This is what Allen Iverson looked like as a rookie, coming into the NBA.  Most of the tattoos had not yet been inked, his haircut was fairly conservative and the NBA couldn't have been happier with their newest star.  In the subsequent years, Iverson played out a career that produced stats and accolades that virtually assure him a spot in the Basketball Hall of Fame, in spite of his numerous and continuous off-court issues.  The NBA's official stance on Iverson's transgressions was that of disapproval, although the "street cred" Iverson accumulated padded everyone's pocketbooks.

Iverson's NBA basketball career now appears to be at an end, as well as his marriage.  According to www.basketball-reference.com, Iverson earned more than $150 million in salary during his career and at least another $50 millon, just off shoe deals.  The real reason Iverson's wife filed for divorce is anyone's guess, but a gambling and an alcohol problem on Iverson's part have been widely-reported.  Many former NBA players watch their marriages fall apart shortly after their careers end for a variety of reasons.  In many instances, the wives of these former players quickly grow bored or tired of life outside the NBA and a husband who can no longer sustain the level of excitement or income they enjoyed in the NBA.  In other instances, the personal demons that were kept at bay by hefty paychecks now fully-manifest themselves and take their toll.

If the gambling and alcohol problems are true, the latter could be the case for Iverson.  Regardless, the NBA's stance is the same- We're glad you made us all a lot of money while you were here, but we could care less about you now. 

I had an interesting conversation with an NBA executive during Iverson's rookie season.  The executive indicated that the NBA would make sure everything is held together while Iverson is playing, but his post-career outlook did not look good.  At that time, the executive indicated Iverson's entourage included a group of people connected to inmates Iverson befriended while serving a prison sentence stemming from a brawl in a bowling alley.  The executive said the inmates and their friends had latched onto Iverson and were not likely to let go for any reason.

The executive said he thought the only hope Iverson had was to wake up quietly one morning, gather up his wife and children and leave everything else behind- the house, the cars and any trail that might lead these people back to him.  With a profile as high as Iverson's, it was unlikely he'd be able to disappear and his fate seemed destined before his NBA career even began- Make lots of money, spend lots and end up in trouble.

What does the NBA do to prevent this type of scenario from unfolding?  Not too much.  They do have player programs that are run in conjunction with the Player's Association, but these programs essentially tell everyone how to find the water of a successful life, but they cannot force anyone to drink it.  Maybe it's time they did.

Every NBA collective bargaining session I've ever been involved with or watced from a distance has essentially been the same.  The billionaire NBA owners, who are some of the most successful businessmen in the world, come to the players and ask them to protect the owners from themselves.  The owners' logic was that if players didn't agree to artificial limits on how much players could earn and how long they could sign a contract for, the owners themselves weren't smart enough to compensate them in a fashion which would allow for a league that was financially viable.  In other words, the owners are drug addicts and the players are drug dealers.  If the players didn't agree to limit the owners' access and financial obligation, they'd likely spend their way into obliviion.

In spite of all that Iverson has earned, he seems likely to be headed for bankruptcy- a familiar path for many former athletes.  I think something can and should be done to help mitigate such situations in the future.  During the next round of collective bargaining, I hope both sides consider implementing measures that will help protect the players from themselves for a change.  I think 25% of all NBA take-home pay should be placed into an annuity.  Whatever money is accumulated during a player's career should then be distributed to them upon retirement at a rate of 5% per year, until they are eligible for their NBA pension. 

That would mean a guy like Allen Iverson would set aside about $18.7 million (after taxes and agent fees) during the course of his career, which would then yield annual payments of approximately $937,500 over the rest of his life, until his NBA pension kicks in.  Even a player whose career netted $5 million in gross earnings could see annual annuity payments of about $30,000 per year.  Not exactly a lavish lifestyle, but certainly a nice safety cushion and more than some of those players have now.  Heck, there may even be some tax benefits for deferred compensation. 

There are a lot of NBA players who are smart with their money and while this type of forced savings might seem like a punishment to them, I think it is necessary for the sake of all NBA players.  My agent once told me a story about one of his other clients, Cedric "Cornbread" Maxwell.  My agent never let his clients negotiate for deferred compensation, because money in hand could be re-invested.  However, Maxwell convinced my agent that he would just waste the money and that he was better off receiving it over time.  Unfortunately, not every NBA player is so honest with himself.

When the NBA first introduced a 401(k) savings plan as a result of our negotiations during the 1999 lockout, after one year, more than 80% of all NBA players still had their 401(k) funds sitting in a money market account, earning almost no interest.  Representatives from the union even met with each team and encouraged players to at least review their investment options, but few made changes.  A change needs to be made now and for once, the owners should help protect the players from themselves, instead of the other way around.

Kinda looks like Luke Harangody, doesn't he?  Notre Dame's 6'9 freshman Jack Cooley has been getting that alot lately.  As I was watching Tory Jackson rip the heart out of UConn's NCAA dreams last night, I heard ESPN's Reece Davis share an interesting story about the trouble people have distinguishing between Cooley and his older teammate.  Cooley had spoken to Davis on the subject and admitted children often come up and ask him for autographs, thinking he is Harangody.  Cooley told Reece he corrects the children, but recently had an incident involving the DePaul men's basketball team that was slightly different.

Cooley was traveling during the Christmas break and ran into the DePaul men's basketball team at the airport.  Based on the schedules of the two schools, I'd have to assume this probably took place on December 27th, as DePaul was heading to play at Pittsburgh the next day, while Cooley was returning from a trip with his family and wasn't scheduled to play again until a December 30th home game against Providence.

Anyway, Cooley was probably wearing Notre Dame gear and he told Davis the DePaul players mistook him for Harangody as well.  Cooley admitted he felt awkward and did not correct the Blue Demons.  Nevermind the fact that the DePaul players couldn't tell the difference between a guy who has been lighting them up for four years and a freshman who has yet to play a minute against them.  We'll just chalk that up to most big, white guys looking alike. 

What really struck me about this story, is that DePaul was flying commerical!  How do they expect to be competitive in the Big East conference, if they're making their student-athletes slog through the airport and fly around on cramped, little puddle jumpers?  How serious can they really be about fielding a nationally-competitive basketball team and keeping the top talent in the Chicagoland area?  Even Rick Majerus at mid-major St. Louis University is having it out with his administration over this very issue.  This shouldn't even be on the radar of BCS-conference school.  I may be off-base here.  Cooley could come from a wealthy family, who flew him somewhere on the family's private jet over Christmas break and he happened to bump into the DePaul team at Signature Flight Support's private jet terminal, but I doubt it. 

So you love basketball and want to make a career as a coach?  What exactly does it take to make it to the elite level of the college game?  Meet Shabaka Lands.  Lands is currently listed as a "Program Assistant" for the Louisville men's basketball team, although when he was initially hired, his first titled position was that of "Special Assistant to the Coach."  The 2009-10 season marks Lands' first in the collegiate ranks, but what previous basketball accomplishments allowed him to get his foot in the door at one of the top programs in the country?  Well, prior to his stint in Louisville, Lands did have some basketball experience, but his coaching resume was so thin, Louisville included his record for the 7th grade girls team he coached back in 2000-01, in his bio on the Louisville website.  Honestly, you can't make this stuff up.  Perhaps I should update my LinkedIn profile, following the successful season I enjoyed as the coach of the 6th grade St. Rita's boys team? 

So has Rick Pitino delved into the middle-school girls leagues in search of the next hot coaching prospect?  Not exactly.  Lands' current duties for the Cardinals include, "assisting in opponent scouting through extensive film breakdowns, game preparation and *dingdingdingdingding* assisting in on-campus recruiting efforts."  That last part is kind of important, because after dominating the middle school girls coaching ranks, Lands was promoted to various freshman and JV coaching positions at Pike High School, where he just happened to forge a relationship with a player ESPN now ranks as the top point guard in the 2011 class, Marquis Teague, who coincidentally, is also considering pursuing a degree at Louisville.

How close is Lands to the Teague family?  In a recent interview, Teague's father was quoted as saying, "He's not in the family, but we consider him family."  Of course everyone close to the situation- the Louisville staff, Teague's family and Lands all insist the hiring was made on it's own merit and will have no influence on where Marquis ultimately decides to attend college.  While the second part might be true (Just ask Baylor, who hired John Wall's AAU coach, only to watch Wall end up at Kentucky), it's hard for anyone to believe the tens of thousands of other assistant high school varsity basketball coaches across the country are also on the same career path as Lands.

While some have suggested the Lands hire was a sleazy move on Rick Pitino's part, it's by no means illegal.  Besides, we all know Pitino is not a cheater.  In fact, this type of thing has been going on for a long time, although one could argue the basketball pedigrees of other "package deal" hires, including Danny Manning & Alan Houston's fathers were more impressive than Lands'.  Lands was also hired just prior to an NCAA rule change, which now prohibits schools from, "hiring people associated with prospects for non-coaching positions during a period two years before and two years after the prospect's enrollment at the institution."

I like the gesture on the NCAA's part, but all that really does is push the slimy side of college basketball further into the early-high school years and force these third wheels to attach themselves to potential recruits at an even earlier age.  The college game is probably the most entertaining, captivating and competitive form of basketball being played anywhere today.  The college coaching ranks are filled with talented, brilliant minds and a lot of really good people.  It's just a shame none of them have figured out how to keep the corruption and cheating out of it. 

He doesn't know it yet, but Bob Huggins has just joined the movement for the Homer 256.  In a recent American Chronicle article, Huggins talks about reducing the number of Division 1 basketball schools (a basic tenet of the Homer 256) and inviting them all to the tournament.  Huggins claims by reducing the number of Division 1 basketball schools and perhaps creating a 1-A level, like football has, schools at the top level would need to demonstrate a certain level of commitment to major college basketball in terms of facilities, attendance and other factors that now separate the "haves" from the "have nots" of the college basketball world (he's talking about you, DePaul).

I don't know that you'll find any coach in the country who is opposed to expanding the tournament.  After all, even guys like Roy Williams have down years and it's nice to be able to pad your resume with another appearance in the big dance.  Now it's just a matter of getting them all on board with the 256.  It will happen.

Is it me or do American Ice Dancers Meryl Davis & Charlie White remind everyone of Christopher Atkins in Blue Lagoon and the alien chick from Avatar?  You be the judge-

Someone sent me this picture of Nick Van Exel (and myself) last week, so I figured now would be a good time to post it.  According to BasketballReference.com, the combined NBA income for all three of us was about $191 million, although Vin Baker & Nick Van Exel accounted for about $163 million of that amount.  Vin has fallen on some tough times in recent years, although Nick has kept a fairly-low profile.

I recently spoke with Stephen Howard, who played against me at DePaul and with me in Seattle.  Stephen now does some color analyst work for ESPN and recently covered a game involving Texas Southern.  Stephen informed me that Nick Van Exel is now an assistant coach at Texas Southern and Vin Baker is a graduate assistant.  I did a little googling and also found a story on the Cincinnati website about Van Exel coaching at Texas Southern.  Apparently, both guys are working on finishing up their degrees at Texas Southern and I applaud them for their efforts.  I tried to find an online media guide to get more information, but most SWAC schools don't budget for that kind of thing.