The Philippine Online Chronicles

Former NBA MVP Allen Iverson has received a contract offer from the Turkish team Besiktas Cola Turka. If Iverson signs the contract, he will get as much as USD2 million, including bonuses and base pay.

In other NBA news, Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas was penalized by the Wizards’ management by faking a left knee injury before a preseason game. Because of this, he was not able to play against the Atlanta Hawks.

Meanwhile, naturalization prospect Marcus Douthit will not be able to suit up for the Philippine national basketball team in the Asian Games in November. Malacañang was unable to sign the papers which would have allowed Douthit to play for the country.

Turkish team invites Iverson

With no NBA team interested in hiring him, Allen Iverson is closing on a deal that would see him play for the Turkish team Besiktas Cola Turka.

If the negotiations push through, Iverson will be getting as much as USD2 million plus bonuses on a one-year contract.

According to his business manager Gary Moore, Iverson is seriously negotiating the possibility of playing for Besiktas. He also added that Iverson has been deeply impressed with Istanbul so far.

Moore made it clear that the former NBA MVP simply wants to play basketball at this stage in his career.

Besiktas sent the contract to Iverson on Tuesday hoping that he will sign it by the end of the week. With the details still being finalized, there’s a chance that it will be as long as ten days before everything is ironed out.

Right now, Iverson is reluctant to sign because he doesn’t agree with the contract clause that lets Besiktas fine him as much as one percent of his USD1.5 million base salary.

Before receiving an offer from Besiktas, Iverson got other lucrative offers from China. However, he said he was intrigued by the possibility of playing professionally in the highly competitive Turkish league.

Considered one of the most explosive scorers in NBA history, Iverson had turbulent exits from his last three NBA teams. Despite having a career average of 26.7 points per game, the 34-year old shooting guard could not even get any training camp invitations from NBA teams this year.

Besiktas is considered the third best basketball club in Turkey, with a strong following. With Iverson almost certain to play for the team, Besiktas’s management believes that he will be a huge gate draw once the season starts in a week's time.

Iverson is an 11-time NBA All-Star, four-time NBA scoring champion, two-time NBA All-Star MVP.

Back in the 2001 season when he led the Philadelphia 76ers to the NBA Finals, Iverson averaged almost 33 points per game in the playoffs on top of six assists and almost three steals.

Iverson is one of the few players in NBA history who has averaged almost 30 points per game in the playoffs.

Arenas penalized for faking injury

The controversies surrounding Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas continue.

Arenas’s latest brouhaha happened last Tuesday when coach Flip Saunders announced that Arenas won’t be able to play against the Atlanta Hawks because of a sore left knee.

Right after the Wizards’ 107-92 win, Arenas admitted that he pretended to have a bum knee because he wanted his teammate Nick Young to start. He told reporters that he was only giving Young a chance to start for the squad.

Because of his deception, the Wizards’ front office fined Arenas an undisclosed amount. This latest controversy is another blow to Arenas's already tainted image.

Last year, the three-time NBA All-Star and former NBA Most Improved Player was suspended for 50 games by getting involved in a gun-wielding incident with former teammate Javaris Crittenton.

After practice on Wednesday, Arenas offered an apology for his actions when he faced the reporters. However, he blamed the media for nitpicking his every move.

In an interview, Arenas said that he never expected that this incident would be blown out of proportion. Because of what happened, Saunders expressed his sadness and disappointment with the team’s franchise player.

Young on the other hand, said that he didn’t know about what Arenas did. In spite of that, he finished the game by chipping a team-high 24 points.

No Douthit for RP Team in Asiad

With Malacañang unable to approve his naturalization papers before the Senate’s three-week break, Smart Gilas import Marcus Douthit will not be able to don the country’s colors in the Asian Games this November.

According to Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, Malacañang wasn’t able to certify the measure that would finally approve Douthit’s naturalization. Because of that, they were not able to pass it on the third and final reading last Wednesday.

Zubiri is the author of House Bill 2559 that will grant Douthit Philippine citizenship so he can represent the country in international basketball competitions. He stated that Malacañang perhaps didn’t want their first certified bill to be for naturalization, considering that there are other pending bills that the president needs to sign.

In spite of this, Zubiri clarified that the Senate did their best to speed up the naturalization of Douthit.

Zubiri said further that he lobbied the bill to the other members of the House of Representatives by emphasizing Douthit’s importance to the national team.

Douthit will not be the first American requesting to be naturalized to represent the country.

Back in the 1980s, Danding Cojuangco hired legendary American coach Ron Jacobs to mentor and develop the country’s national basketball program.

Jacobs proposed that in order to topple Asian powerhouses such as China, Korea, and Japan, the Philippines needed to naturalize American players.

During Jacob’s stint, the country naturalized Chip Engelland, Jeff Moore, and Dennis Still.

With the help of Engelland, Moore, and Still, the Philippines won first place in the 1985 Asian Basketball Confederation, which is now called the FIBA-Asia Championship. It was the last time that country won the tournament.

Meanwhile, Douthit is the fourth player to be considered for naturalization. Before him, CJ Giles, Jamal Sampson, and Milan Vucicevic were candidates to be naturalized.

The Philippines last competed in the Asian Games in 2002 when it finished fourth. In 2006, the country was suspended by FIBA because of controversies tied with the Basketball Association of the Philippines.

"Gilbert Arenas” by Keith Allison c/o Flickr. Some rights reserved.