BtsjvGDCcAAyBT5 There are certain players, while they’re playing, that just have “coaching future” written all over them. Jason Kidd (when he’s not beating his wife), Derek Fisher, Larry Bird, Brian Scalabrine, Rasheed Wallace, etc. Okay, maybe not all of those dudes, but one guy you would never see put on a list like that while he was playing was Allen Iverson. AI had a reputation, earned or not (totally earned), of being nearly uncoachable. So when I heard that he was traveling the Philippines next month to coach a traveling squad of streetballers, I thought “that’s a little sad, but it makes sense.” What doesn’t make sense is this, from the Philippines Star:

“The 11-time All Star and former MVP is being groomed to become an assistant coach in the Philadelphia 76ers, the team that made him the no. 1 overall choice in the 1996 Rookie Draft. His Manila visit will test his coaching acumen as he will handle fthe Ball UP team composed of popular street ballers The Professor, Mr. Afrika, Air Up There, Bone Collector, G. Smith and AO against a soon-to-be-named selection which will likely be composed of players from the UAAP, NCAA and PBA legends.”

Not only does making Iverson an assistant coach not really make sense — some kind of team ambassador, a more visible role where he doesn’t have to pretend to make basketball decisions is probably better — neither does testing out his coaching skills by how he handles aging street ballers. “Hey, go dunk,” is about all the coaching they need. And while AI is a legend who has a special place in the hearts of fans and the rafters at the Wells Fargo Center, it doesn’t make much sense to put him in a suit on the sidelines. So just gonna go ahead and not trust this Philippines Star report.