Allen Iverson shows off his new Grizzlies jersey with coach Lionel Hollins, left, and general manager Chris Wallace. (Lance Murphey/Associated Press)Allen Iverson is officially a member of the Memphis Grizzlies.
General manager Chris Wallace announced the signing of the veteran guard at a news conference Thursday, a day after Iverson said on his Twitter account that he was joining the moribund NBA team.
Iverson, 34, signed a one-year contract, reportedly heavy on incentives, with a $3.5 million US base salary. That's a far cry from the $21 million US he pocketed last season when his scoring average dipped nearly 10 points below his career mark.
"This year for me is so personal," Iverson said.
"It's basically going to be my rookie season again. It hurts, but I turn the TV on, I read the paper, I listen to some of the things people say about me having the season that I had last year and me losing a step, things like that. They're trying to put me in a rocking chair already."
A four-time NBA scoring champion and the league's most valuable player in 2001, Iverson is the highest profile player to agree to suit up for the Grizzlies, who entered the NBA as an expansion team in Vancouver in 1995-96.
Memphis went 24-58 last season — tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves for the fifth-worst record in the NBA — and ranked 29th out of 30th in scoring.
The Grizzlies have reached the playoffs just three times in their 14-year history. They were swept in the first round each time.
Iverson split last season between the Denver Nuggets and Detroit Pistons, averaging 17.5 points, 5.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 36.7 minutes in 57 games.
He has averaged 27.1 points, 6.2 assists, 3.7 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 41.4 minutes in 886 NBA games since he was drafted first overall out of Georgetown by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1996.
"This guy has many years of basketball left in him," Wallace said. "He expressed it to us to get going with the task of helping our team reach a whole other level of success."
With files from The Associated Press
