B1

The Associated Press

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Allen Iverson experiment with the Memphis Grizzlies is over.

Enlarge Photo

AP

Memphis Grizzlies' Allen Iverson is shown bringing the ball upcourt against the Los Angeles Lakers during NBA action in Los Angeles. The Grizzlies announced Monday it has ended its one-year contract with the 10-time All-Star and former league MVP in what it called a mutual agreement. Iverson played just three games with the Grizzlies before taking a ‘leave of absence.’

Memphis announced Monday that the team has ended its one-year contract with the 10-time all-star and former league MVP in what it called a mutual agreement. Iverson began an indefinite leave of absence on Nov. 7 to deal with a personal issue after playing only three games with the Grizzlies, all in California.

"Because of personal matters that forced him to leave the team on November 7, Allen will step away from the game at this time, allowing him to focus on those matters," general manager Chris Wallace said in a statement. "As a result, we will be ending our contractual agreement with Allen, which will allow both parties to move forward. We wish Allen the best."

The Grizzlies will waive Iverson but the team had not done that as of Monday night. Iverson's agent, Leon Rose, did not immediately return a message left by The Associated Press on his cellphone. Iverson, who announced he was headed to Memphis on his Twitter account, hasn't posted any updates there since Nov. 2 when he played his first game with the Grizzlies.

Memphis owner Michael Heisley told the AP last week he would be happy to trade Iverson to another team if a better deal came along.

Few NBA teams had shown interest in the 34-year-old guard before Memphis signed him to a one-year, incentive-laden contract on Sept. 10. Memphis fans greeted the biggest star ever to play for the Grizzlies with a big crowd for his introductory news conference and eagerly bought up his No. 3 jersey, though he wound up never playing a game on the team's home court.

Iverson didn't help himself much during his short stint with his fourth NBA team. He missed the pre-season with a partially torn left hamstring and didn't debut with the Grizzlies until Nov. 2 at Sacramento.

Immediately, Iverson began talking about his distaste for coming off the bench and being on a rebuilding team filled with youth from Rudy Gay and O.J. Mayo to recent draft picks Hasheem Thabeet and DeMarre Carroll.

The four-time NBA scoring champ became the 16th player in league history to score 24,000 points in his career in his second game against Golden State. He played against the Lakers in Los Angeles, where he also met with Heisley before being given permission to take an indefinite leave.

But the Grizzlies got tired of waiting for Iverson to decide what to do next.

They signed point guard Jamaal Tinsley on Saturday for some much-needed help with the Grizzlies struggling at 2-8 this season.

In news out of Orlando, Fla, Stephen Jackson walked into the locker room, took one look at his newly stitched Charlotte Bobcats uniform and smiled. It wasn't a Golden State jersey, so he was happy, for now.

The Warriors found a home for the disgruntled swingman Monday, sending him to the Bobcats in a four-player deal that pairs him with coach Larry Brown. The Bobcats traded shooting guard Raja Bell and forward Vladimir Radmanovic to the Warriors for Jackson and guard Acie Law.

"I wanted to be out pretty bad," Jackson said. "Things were going bad. I was getting blamed for everything. I wasn't seeing eye to eye with the team.''

The deal gave Jackson his wish: a ticket out of town after his difficult relationship with Warriors coach Don Nelson, who had acknowledged since the season began he was looking to deal.