Can no NBA team use an Answer?

I have been an Allen Iverson fan for over a decade. If you were born any time between 1975-1995 and you like basketball, there is a good chance that at some point in your life, you fell in love with Allen Iverson. If you're short, quick, and like to dribble the ball a bit too much, Allen Iverson is probably your guru.

But in recent years, it has become increasingly difficult to support the former MVP/former Rookie of the Year/former 11-time All Star/former 4-time scoring champions/former two time All Star MVP, and this is because there are a hell of a lot of 'former' great things that he has done and not much in the present. Still, it is a shocker to see someone go from 26.1 ppg and 7.1 apg guy in his last full season in Denver (2008) to being tossed around to Detroit and Memphis and back to Philadelphia and now being jobless.

Yes, 2008. Iverson was averaging over 26 points a game in a Nuggets team two years ago. He played all 82 regular season games that season, but in 2009, managed only 57. That number dwindled to 28 in 2010. It was a mixture of minor injuries, foolish pride, and personal circumstances that pushed him so far away so soon.

And now, with less than two months remaining before the beginning of the upcoming NBA season (YEAHH!), Iverson isn't being courted by a single NBA team. Not one. So what does he plan to do? Well, if certain "sources" are to be believed, he's going to pull a Stephon Marbury. No, I don't mean eat a jar of vaseline and broadcast his life live on the internet.

I mean China:

Unwanted by the NBA, Allen Iverson is considering playing in China.
Gary Moore, Iverson’s personal manager, said Iverson has not been contacted by any NBA team with training camps set to open in less than two weeks. Moore said there is “legitimate interest” between Iverson and a team in China to work out a deal. Moore did not know the team’s name and was vague on details.
“We’re very astonished, to say the least, that not one team has contacted us with any interest,” Moore said. “I just don’t understand it.”

Moore says a Chinese team first approached the 35-year-old Iverson last month.

Furthermore, The Hoops Market reports that "the 35-year-old guard is in talks with Foshan (the new name of Shaanxi) for the next season, according to sources from the Chinese team."

Wow. So it seems AI is ready to follow Starbury on his Chinese adventure. Sure, he'll be popular as hell there. Chinese ball players have long been Iverson fans - maybe its the (lack of) height, or the quickness, or the flashy game, or the flashy off-court persona, or maybe they think that 40 bars is the greatest song ever. Either way, if he does show up there he'll undoubtedly be a success.

But I hope I'm not jumping ahead of myself here. This is Allen Iverson we're talking about. Allen friggin Iverson. Come on, someone in the NBA needs to pick him up already. Knicks? Raptors? Suns? SOMEONE needs an Answer, right. Right?