Iverson, since his hamstring injury in the early part of pre-season training, only returned to the court recently for just three games. Memphis coach Lionel Hollins had made it absolutely clear that Iverson would not get his starting PG spot solely based on his reputation. As a result, Iverson, starting off the bench behind Mike Conley, had already made it evident during his time at the Detroit Pistons that he would “rather retire than start off the bench.”
The ten-day leave is considered as a discussion period between AI and Memphis owner Michael Heisley and they both came to the agreement that Iverson would end up as a free agent upon clearing waivers. 
In a telephonic interview, Heisley stated that he was sorry that things couldn’t have turned out differently. “We had our problems but he also has personal problems. We just couldn’t put it together. The people of Memphis are doing to be disturbed and I’m disturbed, because I was really looking forward to it. But that happens in this business sometimes.”
“We made it clear that he would have to earn time because we’ve moved down the road. He wasn’t angry about that. He was disappointed. I don’t want you to think I’m not deeply disappointed. I am. But in no way am I going to put it on Allen. If he hadn’t been injured during training camp it may have been different, because he would have had a chance to prove that he deserved to play more minutes.”
Heisley is aware of the amount of discontent this move will cause amongst the fans who were waiting for the 2001 MVP and 9-time All-Star performer to show up in Memphis colours. “They were really looking forward to it, and I’m sure I’m going to get a lot of heat for that,” 
Jamaal Tinsley’s signing as another point guard was said to be totally unrelated to Iverson’s position in the team as the team insisted, AI would be taking up a Shooting Guard role instead of Point Guard.
Allen Iverson has over 24,000 points to his name in 13 seasons of basketball. He has led the Philadelphia 76ers to the 2001 NBA Championship Finals and been an almost regular fixture at the All-Star weekend, appearing in 9 teams. Despite his recent dip in performance, Iverson continues to sell more jerseys than most players in the NBA.