I am pretty hard on David Stern, mainly because I think he has a Napoleon Complex and sometimes he is more worried about petty stuff like the Dress Code than real problems like crooked refs.

So I was surprised when I heard that Stern had reached out to Allen Iverson.  Iverson for a long time represented the perceived “hip hop gangster” image that Stern is so vehemently against, but with Iverson having all types of issues Stern reached out to him:

“David was genuinely concerned for Allen,” Moore said. “He asked about his daughter and his wife. He said that if Allen needed him he knows how to get him.”

Moore said Stern also asked about a recent Philadelphia Inquirer report that said Iverson was battling alcohol and gambling problems.

Stern confirmed the conversation through an NBA spokesman but refused to comment. No future meeting or discussion between Stern and Iverson was set up.

Iverson’s old college coach John Thompson has also reached out with Iverson.

I think Iverson’s career is over and it is such a sad way to see such a brilliant player career end, but most importantly now is that Iverson’s make sure he is ok with his personal affairs.

We have seen so many athletes’ crash and burn after their careers were over I don’t want in five years to see an Outside the Lines profile on him like I saw on Antoine Walker.

That truly would be sad.