, 2009 12:33 PM
    Has he shot anyone, or has anyone taken shots at him lately? Does he go clubbing with a posse? Does he own a carwash in Philly?

    And most importantly...would Larry Brown come back to coach him?

    :)
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment
  • Fishers galAugust 7, 2009 12:56 PM
    I would rather see us in the draft lottery than have this guy on our team. We have finally rid ourselves of everyone associated with The Brawl and all the thug behavior that has come since. WHY in the WORLD would ANYONE think that signing Iverson is a good idea? That would just be undoing everything that management has been trying to do these past years. I won't buy tickets to games if he is on the team. Iverson? UGH!!!
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment
  • 3 PacAugust 7, 2009 1:04 PM
    @ thundermutt: no, no, no, no. Iverson, for his tatts and his thuggish image, is not a troublemaker. He keeps his nose (and other parts) pretty clean. I'd love to have him on the team.
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment
  • Pac10August 7, 2009 1:12 PM
    Iverson is available for good reason - teams have moved on, his time has come and gone. He doesn't make sense for the Pacers at any price. I am confident he would not sell tix, and in fact, such a move could actually work the other direction - keeping fans from attending to watch such nonsense on the floor. They're just groping to try and make some quick, big cash before calling it a career, let's hope the Pacers are not stupid enough to fall for such tomfoolery. My bigger concern is not with the Pacers, but the NBA as a whole. I think they have simply let salaries and problems escalate out of control to a point of no return. The product stinks and the costs are prohibitive. I went to my last NBA game two years ago, and have no intention of going again any time too soon. My time and money is too important to me than to waste it on such nonsense. It's a shame - I LOVE basketball. The NBA just doesn't cut it anymore.
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment
  • AndrewAugust 7, 2009 1:57 PM
    Easy response... NO WAY!!
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment
  • indydAugust 7, 2009 2:04 PM
    If you don't have an article with facts.... make stuff up. Pretty typical from the Score. The IBJ is a terrific fishwrap, but the Score is difficult to take serious.
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment
  • berwickguyAugust 7, 2009 2:35 PM
    indyd,

    He didn't make it up. It is dicussion among the basketball insiders in this town, no matter whether it is serious or not. It is and has been talked about. Don't go around trying to dismantle someone in the know just because you aren't.

    As for me - Iverson??? Whatt???? Pracice, you wanta talk to me about practice, practice??? Sorry, but I agree, not on my dime.....
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment
  • JoeAugust 7, 2009 3:13 PM
    NO!
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment
  • Larry DeGarisAugust 7, 2009 3:16 PM
    Are we talking about practice?
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment
  • indymanAugust 7, 2009 3:30 PM
    No.
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment
  • RBAugust 7, 2009 3:37 PM
    I'd love to have AI on the Pacers. He plays with passion and is tough as nails (even at his age). He isn't a thug... just looks like one by society's standards.

    This might make you think differently of AI.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYmObmEY6cY
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment
  • Big DaddyAugust 8, 2009 6:19 PM
    He is black with tats and corn rows so we know the lilly white Pacers are not going to sign him. Fisher Gal is the typical fan who the front office is trying to please.
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment
  • Fishers galAugust 10, 2009 3:14 PM
    Big Daddy, one of the reasons I am a sports fan is that I have a 9-year-old son who is totally into football, basketball and racing. We prefer to root for our home teams, but we also need role models for him to look up to. It was very hard for us to explain to our then much-younger son what happened with the brawl, what happened with Tinsley's off-court antics, and some of the other things that have gone on. Now that the Pacers have finally started cleaning up their image, I would hate for them to do something silly like signing someone with Iverson's attitude. I don't think he represents a positive image for kids. I don't care what color the player is (though I really hate AI's tatoos - that's just me), but I don't think he would be a positive addition to the team. I would be less likely to buy tickets if someone like that was playing on our team.

    Don't judge what I am until you know why I comment as I do.
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment

Post a comment to this blog

COMMENTS POLICY
We reserve the right to remove any post that we feel is obscene, profane, vulgar, racist, sexually explicit, abusive, or hateful.
 
You are legally responsible for what you post and your anonymity is not guaranteed.
 
Posts that insult, defame, threaten, harass or abuse other readers or people mentioned in IBJ editorial content are also subject to removal. Please respect the privacy of individuals and refrain from posting personal information.
 
No solicitations, spamming or advertisements are allowed. Readers may post links to other informational websites that are relevant to the topic at hand, but please do not link to objectionable material.
 
We may remove messages that are unrelated to the topic, encourage illegal activity, use all capital letters or are unreadable.
 

Messages that are flagged by readers as objectionable will be reviewed and may or may not be removed. Please do not flag a post simply because you disagree with it.

ADVANCED SEARCH
Sponsored by
ADVERTISEMENT

  1. Doug Henning!

  2. These guy were thugs — they grew up in freaking Haughville! Smh, sigh. If the mayor needs/wants "quality" Black Hoosiers who are NOT corrupt, give me a call — I know plenty. Land bank info here - http://www.kubepharm.com/indylandbank/IndyLandBank.html

  3. Magician and illusionist!

  4. The basic idea of nice apartments with parking and retail is a good one, but this design seems overwhelmingly big/tall for Broad Ripple. The size could be disguised a bit with lots of big trees/landscaping, but the complex is too massive to blend in easily. That section of canal between College and Westfield will also need to be upgraded on both sides. Nice apartments facing onto a nice promenade with shade trees/plantings could bring together the canal towpath/Monon recreation, the outdoor seating at existing restaurants, and this project into something that upgrades the whole area. A plan for the whole stretch makes more sense than facing nice new housing onto what looks like a ditch. Is there a plan? Does the public have input? Who pays? The apartment idea seems to be reasonable, but Whole Foods is not a good idea for appropriate retail. Besides the store being physically too big, there are already Fresh Market at 54xCollege and Whole Foods in Nora for fancy groceries. Good Earth and Kroger are within walking distance of the Shell site. There are at least 7 grocery stores within a safe bike ride. Whole Foods would add nothing but traffic congestion. This design is on the right track, but there needs to be more work done to ensure that it blends in with and enhances the existing community. A project that large will set a tone for that whole part of town. It could be a real asset, but only if done right.

  5. I did not move to Zionsville to live in Carmel. This and the subsequent developments to follow will ensure a vanilla uniformity of strip malls and apartment buildings as we seek to bring our town down to the least common denominator. We were warned before recent elections that pro-development council members would make sure their friends (landowners and developers) would be able to make their millions off of the exploitation of Zionsville. Why in God's name would we sell out the best preserved small town in the State of Indiana?

ADVERTISEMENT