Iverson says he's lost love of the game SAN ANTONIO - Somewhere, somehow the fun has seeped out of basketball for Allen Iverson. He won't say why, he won't say what he intends to do. He simply says that's the way it is. He also says he doesn't want to play point guard, an issue that might or might not be related. "I know the whole game is not about money, but you are getting a check, you're not out here playing for free, for fun, but lately it hasn't been fun for me," the 76ers star said before catching a flight for San Antonio in preparation for tonight's NBA season opener. Is that any way to feel with the first of 82 games and potentially a playoff run directly in front of you? "For whatever reason...a personal reason, the game hasn't been fun since training camp," he said. "It's basketball in general...it's just not fun right now. I want to get the love [back]. I always said I'd play basketball regardless of whether they paid me or not. If I was broke right now, I'd still be in some park, probably playing ball." Rest assured, Iverson is getting paid, earning $9 million this season in the first leg of a six-year $70.9 million extension. Whatever the problem, he said it does not involve a relationship with coach Larry Brown or problems at home. He says, if he feels the need, he will talk it out with his mother, with his teammates - specifically identifying Aaron McKie - with his girlfriend, with his friends. "It's something I'm just not talking about right now," he said. He said he has never felt this way before. Brown seemed surprised at Iverson's comments, then said, "I haven't seen many guys have fun in training camp." Brown pointed out that, because of injuries, the first two or three weeks of the season will be like an extended camp, although "unfortunately, the records are going to count." Could a few early victories change Iverson's feeling? "It won't come with winning," Iverson said. "When I was a rookie, we were getting our butts kicked and I still had a great time. It won't have anything to do with winning. "It's me, myself...I started feeling a different way." Could it be the pressure of expectations after last season's somewhat surprising 28-22 record, with him winning the scoring championship, making first-team All-League, finishing fourth in the Most Valuable Player balloting, going two rounds of the postseason? "Everybody expects so much, that's the good part," he said. "I want people to expect great things. It's just me...I'm just not having fun doing what I love to do. Once the season starts rolling, once we start playing games, maybe all of that will change... "I'll handle it myself. Believe me, I don't think it'll take a lot to start loving the game, to start having fun playing this game. If I can't find the love, I don't think there's any need for me to play." In tonight's lineup, he will be in the backcourt with Eric Snow, supported by a frontcourt of Billy Owens, George Lynch and Tyrone Hill while Matt Geiger and Theo Ratliff recover from injuries. At barely 6 feet, he will be the shooting guard, with Snow at the point and the 6-9 Owens sometimes initiating the halfcourt sets. Brown hoped to use Iverson 14 to 18 minutes a game at the point to create playing time for Larry Hughes, but the coach hasn't felt comfortable with the experiment. "I haven't been playing [the point] that much," Iverson said. "I'll do anything to make this team successful, but I'd be lying if I said [a point guard] is what I wanted to be. "I moved already for the [betterment] of the team. Maybe I was wrong for feeling that was the only position I had to try to conquer...If [Snow] wasn't doing a good job, maybe I could complain. It's all about basketball, it's all about knowing what needs to be done to win. [Whatever the positions] we understand, 'If I shoot, you get back; if you shoot, I get back.'" He has said he feels like a shooting guard trapped in a point guard's body. Yesterday, he called the feeling "different, unusual, another obstacle." "People say I'm too small," he said. "People said I was too small to play basketball, period. I know I can do this. People said I wouldn't even get to this level. I know I can jump over this obstacle. I can compete with any 'two' guard in the league. Maybe the [opposing] 'two' guard doesn't guard me, maybe their point guard does. I'm playing the position, whether they like it or not. "People tried to make me a 'one' or a 'two,' I say I'm just a creator. I'd rather be on the court, I don't care what position. If they say play the point, do you think I'll say, 'I'll sit this one out'? Nah, I'll get on the court." Hughes decided not to try to overanalyze the situation. "He's been struggling with little injuries," Hughes said. "We haven't talked about it. He might have another reason other than what people think [for the way he's feeling]. I don't know. "Sometimes things aren't going your way and you question it. The last time I said that I was probably in high school. He's human, it's just how he's feeling right now. Once we start playing, everybody will be having fun. I think it's going to turn back to how it was."		Author Phil Jasner   Source Daily News   Return to Articles