FanHouse AllenIverson

DENVER -- Allen Iverson back in Denver?

Don't completely rule it out. At least that's the word from Nuggets coach George Karl, who said Tuesday the team would consider bringing back the guard if there were to be an injury on his team.

"A.I. for us is an injury discussion,'' Karl said. "I don't think it's a discussion right now for us... But just say somehow (guard) Ty Lawson is out for the season, I think speed and quickness is what Ty gives us. A.I. would be on the list of speed and quickness.'

For now, though, Karl said the Nuggets aren't eyeing Iverson, who played for them from 2006-08, when he had his last two impressive NBA seasons.

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Yahoo!'s Marc Spears caught up with the personal manager of one Allen Iverson, the surefire Hall-of-Fame guard who earlier Monday agreed to part ways with the Grizzlies after three dramatic regular season appearances. The implication of Monday's event implies that Iverson is done in the NBA -- he didn't exactly have many suitors in the offseason, after all, which required a bit role on the bad Grizzlies in the first place.

You should be unsurprised to learn, however, that Iverson doesn't see it that way. A.I.'s manager told Spears that the guard intends to play again in the NBA ... hopefully this season. How's that gonna happen? Take it away, New York Knicks president Donnie Walsh!

After Allen Iverson received permission from the Grizzlies to take a personal leave of absence on Saturday, it was only natural to wonder if that was the last we would see of him in Memphis. Iverson was clearly unhappy coming off the bench, and his coach, Lionel Hollins, was clearly unhappy with the distraction the situation was creating for his team.

Most thought that if Iverson didn't return to the Grizzlies, then he would surely end up somewhere else. But according to a report in The Commercial Appeal, retirement is something that instead may be on the iconic superstar's mind.

Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the lig. Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.

The last time we got together, three different players scored 40 points or more on the same night. Well, maybe it's not as rare of an occurrence as we thought, since we were just a single point away from it happening again on Wednesday.

Chris Paul missed by one with 39, but Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade each delivered, with 41 and 40 respectively.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Four games into the Memphis Grizzlies' season, head coach Lionel Hollins says he's done talking about Allen Iverson.

Well, not done all together. But apparently done talking about what Iverson says. Two days ago, Iverson complained about a lack of playing time after he made his Grizzlies' debut in Sacramento, and it was clear those statements didn't sit well with Hollins.

"I'm not commenting on Allen," Hollins said Wednesday when asked if he was surprised by Iverson's comments. "I'm done commenting on what Allen says. Allen has a right to say whatever he wants to say. ... Most of you are ready to leave now, huh?"

DENVER -- Two guys sat in front of a locker at the Pepsi Center on Sunday night who have combined to win four NBA scoring crowns.

The stars on hand were Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony. OK, it must be said Iverson, a Memphis guard who sat out Sunday's game due to injury and was visiting his old Denver teammate, has four titles to none for Anthony.

But just wait. Anthony might be this season's scoring king.

True, the Nuggets forward has played just three games. But the race isn't close. He's averaging 37.7 points to 31.3 for runner-up Kobe Bryant of the Lakers.

A to Z.

It sounds like the 1952 NBA All-Star Game, which featured Paul Arizin and Max Zaslofsky.

It sounds like the 1971 champion Milwaukee Bucks, who had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Zopf.

It sounds like the history of Lithuanian centers, from Arvydas Sabonis to Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

It also sounds like a good way to take a look at the 2009-10 NBA season:

FanHouse previews a player to watch from each NBA team in advance of the 2009-10 season.

Marc Gasol is svelt. No lie. Gasol spent the summer running up mountains in Spain. I've never run up a mountain anywhere, much less mountains in Spain. You always hear stories about players losing weight coming into camp, but Gasol's slimming is evident. He doesn't look like the same player. The big knock on him last season was that he lacked explosiveness. So Gasol shed 25-30 pounds to improve his speed and agility. It was a wise move by Gasol, who will fight for playing time with Zach Randolph and Hasheem Thabeet. But when you get down to it, if the Grizzlies are going to make significant progress this season, Gasol will have to be a large part of that journey.

FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.

The Grizzlies are not a joke. They are the punchline. That's where they've fallen to. They aren't even the setup for the joke. They're just mentioned as the end point.

A little under two years ago, Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace (and by that, we mean owner Michael Heisley) traded Pau Gasol for cap room and some loose junk. The only valuable component they got out of the deal was Marc Gasol. The move elicited everything from mockery to outrage from pundits and even league personnel. Things have not improved considerably since.