"There are whispers out there that the end game is in place now for Allen Iverson's season in Detroit, possibly leaving the rest of his playing career in jeopardy.

Iverson is currently sidelined with a back injury. He was told to take two weeks off. And the Pistons told him that when he returns, he will be coming off the bench.

This couldn't come at a worse time for Iverson.

He'll be 34 this summer and doesn't have a contract for next season. It doesn't help that both the luxury tax and the salary cap are expected to go down next season, reducing the chances that a team will take a flyer on him.

During his time with the Sixers, it was always assumed that if Iverson only had someone else to take the scoring load off of him he would flourish and lead the team to the championship.

The Sixers never accommodated him, bringing in either flawed players or those past their prime.

Even after the Sixers traded Iverson to Denver in Dec. 2006, so he could play with Carmelo Anthony, it was always assumed that if he was on a team with a true point guard, as well as a second scorer, that he would flourish and lead the team to the championship.

That never worked either.

Iverson has all of that now in Detroit, going to a team that has made the Eastern Conference Finals for the past six seasons. Rodney Stuckey is the point guard. Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Rasheed Wallace are all capable scorers. And they are all capable defenders.

But the Pistons are 8-0 this season in games in which Iverson hasn't played -- the four games at the start of the season before the trade and the last four since his back injury.

They are 23-29 with him.

It was the same with Denver. The Nuggets are 39-21 with Chauncey Billups, acquired in the Iverson trade with Detroit, running the point.

It would be unfair to place all of the blame on Iverson. But certainly a general manager out there is going to look at the evidence and come to that conclusion.

But that doesn't mean no one will take him on.

If Stephon Marbury can get a job with all of his baggage, then certainly Iverson, with not nearly as much baggage, can too."