The Memphis Grizzlies and guard Allen Iverson recently came to an understanding that things simply weren’t going to work out. Iverson was waived, and became a free agent.

There have been rumblings that the Knicks were strongly considering adding the former All-Star and league MVP, but apparently it isn’t going to happen.

Howard Beck of the New York Times reports:

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.

Iverson is obviously seen by most teams as more trouble than he’s worth right now, but it still made sense for the Knicks to consider adding him. Although he’s best as a scorer, Iverson could have been used as a starting point guard, since Chris Duhon and rookie Toney Douglas are best suited as reserves. The Knicks currently aren’t winning very often. And they don’t really have a lot of top-level youth that would be affected by Iverson being there.

But, Iverson reportedly won’t be heading to New York.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Two of the best Detroit Pistons players are shooting guards Ben Gordon and Richard Hamilton. Both are too small to play small forward, and neither one is a true point guard. While they can play together for stretches, it isn’t an ideal, permanent solution.

So far this season, an injury has caused Hamilton to miss all but one game, leaving plenty of two-spot minutes for Gordon. But Rip returns soon. Will there be a rotation issue?

Ian Thompson of Sports Illustrated writes:

Both Gordon and Hamilton have insisted there will be no friction when Hamilton returns from a badly sprained ankle. Gordon will be willing to come off the bench, which was something his predecessor, Allen Iverson, wasn’t willing to do for Detroit last year.

“It’s about winning,” said Gordon, who was a sixth man in half of his games with Chicago over his five years there. “At the end of the day I know Rip is a winner, and you’re not able to say that about a lot of other guys. I don’t think he sees me as a threat; I think he sees me as someone to help win games.”

At the same time, Gordon’s job, as he sees it, is to continue to push Hamilton for the starting position. “It’s always positive to have some competition out there, and have somebody [who], if you’re not performing well, they can come in and challenge you. Even though we have an understanding that we want to win, we’re also going to challenge each other and that’s going to make both of us better.”

Both players have good attitudes and care about winning, so there’s likely no big problem looming.

Have Pistons opinions? Share them on the InsideHoops Detroit Pistons forum.

Eddie Sefko, special to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, reports:

The Mavericks survived a scary situation Sunday evening that had nothing to do with a 95-90 win over the Detroit Pistons.

When Erick Dampier left the pregame warmups because he wasn’t feeling right, nobody was quite sure what was happening. Minutes later, with emergency medical personnel working on Dampier, he was whisked by ambulance from the Palace of Auburn Hills to a Pontiac, Mich., hospital.

By the end of the game, the Mavericks received news that Dampier’s symptoms had subsided. No team personnel divulged what those symptoms were, but an NBA official said that doctors had ruled out any serious health issues, including H1N1 (swine flu).

Dampier apparently was lightheaded when he left the arena, but was feeling much better at the hospital, giving the Mavericks a huge sigh of relief.

Glad to hear that Erick is OK.

The Detroit Pistons announced today that Tayshaun Prince will be out of the line-up indefinitely due to a small rupture of a disc in his lower back.  The injury was confirmed following an MRI exam and evaluation by team doctors conducted this week.

Prince will continue to receive treatment for the injury and further updates on his status will be provided when appropriate.

The 6-foot-9 forward has appeared in three games this season averaging 12.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 38.7 minutes per game.

Tuesday night in Detroit, the Pistons hosted the Orlando Magic and behind 20+ point games from three players managed to come away with a home victory. Magic star Dwight Howard played just under 17 minutes, yet fouled out with six fouls and finished with just 8 points, 5 rebounds, no assists (3 turnovers) and 3 blocks.

Today, on his own website (DwightHoward.com), Dwight wrote:

Yo, what up, world??? Not sure how many of you guys saw the game last night in Detroit, but let me tell you that was one to forget. We lost for the first time all season, the first time since the Finals, I guess. But it was how we lost that frustrated me the most.

I was on the floor for 16 minutes and fouled out!!! Let me say that again: 17 minutes and six fouls!!! How can that be, ya’ll? It was crazy. They called me for a charge on a flop, a push off when the defender was on me and two fouls on blocked shots.

Man, 16 minutes is a lifetime low for me I think. I haven’t played that little in a game since I was 10 years old in pee-wee ball. It was crazy from the start of the game all the way to when I fouled out with about 4 minutes to play.

What really bothers me is they are letting guys hammer me at one end of the floor, yet I’m being called for everything. All of those hits take a toll on my body after a while.

The Magic were 3-0 to start the season. The loss was their first in 2009-10. Wednesday night they head to Phoenix to battle the 4-0 Suns.

All fans of 1980’s NBA basketball will forever love what Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, plus Isiah Thomas and other stars from the decade brought to the world of hoops. But rumors in those days didn’t quite spread the way they do now in the age of InsideHoops.com and the internet.

Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas are old friends, right? Not so fast.

Ian Thompson of Sports Illustrated reports:

When he heard the criticisms from his former friend Magic Johnson in a soon-to-be-released book, Isiah Thomas said he’d had enough. And so he began to fight back.

“I’m really hurt, and I really feel taken advantage of for all these years,” said Thomas, the Hall of Fame point guard and former NBA coach and executive, most recently with the Knicks. “I’m totally blindsided by this. Every time that I’ve seen Magic, he has been friendly with me. Whenever he came to a Knick game, he was standing in the tunnel [to the locker room] with me. He and [Knicks assistant coach] Herb [Williams] and I, we would go out to dinner in New York. I didn’t know he felt this way.”

Get ready. This gets heated. More from SI:

 Much of their story involves Thomas, who as captain of the Detroit Pistons served as a primary threat to the championship ambitions of Bird’s Celtics and Magic’s Lakers. The book offers revelations that have stunned Thomas. Magic addresses years of rumors by finally accusing Thomas of questioning his sexuality after Johnson was diagnosed with HIV in 1991. Magic also admits that he joined with Michael Jordan and other players in blackballing Thomas from the 1992 Olympic Dream Team, saying, “Isiah killed his own chances when it came to the Olympics. Nobody on that team wanted to play with him. … Michael didn’t want to play with him. Scottie [Pippen] wanted no part of him. Bird wasn’t pushing for him. Karl Malone didn’t want him. Who was saying, ‘We need this guy?’ Nobody.”

“I’m glad that he’s finally had the nerve and the courage to stand up and say it was him, as opposed to letting Michael Jordan take the blame for it all these years,” Thomas responded during one of several interviews he gave to SI.com on Wednesday. “I wish he would have had the courage to say this stuff to me face to face, as opposed to writing it in some damn book to sell and he can make money off it.”

And more from SI, on the topic of Magic’s HIV:

“Isiah kept questioning people about it,” Magic says. “I couldn’t believe that. The one guy I thought I could count on had all these doubts. It was like he kicked me in the stomach.”

Thomas vehemently denied that he had gossiped behind Magic’s back, pointing out that he knew better than to engage in such hurtful talk.

“What most people don’t know is, before Magic had HIV, my brother had HIV,” Thomas said. “My brother died of HIV, AIDS, drug abuse. So I knew way more about the disease, because I was living with it in my house.”

“I felt awful for him; I felt awful for everybody,” Thomas said to SI.com. “But I knew enough at that time that he didn’t have to retire. The ‘blood’ thing we do in the NBA — where we stop the game because of blood on somebody’s shirt and all that ceremonious stuff — we’re not stopping HIV/AIDS that way. We still do it out of some insane fear that came about when Karl Malone and everybody was saying they weren’t playing if Magic was playing.”

And what does Larry Bird say in the book? SI:

“Let’s be real. I’m not going to say the things Magic said in private about Larry, but I do know the public stance he’s taken [in becoming Bird’s friend],” Thomas said. I know that’s not how he felt about Larry Bird. Magic hated Larry, and he tried to make other people hate Larry. Magic was no friend of Larry Bird’s during that time. And his Laker teammates will tell you that. And I’m sure they’ve got to be disgusted with the way he’s carried on with this whole me-and-Larry bull.”

I’ll be checking this book out for sure.

Detroit Pistons forward Austin Daye and Milwaukee Bucks guard Carlos Delfino have each been suspended one game without pay for their roles in an altercation that took place during Wednesday night’s preseason game, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

Daye has been suspended for striking Delfino in the face, and Delfino has been suspended for retaliating by swinging at Daye. The incident occurred with 34.1 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of Detroit’s 113-104 win over Milwaukee at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Daye and Delfino will serve their suspensions commencing with the first game of the 2009-10 NBA regular season in which they eligible and physically able to play.

Detroit Pistons forward Jonas Jerebko and Miami Heat center Jamaal Magloire have been suspended without pay for their roles in an altercation that took place during Monday night’s preseason game, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

Magloire has been suspended two games for instigating the altercation and striking Jerebko in the face, and Jerebko has been suspended one game for retaliating and striking Magloire in the face. The incident occurred with 5:04 remaining in the fourth quarter of Detroit’s 87-83 win over Miami at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Jerebko and Magloire will serve their suspensions commencing with the first game of the 2009-10 NBA regular season in which they are eligible and physically able to play.

Good NBA seats are expensive. Fans shelling out big money to sit near the court should expect a good view of the action.

But what about when players get off the bench and remain standing for a while? On the one hand, it’s nice to see guys cheer their teammates. On the other, these giants prevent fans from seeing what they paid to see.

The Cavs are one team with players who remained standing a lot, and now the league office has reportedly taken action.

Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

The NBA has issued a memo to its teams directing players on the bench to remain seated during games. Game officials will be keeping a closer eye and will issue faster warnings and possible technical fouls if not followed. Players are permitted to cheer, but standing during regular-game action and blocking the fans’ views apparently isn’t going to be allowed.

That goes for Tuesday night’s first preseason game at The Q, where the Cavs will host the Charlotte Bobcats in the first of eight practice games before the season opener.

The Cavs weren’t exactly thrilled that their custom has been legislated.

“It is hard to take that out of the game,” LeBron James said. “Part of the game is emotions, your teammates are all you have. That was part of the reason we played great basketball, because we cheered each other.”

I support the league protecting the paying fan’s view.

Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press reports: Pistons coach John Kuester has praised Kwame Brown at nearly every opportunity since he was hired in early July. So it wasn’t a shock when Kuester announced before Monday night’s exhibition opener against the Heat that the veteran entering his ninth season will get first crack at the starting center job. “Kwame has had a great 10 practices,” Kuester said. Kuester’s praise of Brown started even before training camp last week.

InsideHoops.com editor says: I’m not saying the love for Kwame Brown won’t last, but, well, yeah, let’s see if it lasts.  He may be the best option they have for the role.

The AP reports: Austin Daye’s physique has always drawn comparisons to Tayshaun Prince. It only took the Detroit Pistons rookie two quarters to bring Prince’s most famous moment to mind. In the second quarter of Detroit’s 87-83 preseason victory over Miami, Daye ran down Dwyane Wade to block what appeared to be an uncontested layup—a play very similar to Prince’s game-winning block of Indiana’s Reggie Miller in the 2004 playoffs… Dwyane Wade led Miami with 18 points in 26 minutes, but wasn’t happy with Miami’s defense, which allowed the Pistons to shoot 47.6 percent from the floor.

New Detroit Pistons guard Ben Gordon was a big part of the Bulls, on offense at least. Will Chicago miss him? Yes, but John Salmons is more than capable of easing the pain.

John Jackson of the Chicago Sun-Times reports:

The reason no one is sweating the loss of Gordon is the presence of Salmons.

Though he played almost exclusively at small forward since bring acquired from the Sacramento Kings in February last season because of the injury to Deng, Salmons actually has spent most of his career playing shooting guard.

He probably won’t lead the team in scoring like Gordon, but Salmons is more of an all-around player and at 6-6 gives the Bulls more size in the backcourt than they’ve had in years.

”[Salmons] gives you a little more versatility,” coach Vinny Del Negro said. ”We’ll have to wait and see how all that pans out, but you like that length.

Both the Bulls and Pistons will be fun to watch early on in the season as they adjust to summer roster changes.

Discuss the Bulls on the InsideHoops Chicago Bulls forum.

The Memphis Grizzlies today released the following statement from General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace.

“The Memphis Grizzlies have agreed in principle to enter into an agreement with free agent guard Allen Iverson. We anticipate signing him to a contract very soon.”

According to the New York Times the deal is a one-year contract for about $3.5 million.

SEPTEMBER 10 UPDATE: The Memphis Grizzlies signed guard Allen Iverson, one of the most prolific scorers in NBA history, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.

“We are excited to announce the signing of Allen Iverson,” Wallace said. “He is one of the all-time great guards in the history of the NBA.  This is a great day for the Grizzlies organization, our loyal fans and the city of Memphis.”

A four-time NBA scoring champion and a 10-time NBA All-Star (2000-09), Iverson ranks second among active players in career scoring behind the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Shaquille O’Neal and 16th in NBA history with 23,983 career points.

The 2000-01 NBA Most Valuable Player holds career averages of 27.1 points, 6.2 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 2.22 steals in 41.4 minutes in 886 career games (877 starts) over 13 seasons (1996-09) with the Detroit Pistons, Denver Nuggets and Philadelphia 76ers, who originally selected him with the first overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft.

Iverson’s career scoring average ranks fifth all-time behind Hall of Famers Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor and the 2008-09 NBA MVP LeBron James. One of only four players in NBA history to capture the league’s scoring title four times (1998-99, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2004-05), joining Jordan (10), Chamberlain (7) and George Gervin (4), Iverson places fourth all-time in 40-plus point games (79) and sixth all-time in 50-plus point games (11). He scored a career-high 60 points on Feb. 12, 2005 vs. the Orlando Magic as a member of the 76ers.

The 6-0, 165-pound guard’s extensive list of awards and honors include the NBA Rookie of the Year (1997), All-NBA First Team (1999, 2001, 2005), All-NBA Second Team (2000, 2002, 2003), All-NBA Third Team (2006), NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player (2001, 2005) and NBA Rookie Game Most Valuable Player (1997).

Most recently, Iverson split the 2008-09 season with Denver and Detroit, averaging 17.5 points, 5.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds in 36.7 minutes in 57 games (53 starts). The Pistons acquired the 34-year-old from the Nuggets in exchange for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb on Nov. 3, 2008. Iverson will face his former team in the Grizzlies’ 2009-10 regular season opener at FedExForum on Wednesday, Oct. 28.

The former Georgetown standout also ranks fourth all-time in career minutes per game (41.4), 12th in career steals (1,964) and is the only player in NBA history to lead the league in steals per game in three consecutive seasons (2000-03). Iverson also owns 134 career double-doubles (one in every 6.6 career games).

The Hampton, Va. native enjoyed his most successful season in 2000-01, when Iverson led the 76ers to the Eastern Conference Championship and a berth in the NBA Finals for the first time since the 1982-83 season. During his MVP campaign, Iverson averaged a league-leading 31.1 points, 4.6 assists and 3.8 rebounds in 42.0 minutes in 71 games (all starts).

Iverson, who has helped lead his team to the postseason in nine of his 13 seasons, ranks second all-time in NBA playoffs history in points per game (29.7) and 40-plus scoring games (10), while ranking seventh in steals per game (2.07).

The addition of Iverson gives the Grizzlies an NBA-high four players on their roster who averaged at least 17.0 points per game during the 2008-09 season (Rudy Gay, O.J. Mayo, Zach Randolph).

The roster currently stands at 15 players.

The Detroit Free Press reports: Free-agent shooting guard Alex Acker has signed to play this season with the Italian club Armani Jeans Milano — taking the former Piston back to the Euroleague after a second stint in the NBA. The 6-foot-5 26-year-old played sparingly for the Pistons last season, appearing in seven games before being dealt to the Clippers in February. The Pistons, who were basically dumping salary, received future draft picks in return.

Paul Egan of the Detroit News reports: Former University of Michigan and NBA basketball player Robert “Tractor” Traylor has paid only a fraction of the $178,000 he owes the Internal Revenue Service, nearly two years after he was sentenced in federal court for a felony tax conviction. Now, Traylor has been summoned to appear before U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn on Sept. 14 after the probation department complained his failure to pay or work out a written payment plan violates the terms of his probation, according to federal court records filed Wednesday. Traylor also has not filed his 2008 income tax returns, as required, U.S. Probation Officer Shawn McElroy wrote in a report.

InsideHoops.com editor says: Well, that all sounds fantastic!

The Detroit Free Press reports: Kwame Brown’s mother has died. Joyce Brown, 61, was pronounced dead Monday at Southeast Georgia Health System’s Brunswick hospital, the Florida Times-Union reported. “The preliminary investigation indicates she died of natural causes,” Glynn County (Ga.) coroner Jimmy Durden said. “There is no indication of foul play.”

InsideHoops.com editor says: The article goes on to say that she had some health problems and that there’s no indication of foul play. Anyway, all the best to Kwame and his family. I’m sorry for his loss.

Euroleague.net reports: Armani Jeans Milano has kept adding to its firepower with the signing this weekend of swingman Alex Acker, a former top-ten scorer in the Euroleague. Acker (195, 26) has spent two years in the Euroleague and finished the first, with Olympiacos in 2006-07, as the Euroleague’s ninth-best scorer, with an average of 14.3 points in 33 minutes per game. Acker was ranked that season’s 12th overall player according to performance index rating while leading the Reds to within a victory of the Final Four.

Talk world hoops in the InsideHoops international basketball forum.

Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars announced today that the club has signed free agent center Ben Wallace.  Per team policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.

“We are pleased to announce Ben Wallace’s return to the Pistons organization,” said Dumars.  “Ben played an integral part in the success of the franchise from 2001-2006 and we feel there is a role for him on our team this season.  His size and experience will provide depth in the front court while his work ethic and commitment to winning will help our club throughout the year.”

Wallace, 34, has NBA career averages of 6.2 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and 30.9 minutes in 903 games (785 starts) with Washington, Orlando, Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland.  The 13-year veteran played in Detroit from 2000 to 2006 where he was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year and an NBA All-Star four times.  Wallace was an All-NBA Second Team selection three times (2003, 2004, 2006), All-NBA Third Team selection twice (2002 and 2005) and an NBA All-Defensive First Team selection five times (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006).  The Pistons made the playoffs in five of the six years he was in Detroit, winning Eastern Conference Championships in 2004 and 2005 and the NBA Championship in 2004.  Wallace is the franchise’s all-time leader in regular-season and playoff blocks (1,297 and 215, respectively) and ranks first among all-time playoff leaders in rebounds (1,237).  He holds franchise single-game records for blocks in a game (10 – twice), defensive rebounds in a quarter (10) and blocks in a quarter (6).  During the 2006-07 season, he became just the fifth player in NBA history to record 100 blocks and 100 steals for seven consecutive seasons joining Hakeem Olajuwon (12 times), Julius Erving (seven times), Sam Lacey (seven times) and David Robinson (seven times).  Wallace ranks fifth among active players in career blocks with 1,948 and led the NBA in blocks during the 2001-02 season (3.48 bpg).

Originally acquired by the Pistons along with Chucky Atkins in exchange for Grant Hill as part of a sign-and-trade deal with Orlando (8/3/00), Wallace signed with Chicago as a free agent on July 13, 2006.  He was traded by Chicago to Cleveland as part of a three-team trade on February 21, 2008.

Read NBA fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

The Arlington Heights Daily Herald (Mike McGraw) reports (via blog): Ben Wallace agreed to rejoin the Pistons this week, returning three years after signing the $60 million free-agent deal with the Bulls. This would have been Wallace’s final season with that contract, but he agreed to a buyout with Phoenix. I doubt if Wallace ever wanted to leave Detroit in the first place, but he was encouraged by relatives to take the bigger payday. Once he got here, I think Wallace tried his best, but he was clearly uncomfortable in the spotlight. Then he just couldn’t keep up the pace of being a high-energy, undersized center and his body broke down. Wallace doesn’t figure to spend much time on the court this season. Will his mentoring help turn Charlie Villanueva and Chris Wilcox into all-stars? I doubt the Bulls should be worried.

Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars announced today that the team has hired Brian Hill as an assistant coach.  Per club policy, terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“We are pleased to welcome Brian Hill as an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons,” said Dumars.  “Brian has vast NBA experience as both a head coach and assistant coach and he will help our coaching staff and players in a variety of ways.”

Hill’s coaching career has spanned over 36 years, including head coaching positions with Orlando (twice) and Vancouver and assistant coaching positions with New Orleans, Atlanta, Orlando and New Jersey.  He most recently served as an assistant coach with the Nets for the last two seasons (2007-2009).

The East Orange, New Jersey native spent three and a half seasons with the Orlando Magic during his first head coaching appointment, 1993-96, guiding the club to a 191-104 (.647) record.  He led the team to three playoff appearances, back-to-back Atlantic Division titles, consecutive trips to the Eastern Conference Finals (1994-95 and 1995-96) and the 1995 NBA Finals.  He posted a home record of 122-26 (.824) while with the Magic, including 40 consecutive wins spanning from March 12, 1995, through March 19, 1996.  His record over his first three seasons as a head coach (167-79, .679) ranks third in NBA history behind Pat Riley and Phil Jackson and he ranks as the ninth fastest head coach to reach 100 victories, accomplishing the feat in 149 games.  Hill coached the Eastern Conference All-Stars at the NBA All-Star Game in 1995.

Hill was named as head coach of the Vancouver Grizzlies in 1997-98, becoming the franchise’s third head coach, and compiled a record of 31-123 in two-plus seasons.  After serving on Lawrence Frank’s New Jersey Nets staff in 2004-05, he returned to Orlando for his second head coaching stint.  Hill led the Magic to a 76-88 record during his second tenure with the club, guiding the team to a playoff berth in 2006-07.

Hill’s coaching career includes high school as well as 17 years at the collegiate level.  He was the head coach at Lehigh for eight seasons and held assistant coaching positions at Montclair State, Lehigh and Penn State.  He got his NBA coaching start in 1986, serving as an assistant to Mike Fratello with the Atlanta Hawks.