Grizzlies Owner Gives AI Deadline To Decide If He Wants To Return To Team

Are the Memphis Grizzlies ready to end the Allen Iverson experiment? According to Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal, the answer (no pun intended) may finally be “yes.”

Tillery reports that owner Michael Heisley is giving Iverson until the end of the week to decide if he wants to return to the Grizzlies.

"I’ve treated this like Allen told me it was – a personal leave," Heisley said. "But either he’s retiring or coming back to play. I’m not upset with Allen. We’ll be happy to accommodate Allen. If he retires, then he retires. If he wants to come back, we’ll gladly accept him back. But I have personally made it clear that there’s going to have to be a decision made. We’re expecting an answer in a couple of days."

Tillery also reports that Heisley is upset that Iverson hasn’t spoken to him directly since he took his leave from the team. This means that Iverson has now had communication issues with his team’s owner, his team’s coach, his previous team’s coach and his previous team’s players. At a certain point, I’d think Iverson loses the benefit of the doubt here.

Tillery quotes a source saying that it’s doubtful Iverson returns to the team, which would mean that he’d retire. That news, combined with the Grizzlies’ recent signing of Jamaal Tinsley, certainly reinforces the belief that Iverson may have played his last NBA game.