Allen Iverson and Jeremy Lin are essentially polar opposites when it comes to their reputations away from the basketball court, but the two guards do have a couple things in common.
Not only did they both score over 100 points in their first four NBA starts, but, according to various reports, the fan favorites were apparently been targeted by the Los Angeles Lakers in recent months.
Yes, both Linsanity and the Answer nearly donned a Lakers jersey before a couple of random incidents interrupted the possibility of the two talkin' about practice with Kobe Bryant and friends.
Iverson was nearly a member of the Lakers, according to ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, but he apparently wasn't willing to meet their demands. Not only he have had to practice, according to Smith, he would've had to do it while wearing the jersey of their D-League affiliate L.A. D-Fenders.
Allen Iverson, who sources indicated the Lakers had some interest in as long as he was willing to go to the NBA Developmental League for a few weeks first, is not the answer. He's simply not a point guard.
That would have been interesting -- the Lakers instead have reincarnated Rafer Alston to be the back-up point guard on their D-League team -- but Kevin Ding brings up an equally intriguing story regarding Lin.
Ding, writing for the Orange County Register, indicates that the Lakers have been interested in Lin ever since the 2010 NBA Draft. They could have drafted Lin that year with the 58th overall pick, but they instead chose the newly-departed Derrick Caracter ... and have been unable to right their wrong ever since:
The Lakers put in a waiver claim on Lin after Golden State dropped him on Dec. 9, but the Houston Rockets had a worse record last season and thus were awarded Lin ahead of the Lakers. After the Rockets also waived Lin on Dec. 24, the Lakers were again interested but didn't even bother putting in a claim after realizing other teams with worse records last season were again going after Lin.
It's an interesting case of what might have been for Lin, while the Answer is still out there, waiting for a team to call. In the end, however, the saddest part about this story is probably how the back-up point guards for the Lakers feel right about now.
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