NBA legend Allen Iverson reflected on the final stages of his professional career, acknowledging that his unwillingness to accept a bench role contributed to his departure from the league.
The former Philadelphia 76ers superstar explained that he struggled with the idea of becoming a reserve after spending most of his career as a starting player and one of his team’s primary offensive options.
Iverson admitted that he believed he was still better than the shooting guards on other NBA rosters and made those feelings known rather than simply accepting an opportunity to contribute in a smaller role.
Iverson: “I know that you’re not going to have a two guard on your squad better than me… I was thinking like that. I was letting that be known, opposed to, ‘Okay, just bring me in.’”
Former NBA guard Lou Williams suggested that Iverson could have taken a different approach by accepting a bench role and allowing his performances to demonstrate that he deserved more playing time.
Lou: “You’ll see I can. Yeah. You’ll see.”
Looking back, Iverson acknowledged that publicly expressing his resistance to coming off the bench may have seriously damaged his chances of continuing his NBA career.
Iverson: “And I think I committed professional suicide by that, by letting it be known that I had a problem with coming off the bench. And that was my ego. That was my pride. My whole life, I’ve never did that. Wasn’t my thing.”
