With no teams showing interest to sign up Allen Iverson, he has announced his retirement from professional basketball in a 25th November, 2009 dated open retirement letter addresses to his fans. Stephen A. Smith, a commentator published his statement on Iverson’s website on Wednesday that said the he plans to retire but also had a strong feeling that he can still compete with the high rankers.
Things started to turn around in early November, 2009 when the Memphis Grizzlies and Iverson decided to pull apart from each other after playing just 3 games in the season. The affair ended up in a mutual agreement by the two and Iverson was put on waivers. Later on, the New York Knicks were thinking of signing up Iverson, but said they needed time to think about it. On 19th November, 2009, Iverson cleared the waivers and became a free agent as no team came to claim him. The Knicks were still discussing about whether it was a good deal to being in Iverson or not.
Reports had started to go rounds of Iverson close to signing a deal with the Knicks. Close sources even said that an agreement was an almost certainty. Many league sources agreed upon that Iverson might strike a harmony with the Knicks and sign up at the coming weekend. But the dream-to-be ended up soon when the Knicks announced on 20th November that they had decided to pass on Iverson. The team management announced that they were more worried whether the short-term gains would hinder their future plans to build up a strong team. Team president, Donnie Walsh said that the team was not planning for any more additions at the time and added that Iverson’s off-court behavior had nothing to do with the decision. He wished him well for the future and also admired the 2-9 recorder, “I’ve always admired him, I think he’d be a great addition for a team that’s in a different position than we’re in and I hope he gets picked up.”
On Wednesday, 25th November, 2009, Iverson decided to close the door and announced his retirement from professional basketball. His career is donned with personal achievements and also front-page controversies. Having played for 13 long seasons with the NBA, Iverson still believes he can match up to his contenders. The 10-time All-Star player and former MVP (most Valuable Player) thanked his fans for their support in an official letter addressed to them. He also thanked Reebok International Ltd. for supporting him throughout his career, as well as Michael Jordan, Isiah Thomas, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Charles Barkley in whom Iverson always found the inspiration to do more.
He expressed his wish to spend his retirement with his wife and kids and thought about it as the best reward of all accounting to be more than what he could ever achieve on the basketball court. Iverson leaves the court with scoring average of 29.7 points at playoffs being second in line after Jordan.