Future NBA Hall-of -Fame guard Allen Iverson may call it a career.

Unhappy with his role as a reserve player for the Memphis Grizzlies, Iverson is on a personal leave while he contemplates his next move.

Iverson said he will retire before becoming a bench player. He has averaged more than 26 points per game in his 13-year career.

The NBA’s well-traveled Allen Iverson could soon be landing in Memphis, where he would join his former Philly backcourt mate Eric Snow, with whom he went to the finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. On Monday, the owner of the Grizzlies and the team’s young squad met with veteran All-star guard, and it appears that a deal is very close. The Commercial Appeal newspaper reported that the Grizzlies have offered the 13-year star a one-year contract worth at least $3.5 million. The deal could increase to $4.4 million if Memphis renounces its rights to guard Juan Carlos Navaro of Spain. By the look of last year’s record, the team could use someone with Iverson’s skill set. The team finished with a record of 24-58, last in the division. “I want to help them develop a winner,” Iverson said on Twitter on Sunday night.

Rumor had it that baller was barred. After ending his season with the Detroit Pistons early, Allen Iverson made news again recently after his bodyguard reportedly got into a scrap at a casino. Frequently spotted at the game tables around Detroit, the point guard was said to have caused a dust-up in the weeks since his departure from the Pistons was announced. But both Iverson and casino managers denied rumors that followed, suggesting that Iverson was banned entry from any of the facilities. Iverson is sitting out the rest of the NBA season after claiming a back injury prevents him from performing. But it’s been openly speculated the Iverson chose to sit out rather than play back-up to Pistons starter Richard Hamilton.

 Bo knows banking. Having achieved all-star status in both the NFL and Major League Baseball, Bo Jackson knows a thing or two about money. The retired top athlete and pitchman for the old “Bo Knows…” Nike campaigns is a founding investor in the Chicago-area’s Burr Ridge Bank and Trust. Jackson will sit on the board of directors, as well as interacting with staff at the location that opened this week. “We’re a small community bank, and one thing we all decided is that if we are going to do a bank in our community, it needs to be owned by the people who live in the community,” Jackson told reporters. He retired from football in 1990 and from baseball four years later.

Allen Iverson is out at least two weeks in Detroit with a sore back. But that might not be bad news for anybody but Iverson. Click to see why.

Gem of Free Agent Receivers Nabbed By Seattle
T.J. Houshmandzadeh, perhaps the most desirable free-agent receiver on the market, signed a five-year deal with the receiver-starved Seattle Seahawks Monday. The former Cincinnati Bengals wideout will reportedly earn $40 million, $15 million of which is included as a signing bonus. Houshmandzadeh, 31, seriously raised his stakes in recent years, despite playing for the lowly Bengals. During the 2007 and 2008 seasons, he caught an impressive 204 passes. He will now apply his talents in Seattle, where no receiver had more catches last season than Bobby Engram’s 47. By departing for the West Coast, Houshmandzadeh breaks up one of the most fearsome receiver tandems in the league, he and “Ocho Cinco,” Chad Johnson. Together, in 2005 the duo gave the Bengals their first winning season in 18 years. However, that one-two punch never packed the same wallop again. The challenge now for Houshmandzadeh is to try to do in Seattle, which went 4-12 last year, what he couldn’t do in Cincinnati: turn the squad into winners.

Iverson Trade Isn’t Reaping Benefits for Pistons

The Detroit Pistons, hoping to find a way to generate wins as the season rolls toward playoff time, must be second-guessing its decision to trade guard Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson. Iverson has found it difficult to lead his team to wins – when he starts, the team is 22-28 and 29-29 when he’s out. He has been out for three straight games, nursing a back injury, and it’s not known when he will return. The team is expected to find out how serious the injury is later this week.

New team, old tricks for Allen Iverson. After vowing that he’d changed his ways at a news conference that introduced him as the newest Detroit Piston, Allen Iverson showed an old habit this week. The recently traded point guard missed a practice without being excused by the team. Pistons coach Michael Curry confirms that A.I. won’t start for Detroit in tonight’s game. He’ll be replaced in the starting line-up by Rodney Stuckey. Iverson also faces an undisclosed fine.

Stephon Marbury criticized after recent loss. The 14-point loss New York suffered this week after playing with just seven men has forward Quentin Richardson lashing out. The player blames guard Stephon Marbury, whose listing as inactive has kept him on the bench this season, but who sat out the game for a second time Wednesday after having a chance to play. Marbury earlier disputed reports that he’d been offered 30 minutes of playing time last week, saying he was told the decision wasn’t his. “He hasn’t played with us all year,” says Richardson. “Regardless of what you have going on with the organization or what you have going on with your coach or whatever, you’re not going to allow your teammates to be left out there the way we were basically being left out there.” Richardson says he doesn’t “look at Marbury as a teammate anyway.” Injuries and trade maneuvering have left the Knicks roster short in recent days.

Francisco Rodriguez to consider offers in Las Vegas. Record-setting pitcher Francisco Rodriguez will start testing the team market in Las Vegas at winter meetings on Dec. 8, says his agent. K-Rod, who had a best-ever save total of 62 games for the Los Angeles Angels, wants a five-year contract of about $15 million a season. The New York Mets, who K-Rod’s agent says he plans to address, are among candidates to become the pitcher’s new team.