Allen Iverson had one of those games for the Nuggets last night against the Lakers, scoring a season-high 51. Unfortunately for Denver, only 2 of those 51 came in the fourth, the same quarter in which Kobe Bryant scored 12 for L.A., leading his team to a 111-107 win.
Iverson sort of threw his teammates under the bus after the game, saying:
When somebody's got 49 points they want to make sure I get the ball out of my hands, and that's what they did. My responsibility is to give it up and my teammates had to make plays.
The implication being that his teammates didn't make plays, and that's why they lost.
This is why, to me, Allen Iverson is a crap teammate. I know all the stuff about how he leaves it all on the court - that's indisputable - but there have been myriad other ways over the years in which Iverson has demonstrated his selfishness. His whole "We're talking about practice" rant was one of those ways. And last night's performance - 2 points and 2 turnovers in the fourth? And it was your teammates' fault you lost Allen? Cause they took the ball out of your hands and the other guys didn't step up?
The guy who did step up was Kobe Bryant, who for once was not the most selfish jerk on the court. Bryant has his Lakers out-performing expectations: They're 11-8 on the season, this after the team was supposed to go in the tank because of Kobe's trade demands. I think the Lakers will make the playoffs. I think Denver will make it too, only because they have too much talent to be denied. I don't think either team will be around for the second round though. It's still San Antonio, Dallas, Phoenix and Utah in the West - put them in any order you want.
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Tags: allen iverson, denver nuggets, kobe bryant, los angeles lakers
