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Iverson makes debut, but seems upset in role with new team

The Sports Network

Veteran guard Allen Iverson made his season debut Monday night for his new team, but in a loss as the Memphis Grizzlies fell to the Sacramento Kings, 127-116, in overtime.

Iverson came off the bench and scored 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting. He sat out the opening three games with a slightly torn left hamstring.

But after the contest, Iverson seemed upset at the questioning of the media that he's a possible reserve player in the league.

"I am not a reserve basketball player. I've never been a reserve all my life and I'm not going to start looking at myself as a reserve," he said. "That's something for the media to talk about. It's only a big issue when the media talks about it. The subject never came up in my career until everything happened in Detroit last year. No one talked about me being a sub or anything like that until last year. In all of the other years of my career it never came up. I've been a starter on All-Star teams, Olympic teams and NBA Finals teams. It's just a big deal now."

Iverson signed with Memphis in September. He started last season with Denver, but was traded to Detroit on November 3 after just three contests and played 54 games with the Pistons. His season was curtailed by a back problem and he averaged 17.5 points, 5.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds in a combined 57 games, including 53 starts.

The former Georgetown star spent his first 10 full seasons with Philadelphia, leading the 76ers to the NBA Finals in the spring of 2001. A 10-time All- Star, he was the league MVP for the 2000-01 season.

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