The Iverson saga continues…the Denver Nuggets are continuing to try to broker a three-team deal that would send Iverson to Denver, forward Nene to Portland, and center Jamaal Magloire (from the Blazers), forward Joe Smith (from the Nuggets), and another player to Philadelphia. The Blazers, according to a source, are doing their due diligence on Nene, and now believe his surgically repaired knee is sound after he missed almost all of last season after suffering a ligament injury. Nene is a base-year compensation player, meaning the Nuggets can only take back 75 percent of his $8 million salary this season in a trade. But by adding Smith and another player to the deal, Denver would free up enough money to bring in Iverson's $17.1 million salary….meanwhile the Toronto Star is speculating that the Raptors are trying to be part of any 3 or 4 team deal, offering up $2 million in cap space, and anyone on the roster not named Bosh, Bargnani, Ford, Calderon, Parker or Jones…

How great is Steve Nash? Well, the Suns currently have 5 players averaging 16 points or more... which brings us to our stat of the night. Only 4 teams in NBA history have had 5 players average 16 points or more for an entire season. It hasn't been done in over 35 years. Here's the four teams:

1969 Baltimore Bullets
1968 New York Knickerbockers
1967 San Francisco Warriors
1957 Boston Celtics

Suns currently over 16 ppg:

Steve Nash: 20.2 PPG
Shawn Marion: 20.2 PPG
Leandro Barbosa: 16.8 PPG
Amare Stoudemire: 16.6 PPG
Raja Bell: 16.0 PPG

Bring on that 3rd MVP…

Andthis is just fascinating…check the money Webber, Marbury and Rose make…unbelievable…and nice cap flexibility on the Raps after this year by the way…

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/basketball/nba/team.salaries/index.html

1) Greg Anthony of ESPN.com thinks Yao is the front runner for MVP:

Biggest man, biggest honors

Coming into the season I never thought the first quarter would be The Year (So Far) of the Big Man. However upon further review, big is in.
Of course any MVP debate is, well, subjective. My argument here in naming these Big Five is based on impact. Boy, has it been big so far.

1. Houston Rockets center Yao Ming (25.5 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 2.0 bpg, 7th overall in Hollinger PER at 26.04, Team record 14-8). He has made the transition from being arguably the most important player in the league -- he's from China, biggest market in the world by anyone's standard -- to the Rockets' best. Yao's still developing which is scary but his impact has developed to the point to warrant MVP contention. His true test for the rest of the season may be getting the Rockets into the playoffs. Not the lock you might think -- this team is 9-32 without T-Mac, and he's out indefinitely. Yikes!

2. Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash (20.2 ppg. 11.7 apg, 3.0 rpg, 12th overall in PER at 24.95, Team record 15-6). All he has done the last two-plus seasons is play the point guard position as well as it can be played. He's won it the last two years, his team is in first place in the division and he's having his best season ever statistically. You do the math.

3. San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan (21.4 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 1.7 bpg, 2nd overall in PER at 27.15, Team record 17-6). Numbers alone don't do justice for the "best power forward to ever play the game" -- my opinion but shared by many. Nobody in the game dominates both ends the way he does. Plus he's clutch, might also be a little motivated after being ousted Dirk and the Mavs last year.

4. Utah Jazz forward Carlos Boozer (22.6 ppg, 12.3 rpg, 0.5 bpg, 5th overall in PER at 26.43, Team record 17-5). He might also be the feel-good story of the year. He doesn't dominate on the defensive end but offers scoring and great knack for always being in the right place at the right time. My question about Booz was, is he really on par with the top power forwards in the game? So far, my answer is a resounding yes. Early on, averaging more points and rebounds than Garnett, Duncan and Brand . . . oh, did I mention the best record in the league?

5. Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard 17.5 ppg, 12.6 rpg, 1.8 bpg, 18th overall in PER at 23.11, Team record 15-10). The Tim Duncan of the East. While not as polished as the Big Fundamental, becoming every bit as impactful. Quietly he has emerged as arguably the best center in the league! With apologies to the Diesel, for my money Yao and the Baby Beast are a toss up. Did I mention the Magic are the best team in the East? He's only going to get better.

Yes, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade would also get serious consideration. Kobe's greatness this year has been in his ability to trust his teammates. Carmelo, arguably the best pure scorer in the game, has matured into a better all-around player. Scary when you think just how good he can be. D-Wade has been as good as it gets. I know Miami's only 9-12, but my God where would it be without his play? Still the team to beat in the East, especially if Antoine Walker decides to show up.

2) Andrew Laurence of SI.com with “Cap” in a great Q & A:

Kareem Speaks - Lakers legend on coaching aspirations, latest cause

Word to the wise: if you ever see Kareem Abdul-Jabbar loping down the street in your neighborhood, approach with caution, as intruding on the Hall of Famer's personal space remains a risky endeavor. It's a lesson I learned firsthand while awaiting the Hall of Famer -- in New York this week to promote prostate cancer awareness -- inside the lobby at NBA HQ in Midtown. When he finally arrived, causing me to spring from my seat to greet him with an arm extended and a toothy grin, there was a good half second there (before I was able to get my name and affiliation out) where he looked down at me as one might a cockroach about to be smashed. For all of his offensive prowess as a player, Kareem, now 59, remains a guarded personality -- but he's working on it, or so he told me on Wednesday afternoon when I had the chance to talk to him about his star pupil, his coaching aspirations and why athletes just don't get together the way they used to.

SI.com: There's a 19-year-old kid on the Lakers -- [Andrew] Bynum I think it is -- who's averaging 7, 5 and 1. People say he takes after you. Seen much of him?

Kareem: I think he's doing well. I think he's learning. Right now, the challenge for him is to figure out what he needs to be doing and try to apply himself -- but I think he's done a very good job.

SI.com: Whose idea was for the two of you to work together?

Kareem: I believe Phil Jackson might've been the one to come up with that idea. Summer of 2005, when they asked Andrew how he wanted to play the game, he mentioned my name and they figured the best person to train him in that respect would be me.

SI.com: How eager a pupil is he?

Kareem: Let me put it like this: he's a serious pupil, but it's not easy taking him through all the steps because even though he's got a great attitude and he's willing to learn, he still wants to do it his way. But that's the nature of the game. But I haven't had any problems with him. He shows me respect. He tries some of the things I show him, and when they work for him he tries to [keep using] them.

SI.com: How different is his demeanor from other posts you've worked with, like Jerome James and Michael Olowokandi?

Kareem: I would say that in terms of him being humble, I think that's [Bynum's] biggest asset because he did not think that he knew everything, which is really a key. I've been in situations where they just didn't want to learn because they were getting paid very well, and if they learned or didn't learn it really didn't matter. It didn't affect their bottom line. Andrew's approach is different, and I think he's going to do a lot better in the long run.

SI.com: What's the back-and-forth like between you two during the season?

Kareem: I'm watching all of his home games. Game's pretty simple. I'm just trying to show him the easiest way to do it in the most efficient manner. And he's starting to get it.

SI.com: Think the job you've done with Bynum -- as well as your budding reputation as a "Post Whisperer" -- will have GMs rethinking the idea of you as a head coach in this league?

Kareem: I don't know; you'd have to ask them. I hope that it would show them that I do have some capabilities as a coach. I don't know what should be made of that, but I believe I do. And I hope that ability is conveyed to the people that count.

SI.com: Is coaching in the NBA still a goal of yours?

Kareem: Yeah, it's still a goal. But because I haven't seen any evidence that I'm going to get a chance, I'm trying to be realistic about it. I always felt that I could do that job and do a good job.

SI.com: You've grinded on the lower circuits and been successful pretty much at every stop. What's been the most satisfying coaching endeavor?

Kareem: Well, let's see. I think coaching Andrew has been very satisfying. Not much is known about it because [it exists mostly behind closed doors]. The press isn't aware of it. When I coached in Oklahoma City we won the championship and that was a satisfying experience, but it didn't mean as much as this does because this is the NBA.

SI.com: Where does your work as a volunteer coach at Alchesay High School on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in Whiteriver, Ariz., rank on the list?

Kareem: When I went to the Indian reservation, it was basically to try and get a message across to the kids that they needed to go to college and that didn't do too well. We had one kid, Kyle Goklish, go to college. He went on a cross-country scholarship. He was already an exceptional athlete. I believe he's gone on and graduated from the University of Arizona. (Chuckles) When Kyle got into the University of Arizona he wanted me to write a letter to the [basketball] coach telling him that Kyle could play.

SI.com: I take it you never got around to a draft ...

Kareem: No, no. I felt that he could go out there and prove it himself if it really mean that much to him.

SI.com: As a child of the '80s and a sportswriter of the '00s, I'm having trouble divorcing your reputation as moody and reticent with the press from your on-screen affability. How much truth is there to those earlier impressions?

Kareem: It was definitely blown out of proportion, but at the time it was happening I didn't do the right things to change it -- so I've got to blame myself for that. But I was not the person that they tried to portray. But I didn't do the simple things I could've done to change it. It falls in my lap. I don't want to say that it was vendetta or anything, but I didn't put everything together in terms of how I was perceived and how it affected people. I didn't learn a lot about that until I was retired for some time.

SI.com: Where did that come from? Was that just part of the competitive aspect of your personality and single-minded in focus?

Kareem: Yeah, I was very single-minded in focus. I figured if I was doing my thing by preparing to the best of my ability to play professional basketball and to make sure that the fans got their money's worth, that Lakers fans would know I was doing my utmost to be the best player that I could be and provide as much leadership [as possible].

SI.com: Came across the following quote in my research of your perspective on your past relationship with the press: "I always saw it like they were trying to pry. I was way too suspicious and I paid a price for it." Why so suspicious? Was there another high-profile athlete whose allegory might've informed your behavior?

Kareem: What happened was while I was in college there was a whole lot of press attention focused on me, and Coach [John] Wooden felt it was best if I didn't speak to the press. And I took that attitude with me into professional life. That wasn't the way to do it. And I didn't realize that until it was too late. When Magic [Johnson] came to the team, it made things a lot easier. We started winning, and it's a lot easier to smile and be accessible when you're winning. Prior to him coming on the team, I was blamed for our defeats and wasn't really given credit for our victories -- so it was pretty tough on me. Getting an opportunity to play on a team that wins all the time takes a lot of that kind of pressure off. But there was still the stereotypical stuff that the press chose to remember, the person that was more difficult to them. My image suffered.

SI.com: So when the NBA enlists your help in the fight against prostate cancer [not only is Kareem trying to urge guys to get screened, but he's helping the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) in its fundraising efforts], you have jumped onboard?

Kareem: I'm glad I have the opportunity to do that now, because I have the time and I figure this is a good way to do some healing. You can't fix it all, but you can do some healing and make new friends. So I'm trying to do that.

SI.com: Tell us about what you're trying to do.

Kareem: The NBA is trying to get onboard with the prostate cancer research problem [the disease killed more than 27,000 men in the U.S. just in 2006] and encourage all NBA fans to get checked. We have a wristband program [with bands bearing the signatures of LeBron James, Jermaine and ShaqO'Neal -- just to name a few -- sell for $3 a pop] that we hope will help raise a lot of money for cancer research.

SI.com: Is there a personal story here why you picked prostate cancer as your cause?

Kareem: In my own family, there's a gene for colon cancer. It affected my grandfather, my father and my uncle. My uncle died of prostate cancer. My grandfather died of an intestinal blockage. My father almost died of [cancer]. So these kinds of conditions that are easily treated if there's early analysis are a good thing to attack because we can seriously impact their effect on our population. Those conditions, when they're analyzed early, medicine can work in many ways to effectively treat them and have it not become a life-threatening situation.

SI.com: It wasn't cancer but cerebral edema that ultimately did Bruce Lee in. How did your relationship with him come about?

Kareem: When I met Bruce I was interested in studying martial arts. One of the editors over at Black Belt magazine recommended him to me.

SI.com: Was he a known commodity at that time?

Kareem: Bruce was a known commodity to people in the martial arts industry because of his work on The Green Hornet, and that's how I knew him. The guy said that Bruce was teaching, he had his own effective style, and that maybe I'd like to work with him. So I went over and met him, and we got into a discussion about what works and what doesn't about the martial art [Jeet Kune Do]. I was won over by the argument and started working out with him, and our friendship lasted until he died.

SI.com: How did that meeting turn into the role as his foil in Game of Death?

Kareem: It took a long time. What happened was Bruce, after he saw that racial attitudes were not going to make it possible for him to get the best opportunities here in America, he went to Hong Kong and did a movie and it was a mega hit. And all of sudden at that point he had power. We always talked about if we ever had the chance to do a movie together we would do it. He got to that point, and we decided to do it.

SI.com: These days, the role -- a pretty pioneering bit of career crossover -- seems quaint given how many of today's athletes boast on-screen experience. But what you and guys like Jim Brown were doing in those days was rare. Had you always hoped to parlay your basketball success into a film career?

Kareem: I had hoped to do that, but it wasn't there for me. It wasn't happening in those days. Jim Brown got to make westerns! (laughs) I'm jealous.

SI.com: And Blaxploitation films before the genre really existed ...

Kareem: Yeah, but that's just how the story goes.

SI.com: Speaking of Jim, what does the date Nov. 10, 1966, the date you, Brown, Bill Russell, Bobby Mitchell and five other prominent athletes came together in Cleveland to support Muhammad Ali's contentious objection to the military draft, mean to you? It's easily one of the most powerful assemblies of athletes -- black athletes, specifically -- in support of one cause ever. Were you hip to the enormity of the moment then?

Kareem: I wasn't aware of the enormity of the moment, but I thought if I had the opportunity to help Muhammad Ali I wanted to help him. I just admired, and I wasn't in the Black Muslims or anything, but what he had to say politically was on the money. I thought he was being persecuted, and I wanted to see him cope with it somehow.

SI.com: Had you hoped that that moment would've begat further activism among athletes 10 years later? Speaking just in terms of the NBA, it seems like a lot of guys have opinions that range beyond their sport -- especially about the war. Etan Thomas and Steve Nash are two that have voiced objections, but their activism hasn't gone much beyond poems or snarky T-shirts. How come don't today's guys band together for causes like yesterday's guys did?

Kareem: I think that the way that everything has been organized to combat the evils of the Civil Rights era really lent itself to getting a mass movement behind Ali, whereas nowadays there's no such mass movement. It's hard to tune into getting any mass movement around these issues. It's just become a scattered situation.

SI.com: Do you think the leather ball is the closest we'll come to athletes coming together to effect change in today's body politic?

Kareem: Well, the way things are going you might be right. There's not much out there that anybody gets excited about. People just do things on their own as individuals. This just might be a time where that's the way things have to be done.

SI.com: Do you think, though, that this could be an instructive moment for today's athlete? Here it is they objected to an idea, banded together as one voice and affected change. Imagine the potential!

Kareem: Well, you know, it's possible but I don't see the building up of any movement in that direction.

SI.com: What are your impressions of the new ball? Much ado about nothing?

Kareem: I think the new ball was no good. No question about it. It was not a success in terms of being useful. I think it was a step down. I've had to work with it every day, and it didn't strike me as an improvement.

SI.com: Last week, we rankled much of the sports world we chose Dwyane Wade to be our Sportsman of the Year. Do you recall people being as up in arms when we chose you as Sportsman in '85?

Kareem: I don't think there was much clamor when I was selected -- was there? (laughs) God only knows! But Dwyane had a great series and was the clear-cut leader for his team, so I don't think you can say he didn't deserve it. He deserved the attention he got as MVP of the NBA Playoffs. I don't have any problems giving him the award.

SI.com: Wade seems like one of a handful of throwback players in the league where playing the pivot seems like an antiquated notion. To that end, where have all the 5s gone? If I told you when you retired in '88 that your species was headed for extinction, what would you have said?

Kareem: I don't think it's headed for extinction, but there are fewer and fewer guys who can play the pivot and aren't learning as early.

SI.com: Is it that they aren't learning it early enough or are getting turned into hybrids that play outside-in instead of vice versa?

Kareem: I think that people are going to try and affect the game in a variety of ways, and some ways are now out of fashion.

SI.com: Speaking of out of fashion, the Knicks are so 10 years ago. You're a native New Yorker. How would you fix 'em?

Kareem: Jeez, I think they're going to have to get rid of a lot of players and start from scratch. It's hard to get the right amount of players together that have some cohesion. That's the real trick, putting some guys on the court together that go out there wanting to win. That doesn't happen to often. And until that starts happening again [in New York], it's going to be tough coaching.

3) Bill Simmons of ESPN.com’s Page 2 on AI:

When my Clippers season tickets arrive every October, I grab the accompanying schedule, head over to our kitchen calendar and write down the following nine teams and their corresponding dates on the schedule: CELTS, CAVS, SUNS, SPURS, MAVS, LAKERS, MIAMI, MINNESOTA, PHILLY. Those are the only must-see Clipper opponents for me. Two of the teams are self-explanatory: Boston (my favorite team) and Cleveland (LeBron, who's worth seeing even if he might coast through the game). The other seven teams feature players who can't be fully appreciated until you see them live: Duncan (the consummate pro), Dirk (one of a kind), KG (criminally intense), Kobe (the best scorer alive), Nash (the perfect offensive point guard), Wade (the closest thing to MJ since MJ) and Iverson (for reasons about to be explained). With those seven players, your ticket guarantees you a professional, first-class performance, no different than reservations at a particularly good restaurant or hotel. They always deliver the goods. Always. Now it looks like one of them might be switching teams: Iverson, the relentless Philly scorer who could be shipped out of town as soon as today. Three Saturdays ago, I watched him finish 12-for-31 in an overtime loss to the Clips, hampered by Quinton Ross' defense and an atrocious group of teammates who couldn't assume any of the scoring burden. You could tell it was only a matter of time. He was going to snap at some point. Know what else? He still played his ass off. Breathtaking to watch as always, Iverson remains the quickest guard on the planet, one of the few who routinely draws "oohs and ahhs" from the Staples Center crowd. Although he's noticeably smaller in person (no taller than 5-foot-11), Iverson attacks the basket in waves, almost like an undersized running back ramming into the line of scrimmage for four or five yards a pop (think Emmitt Smith). He takes implausible angles on his drives -- angles that can't be seen as they're unfolding, even if you've been watching him for 10 years -- and drains an obscene number of layups and floaters in traffic. And he still plays with a "f--- you!" intensity that only KG and Kobe can match (although MJ remains the king of this category). There isn't a more intimidating player in the league. Yup, even after 10 punishing seasons, even on an off-night slumming for a crappy team, Allen Iverson is still worth seeing. And now that he's about to be traded -- about six months too late, by the way -- I've been astonished by the lack of respect for his abilities in so many written and spoken reports. Writers and talking heads keep painting Iverson as a past-his-prime, banged-up head case who can't guard anyone, a significant risk with sizable baggage, someone who's too selfish to coexist with quality players. There's a generational twinge to the anti-Iverson coverage, pushed by media folks in their 40s, 50s and 60s who can't understand his generation and don't seem interested in trying. Most media members would rather mention his infamous aversion to practice (overrated over the years) above describing the incredible thrill of seeing him in person. Well, ask yourself one question: How could a coach-killer who allegedly monopolizes the ball, hates to practice and can't sublimate his game double as one of the most revered, respected players in the league? Why did the ex-players on "NBA Coast To Coast" (Anthony, Legler and Barry) trade Iverson war stories last night like they were trading stories about Keyser Söze? Why are Philly fans overwhelmingly heartbroken that he's leaving town? How can anyone blame Iverson for anything when he's been saddled with an incompetent front office and decidedly mediocre supporting cast for the past decade? Consider the following: Fact: He played with only two All-Stars in Philly (Theo Ratliff in 2001 and the soon-to-be-decrepit Dikembe Mutombo in 2002), as well as a host of overpaid role players (Eric Snow, Aaron McKie, Kyle Korver, Kenny Thomas, Marc Jackson, Brian Skinner, Greg Buckner, Tyrone Hill, George Lynch, Corliss Williamson), overpaid underachievers (Derrick Coleman, Keith Van Horn, Sam Dalembert, Joe Smith), overpaid and washed-up veterans (Todd MacCulloch, Toni Kukoc, Chris Webber, Glenn Robinson, Matt Geiger, Billy Owens), and underachieving lottery picks (Jerry Stackhouse, Tim Thomas, Larry Hughes). Fact: Other than Mutombo, Iverson's four best teammates were Coleman (the signature head case of the 1990s), Stackhouse (a selfish scorer who's been traded three times), Ratliff (a shotblocker with no offensive skills) and Andre Igoudala (a talented athlete who hasn't improved in two years). Fact: Since Larry Brown left in 2003, he's played for four coaches in four years (Randy Ayers, Chris Ford, Jim O'Brien and Mo Cheeks) Fact: Thanks to the C-Webb trade and their botched salary cap, the Sixers can't trade for an impact guy unless they keep rolling the dice with somebody else's problem ... a strategy that hasn't worked for them in five years. Can you blame A.I. for wanting out? Hell, no. That's why we're knee-deep into one of the weirdest weeks in recent NBA history -- Philly effectively putting a future Hall of Famer on eBay for a three-day auction, with a trade expected to be consummated any second -- and I'm not sure anyone fully understands the ramifications here. This isn't just any All-Star player. This could be the basketball bargain of the decade. Here's what you get if you trade for Allen Iverson ...

• One of the best 30 players of all-time, a future Hall of Famer, a ferocious competitor and someone who's still in his prime as an offensive player (thanks to multiple rule changes that made it impossible to contain quicker guards who can beat players off the dribble). He's good for 30-35 a night. Pencil it in. • One of the most influential African-American athletes in sports history, a true trendsetter who single-handedly pushed the NBA into the hip-hop era (whether the league was ready or not).

• One of the most fascinating, complex athletes of my lifetime: a legendary partier and devoted family man; a loyal teammate who shoots too much; a featherweight who carries himself like a heavyweight; an intimidating competitor who's always the smallest guy on the court; an ex-con with a shady entourage who also happens to be one of the most intuitive, self-aware, articulate superstars in any sport. If I could pick any current athlete to spend a week with for a magazine feature, I would pick Allen Iverson. This is an absolutely fascinating guy, in every respect.

And if you can't get excited to follow him on your favorite team, seriously, stop following sports right now. You'll get 2-3 memorable seasons from him (maybe more). You'll have a chance to beat anyone on any given night. He's worth the risk as long as your team doesn't mortgage its entire future for him, which would be foolish because of his onerous contract ($40 million owed in the two seasons after this one), the number of miles on his odomoter (significant) and his value dipping from a curious lack of interest from most teams -- which would be more curious if 75-80 percent of those teams weren't poorly run. Still not sold? Remember four points over everything else:

1. Philly isn't dealing Iverson because he's washed up. They're dealing him because Billy King did a preposterously bad job building this team and antagonized his only real asset in the process. Big difference. King even choked last summer when he could have landed Carlos Boozer and Boston's No. 7 pick for Iverson, choosing instead to bring the Answer back for another, inevitably frustrating season (and killing much of his trade value in the process). Not only should Sixers season-ticket holders be outraged, they should figure out a way to sue this team for negligence. Iverson should have retired as a Sixer; it's not happening because King stinks at his job. These are the facts.

2. There's an eerie precedent here: Charles Barkley's situation deteriorated in the same city for the same reasons (he was too much of a handful, he was tired of losing, they had saddled him with too many below-average supporting cast members, their GM sucked just as much). Just like Barkley in '92, he's one of those overlooked veteran stars who finishes every All-Star Game, commands respect from his peers and watched his value artificially decline because he spent too many seasons on too many bad teams. Just like Barkley, Iverson has something significant left in the tank and desperately needs a change of scenery. And just like Barkley, he's about to become the dollar in the proverbial "three quarters for a dollar" trade ... which never works when you're the team getting the three quarters.

3. Trades always rejuvenate great players, especially if they left their old team under bad terms. Just in the past few years, we saw this happen with Shaq in Miami, Nash in Phoenix and Kidd in Jersey. Give an elite player something to prove and he usually ends up proving it. Barkley remains the most famous example because he celebrated the trade by becoming the dominant non-MJ player on the first Dream Team, then ripping through the league in Phoenix, winning an MVP and nearly winning a title. Could this happen with Iverson? Absolutely. He's that good.

4. Just like there will never be another Barkley, there will never, ever, ever, ever, EVER be another Iverson. In fact, here's the short list of players from the post-Russell era who will never be seen again for genetic or physical reasons, all of whom can be identified with one name:

Bird + Magic: For obvious reasons.

Mokeski: Ditto.

Barkley: A 6-foot-4 power forward with a weight problem who somehow doubled as a dominant rebounder and low-post player, as well as the greatest runaway train on fast breaks there ever was. Nobody took a charge from Barkley from 1985 through 1996. It never happened. Nobody ever caused more players to cower for their lives than Barkley on a fast break.

Nimphius: Imagine Jon Bon Jovi's middle part from the "Wanted: Dead or Alive" tour merged with George Clooney's extended mullet from "The Facts of Life."

Gervin: I just can't see anyone else scoring 30-40 a night on bank shots, runners and finger rolls when he's 6-foot-8 and about 110 pounds. He was skinnier than a supermodel. Incredible to watch in person.

McHale: A genetic freak. When will we see another 6-foot-11 forward with his low-post moves, shot-blocking skills and arms that are six inches too long for his body who was able to dominate games while wearing Richard Simmons' shorts? If his feet hadn't betrayed him, he could have played until he was 45. I will always believe this.

Maravich: For reasons that can't be adequately described in a single paragraph. He's in my top five for "Athletes who most desperately need an HBO Sports documentary about them."

Kareem: I just don't see anyone replicating the skyhook in my lifetime. Or his general ninnyness.

Iverson: Other than Bo Jackson, the most incredible athlete I've ever watched in person.

Well, why aren't more people mentioning that last point this week? You really think somebody THIS GIFTED could be washed up in the next two years? He has better balance than everyone else. He's more coordinated than everyone else. He's faster than everyone else. He's feistier than anyone else. He takes a superhuman pounding and keeps getting up. He's an athletic freak. Iverson could have been an unbelievable soccer player. He could have been a world-class boxer and a remarkable defensive center fielder and base stealer. He could have picked his sport in track and field and competed for an Olympic spot. I can't fathom how much ground he could have covered on a tennis court. We already know that he was one of the greatest high school quarterbacks in Virginia history. And I don't care how much partying he's done, how much of a pounding he's taken over the years, how big a posse he has, how difficult he's been at times ... you can't change somebody's genetic makeup. He's not even close to being washed up. More importantly, could you go to war with him? Would you want him out there in the last five minutes of a Game 7? Could he carry a good team and make it great? If one of your guys got slammed into a basket support on a drive, would he be the first guy who ran over to get in the offending player's face? Would the other team's fans be terrified of him every time he had the ball? Would he come through when it mattered? Would you really bet against Allen Iverson? There's another aspect to Iverson's brilliance, something the ESPN guys tried to describe last night: Quite simply, he's the most menacing player in the league. There's just something different about him, a darker edge that the other stars don't have. Once I was sitting midcourt at the Fleet Center when Iverson was whistled for a technical, yelped in disbelief, then followed the referee toward the scorer's table and screamed, "[Bleep] you!" at the top of his lungs. The official whirled around and pulled his whistle toward his mouth for a second technical. And I swear on my daughter's life, the following moment happened: As the official started to blow the whistle, Iverson's eyes widened and he moved angrily toward the official, almost like someone getting written up for a parking ticket who decides it would just be easier to punch out the meter maid. For a split-second, there was real violence in the air. Of course, the rattled official lowered his whistle and never called the second T. By sheer force of personality, Iverson kept himself in the game. Look, I'm not condoning what happened. It was a frightening moment. At the same time, I haven't seen a player bully a referee like that before or since. And that goes back to the "seeing him in person" thing. Iverson plays with a compelling, hostile, bloodthirsty energy that the other players just don't have. He's relentless in every sense of the word. He's a warrior. He's an alpha dog. He's a tornado. He's so fast and coordinated that it genuinely defies description. He's just crazy enough that officials actually cower in his presence. And none of this makes total sense unless you've seen him. Now Philly is holding a freaking tag sale for him, replete with a leverage-killing deadline and a "40% OFF -- EVERYTHING MUST GO!" sign. Since one of the worst GMs of the decade (King) will decide where he goes, it's impossible to predict what will happen. Just know these four things. First, as soon as this trade happens, Iverson will play out of his mind coming out of the gate, followed by a series of stories and features from his new teammates saying things like "I can't believe how good this guy is" and "He's completely transformed this team, we think we have a chance to win every night now," followed by the Sixers fans flipping out and demanding King's departure. I wish there was a way to wager on this scenario in Vegas. I can't believe softer contenders like the Magic, Nets or even the Mavs have underestimated the undeniable force of his personality, the potential of his crunch-time scoring if there were other scoring threats on the court, or even the fury he'll unleash on a new team. He will practically KILL HIMSELF trying to haunt the Sixers over the next three season. Mark my words. Second, in the ironies of ironies, Isiah Thomas kept stockpiling dreadfully expensive contracts and waiting for a superstar tag sale, finally giving up this season and buying out Jalen Rose's deal. Now he probably could have had Iverson and C-Webb for Rose's expiring contract, Channing Frye, Nate Robinson, Marbury and the Bulls' pick. Classic. Even when Isiah isn't involved in a major story, he still comes off terribly. Third, the best situation for Iverson should have been Minnesota, but the Timberwolves' own candidate for "Worst GM of the Decade" screwed up their roster to the point that they don't have enough appealing contracts/assets to make a respectable offer. Imagine Iverson and KG together? What a shame. Plus, King and McHale collaborating on a deal would have been practically historic, like seeing Frankie Muniz trying to post up Haley Joel Osment in a celebrity game. We were cheated here. And fourth, the teams that match up best happen to be the teams I know best: the Celtics and Clippers. For three years, Boston has been stockpiling assets and waiting for someone like Iverson to become available. Now they could probably get him for Sebastian Telfair, Gerald Green (that part would kill me), their 2007 No. 1 and Theo Ratliff's corpse, er, contract (which expires in 2008) and make immediate noise in an awful conference. Remember, in a league where only a few teams have more than one good perimeter defender, the Celtics could exploit matchups every night by playing Iverson and Pierce at the same time. I also believe those guys would refine their games to make room for the other, because that's what stars do when they hit their 30s -- they sacrifice shots for a chance to win, whether you're talking about Shaq in Miami, Aguirre in Detroit, Monroe on the Knicks, Stackhouse on the Mavs, etc.). This could work. On the other hand, they won't compete for a title with Doc Rivers at the helm for the same reasons that "Bobby" won't get an Oscar nomination with Emilio Estevez as director. But the struggling Clippers could compete with Iverson AND have the assets to acquire him (some combination of Corey Maggette, Chris Kaman, Cuttino Mobley, expiring contracts, their own No. 1 pick and/or Minnesota's No. 1 pick, even the rights to the Greek center who looked great in the World Championships last summer). They need him and he needs them. It's the logical destination. For the Celtics, Iverson provides instant credibility, some headlines and maybe even some playoff wins. For the Clippers, Iverson provides a legitimate chance at the 2007 championship. For me, he becomes a bigger part of my life -- a chance to follow a once-a-year treat on a nightly basis, either on television with my favorite team or in person with the team that plays 20 minutes from my house. Either way, I can't lose. Well, unless he goes somewhere else. And that's when I FedEx a turd sandwich to Billy King. In the meantime, we should be celebrating this moment: A truly great player getting ready to plug himself into the Juvenation Machine. Maybe it doesn't matter where Allen Iverson ends up, just that he's going somewhere at all.