Knicks Decide Not to Pursue Iverson

By HOWARD BECK
Published: November 20, 2009
The Knicks’ pursuit of Allen Iverson is dead.

In an abrupt reversal, Knicks officials decided late Thursday not to offer Iverson a contract, putting an end to their brief flirtation, according to a person close to the deliberations.

Although team officials were highly intrigued by Iverson, a four-time scoring champion, they finally decided that he posed too great a risk because of his long history of problems on and off the court.

Team officials spent three days weighing the potential merits and pitfalls of signing Iverson, and alternately talked themselves into and then out of making the move. On Tuesday the team president, Donnie Walsh, called it unlikely. Two days later he seemed open to it. Coach Mike D’Antoni was one of the first to be sold on the idea.

By Thursday afternoon it appeared that the Knicks were fully committed to taking the gamble, with one person close to the team saying there was a 90 percent chance that Iverson would become a Knick.

But team officials held one more discussion on the matter Thursday evening and decided to drop it, according to the person close to the deliberations. The person did not want to be identified discussing a private team matter.

James L. Dolan, the Madison Square Garden chairman, was opposed to the move from the start, but had indicated to Walsh that he would not stand in the way if Walsh and D’Antoni were firmly in favor of signing Iverson. When it came time to commit, however, Walsh and D’Antoni decided that Iverson posed too great a risk.

The Knicks considered the move because of a 2-9 start. But they showed signs of life in a 110-103 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night. They also just got a healthy and slimmed down Eddy Curry back in the rotation. In the final analysis, the team decided it was better to stay the course, let their young players develop and allow Curry time to regain his footing as they plan for the summer of 2010.

djsunyc wrote:i wonder what scorebot thinks of this...

Scorebot is sort of single minded.

Big ups to DW and MDA for making the smart choice and not being cowed by the angry mob. There will be better times in New York hoops, and the time draws near. It's just not going to be in 2009.

fishmike wrote:next up... Tracy McGrady.

Curry and Mobely for Tmac and the Rockets #1.

yeah, I'd do that too. SOMETHING.

I think that Walsh is playing games with our feelings. You mean on game and the knicks think they have a winner. Well I sure won't be going to any games. All summer long all Walsh did was play like he wanted to sign someone and it always fell through. I know one thing if Walsh plays this same game in 2010 we will come up empty handed. This really sucks putting our hopes up and then knocking us down. I can'r take this much longer.