Iverson open to minor playing role

HE IS LIKE an aging has-been prizefighter who doesn't know when to quit.

According to a report, Allen Iverson wants to return to the NBA. To that end, he's willing to play minor league basketball.

ESPN.com, citing a source close to the situation, reported that once-proud All-Star point guard is open to playing in the NBA Development League, the Caribbean - even South America - if it leads to a spot on an NBA team.

"Allen only wants to play if there's a possibility that it leads to the NBA," the source told the website. "That's the only way he would go to one of these lower leagues. He wants to get back to the NBA and leave the game on his terms."

According to the report, Iverson's people contacted several NBA teams, but none showed interest.

Iverson, who played a majority of his 14 seasons with the Sixers, is reportedly strapped for cash. On Monday, a judge in Georgia garnished his bank account to pay over $850,000 he owes a jeweler.

The source said that the Los Angeles Defenders of the D-League have contacted Iverson's representatives as has a team from the Puerto Rican Basketball League and a team in Venezuela.

All three places have T.G.I. Friday's, Iverson's favorite place to dine.

The source added that Iverson has given himself a deadline of Feb. 26 to sign with a club. After that, the source said, Iverson will likely retire for good.

More Linsanity

MSG Network caught some flak for televising a fan's sign showing Jeremy Lin's face above a fortune cookie with the words "The Knicks Good Fortune."

Lin is the NBA's first American-born player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent,

Yesterday, the MSG posted a tweet on its Twitter account saying: "What appeared briefly last night was not an MSG graphic, it was one of many fan signs in the arena."

They declined to say why they showed it in the first place.