| 01 June 2009
As the season draws to a close and the economy continues to toil as the country pays the equivalent of a continuous New York Knicks luxury tax payment, there become more and more rumblings of players who either want to hang it up or let their pride and bravado get in the way by retiring because they don't believe they'll receive a "respectful" contract offer from their next employer. The biggest/most recent of the retirement rumblings happened recently when Ben Wallace dropped the bombshell that he may retire this off-season and possibly give up the last year of his contract. It came as quite a shock to me so I decided to put together a list of the five most important guys considering exchanging their basketball shoes and laces for house slippers.
Here they are in no particular order:
Ben Wallace, Cleveland Cavaliers
Since Ben Wallace's news fired off the synapses in my thought process (that could be the wrong way of stating this process; I was terrible at science), why not start this whole thing off with him? Ben Wallace was one of those self-made millionaires with the help of some ridiculous genes and a ton of perseverance. He worked his way into the starting lineup even though he was never drafted and once he found a place with the Pistons, his legend grew as rapidly as the popularity of his fro. His minutes have always been reliant on his defensive ability and rebounding prowess. But as that's declined (especially since signing with the Bulls), he's proven to be more and more of a liability on all ends of the floor.
Ben seems to be a proud guy who doesn't want to be the pro that stayed in too long. And with his comments to Chris Broussard, it seems like he's come to the realization that his time to leave may be now. When he says that there's a "strong possibility that this was his last season," it's hard to believe that someone like him will come back. But the tricky part is the $14 million that he's owed for next season. If he outright retires without an injury cause, he'll essentially be giving up that money. If he comes to an agreement with the Cavs on a buyout, then he probably receives upwards of 80% of that final year's pay or roughly $11 million. He seems completely content on passing on the money if he has to. We've probably seen the last of the four-time Defensive Player of the Year.
Dikembe Mutombo, Houston Rockets
Okay, we definitely know that Deke is retiring. After injuring his leg on a collision with Greg Oden in the playoffs, he immediately found out he'd need surgery and announced that he'd be retiring. Most people probably didn't even know that he was still in the NBA and those that did expected he'd retire soon enough anyway. But I think the main sorrow/news in all of this with Dikembe is that he didn't get to go out on his own terms. He's either too old or already too headed towards the sunset of his career to endure a surgery plus rehab schedule in order just to come back to the Rockets so he can play 100 minutes per season.
But people need to recognize how great of a person/player Dikembe was throughout his life and career. He's done so much for building hospitals and helping out with medicine and health care in Africa that it completely trumps the fact that he's an eight-time All-Star, four-time Defensive Player of the Year winner, 24th all time in career games played, 17th in career rebounds grabbed, and second in all time shots blocked. But most of all, he needs to be remembered for these two videos:
You'll be missed Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean Jacque Wamutombo. See you at your Hall of Fame induction ceremony in five years.
Sam Cassell
Sam Cassell has been on the verge of retiring for a couple of years now and is officially retired after a season mired in DNP-CDs and the Boston Celtics trading him away in order to make a roster spot for guys like Mikki Moore and Stephon Marbury. Cassell has long been considered not only a guy that makes your team a winner (as a three-time champion) but he also has been lauded as an eventual coach whenever he decides to retire. People will not remember his last days on Sacramento this season and will remember him more for his big threes, turn around fadeaway jumpers from 16-feet, and his big balls dance.
Now that Sam is retired (officially), it seems only perfect that he'll begin his coaching career as an assistant under Flip Saunders in Washington, D.C. this season. Flip was in Minnesota when he brought in Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell to get the Wolves to their first and only Western Conference Finals of the franchise's history. Now, Sam's biggest task will be teaching Gilbert Arenas how to properly find that balance between being a shoot-first point guard and a guy that runs the team and gets everyone else involved. Sam was always Gilbert Arenas in terms of mentality on the court and should be able to provide him with the proper teaching in getting him to be a more complete point guard and winner.
Rasheed Wallace, Detroit Pistons
Rasheed Wallace is always my answer on any variation of the question, "Which professional athlete would you like to hang out with/going drinking with for one night." He's probably the most entertaining and candid personality that the NBA has seen in 20 years. He is the star of every press conference and has sparked the URL names of various websites that are must visits in terms of basketball punditry. Sheed is more known for his tempers, outbursts, quotes, and technical fouls than he is for the accomplishments on the court that he's had throughout his illustrious, yet disappointing NBA career. He's in the top 100 of all-time rebounds, blocks, three-pointers made, and games played. But now he may be finished entertaining us on the court.
A source close to Rasheed Wallace informed SLAM contributor J. Gamble that if he didn't see the same $8 million in his next annual contract that he saw in his last contract he'd retire from the NBA. With the economy in a J.R. Rider-level tailspin and not a lot of money and cap space available around the league, it's not looking good that someone will match the price tag of Wallace. Personally, I always assumed that when his contract with the Pistons expired, he'd find his way to playing alongside Tim Duncan in San Antonio. The Spurs could possibly pull off a sign and trade deal with some of their numerous expiring contracts for the 2010 summer but I think a more likely possibility would be a full, mid-level exception deal to bring in Sheed. For YouTube's sake, and ours I hope he reconsiders his alleged retirement threat.
Allen Iverson, Detroit Pistons
This may be the biggest retirement we could see this post-season and admittedly, it's a bit of a long shot. Allen Iverson stated earlier in the season that he wouldn't want to come off the bench in his career. In fact the direct quote was:
"I'm in a position now that I've never been in my whole life," Iverson said. "It's harder than I thought it would be. With the back injury, I have to sit out at the start, then go in, then sit again. It's tough to really get going. I take my hat off to the guys who can come off the bench and be effective. It's tough for me. I'm struggling with it."
"I'd rather retire before I do this again," Iverson said. "I can't be effective playing this way. I'm not used to it. It's tough for me both mentally and physically. If I'm able to go out there, I should be able to get it done and I can't right now. It's my fault. I have to be able to overcome the adversity and do what I have to do. I just have to find a way to get it done. Not being 100 percent makes it harder and you can see that I'm not 100 percent."
This seems a little extreme but we've always known Allen Iverson to be an extremely driven and proud player. You can say what you want about his passing, practice, or shot selection characteristics but the ultimate fact about A.I. is he's been one of the hardest working and physical players that this game has ever seen. He's been an offensive scoring wizard and a completely impossible package to stop from getting 25+ throughout his career. Now it seems like if he's either coming off the bench or not capable of being the main focal point on an NBA team, he'll retire rather than come down a rank in NBA folklore.
Looking at the landscape of the league, the only franchise that I could see working with his "demands" (for lack of a better term) could be the Charlotte Bobcats. They still don't have a legit, go-to scorer. They have Larry Brown who Iverson now reveres as a father figure in his development. And they have the desperation for selling tickets and bringing in more local interest for their team. Maybe Iverson isn't the smartest decision for moving this team forward but it may be the last hope A.I. fans have of seeing him competing as his usual level of fire and determination. Otherwise, he could hang up the Reeboks this summer and wait for his induction into Springfield.
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