Though the Commercial Appeal reported on Monday that Memphis Grizzlies guard Allen Iverson is contemplating retiring from the NBA, the Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley has mentioned that he is not sure of what Iverson’s future plans are; it might not include retirement.

For Iverson to retire from basketball when he can still play for some teams in the league would be an injustice to arguably the toughest smallest man to single-handedly carry a team to an NBA Finals in the history of the league.

“I’m not in Allen’s head. I don’t know what he’s thinking,” Heisley mentioned to AP.

“I know he went back to take care of a personal problem. Whether he does something else, I don’t know. I’m hoping he comes back. I think he could still play for us, somebody else, what have you. In my opinion, there’s two, three years of outstanding play that could come out of Allen Iverson.”

A player of Iverson’s caliber when traded to the Detroit Pistons should have not been treated the way he was. Though he signed a one-year deal with Memphis in September, Iverson has been coming off the bench for a team with a 1-7 record in the NBA.

Understand that a player of Iverson’s status in the NBA is not a bench player; not in Detroit and certainly not in Memphis. He is an athlete who draws the crowd to the arena. Fans do not pay to see a play who rides the bench; they want someone who starts, plays hard and contributes to the team.

Iverson has done that every where he has played from his time in Philadelphia with the 76ers to the Denver Nuggets and his short stint with the Pistons, he has always been a player who cared about winning; bottom line.

In the amount of time Iverson has spent with Memphis, he has averaged 22.3 minutes per game coming off the bench, and his scoring has taken a huge dent as he averages 12.3 point per game this season.

Those numbers [minutes and points] are far from Iverson’s regular numbers in the past. A future hall of famer, Iverson should have been starting for the Grizzlies over Mike Conley Jr. as the back court would have produced a more explosive duo with him and shooting guard O.J. Mayo. But first year head coach Loinel Hollins, who replaced Marc Iavaroni, must know something that everyone else is unaware of regarding Iverson.

Though Iverson was of the impression that he would start in Memphis [and he should], Heisley knows there is a challenge when Iverson returns from sorting out his personal life. Though no timetable has been put on his return, when, not if, Iverson returns what happens to the status of Conley and Mayo at guard?

Mayo has been the team’s leader in scoring so he has his position solidified, Conley on the other hand it seems Heisley would rather have him start as well.

“He is a lock-in to be a Hall of Famer, and that is always difficult for someone who has been at that level to basically maybe to play at less than that level. I’m hoping we can work it out,” Heisley said.

But what does Heisley mean when he says “work it out?” Will Iverson ever commit to lesser minutes? Will he ever consider himself a player worthy of coming off the bench? We already know the answers to these rhetorical questions; so does the Memphis Grizzlies.