Wordz for Jewelz: Why Iverson Must Start

Our very own Terence Moore already offered up the best reason Allen Iverson should start the All-Star Game: The people voted him in, and he wants to do it. But over at TrueHoop, esteemed author Sherman Alexie feels otherwise. He harnessed the power of verse to argue that Iverson should man up and refuse to accept an honor he hasn't earned.

Here is my response, in the contemporary poetic vernacular we call hip-hop battle rhyme. If you want to hear a voice in your head, try Saafir's "Battle Drill."

Hey everybody come and see my home
Twenty feet high with the Wipers on
I could spend all day just bragging and gloating
But Amy Adams called and she wants to go boating
Anyway that's not what I'm here to do
You walked in, but it's because you knew
That Iverson doesn't need to resign his post
He got voted in, that's what counts most

Hold up, wait, I thought of something special
About the Hall of Famer, known extra-terrestrial
Michael Jeffrey Jordan back in 2003
That's the mental zone where we need to be
Try and relax your body in case you done forgot
Because between now and then there's been a grip of thought
Retain this part because it's cold like Gervin
Jordan got to start though he wasn't deserving
Hold up, wait, he wasn't voted in
Carter had to bow out with a toothless grin

Here's what I'm asking, why did this transpire?
Could it be a debt owed to Irving Fryar?
If memory serves, and who knows if it will
It was Jordan's big night and Vince hadst to chill
Vince took a while but he finally caved
Or he took his time cause of MJ's rage
When Vince hit the league half-man, half-amazing
Jordan made it clear that he wouldn't be raving
That despite Carolina, despite Dean, despite turkey and dressing
Michael Jordan didn't want to give the kid no blessings
So wait, here we were, only three years later
Everyone's saying that Carter's the hater
They share UNC, Vince owes Mike his game
He owes it to the big guy to honor his name.

I'm getting way too rich to liken AI to Jordan
The greatest ever and a little thug who liked scoring
But the real question here has to do with clout
How you carry yourself, and what you're all about
Love it or hate it, Allen Iverson mattered
Made the game badder, flashier and yes blacker
Whether or not you like it, it happened, it did
Now it's AI's last go-round, time to honor the kid
The fans have spoken, but to those still heated
Mostly writers, bloggers, and those feeling cheated
Why don't you ask the player how they feel?
If they're okay with Iverson getting his token
If they think he's a little giant who broke the game wide open
They know how great he was, title or not
And the league won't recognize him so this is all he's got

Or better yet, grab the phone, holler at guard three
I mean the guy being kept from starting by evil number three
Farms of the sky, it's Carter getting the shaft
Injured lots, and far from perfect at that.
You'd think if he was willing to step aside
To a guy who never liked him because it was required
And who went head-to-head with Iverson memorably
He isn't broken up over this indignity
If you want to get crazy and disqualify Vince
Because he gets voted in foul like Arabian Prince
Then you get to scroll down to the guard sitting at four
That would be Ray Allen, I know you heard him before
Jump on your donkeys, call Paul Revere
This tatted-up gunner is taking Ray from the rear!

Next it's arch-fiend Arenas, in case you care.
And then Joe Johnson, who probably should be there.
But in a mess like this, with all AI's done
If you want to get him you probably hide from the sun.
AI wasn't Jordan but if you don't want him honored
You probably never watched the league since Carroll O'Connor