Your destiny has nothing to do with mine.

Iverson has always been a soloist.

He could've been the second-best point guard in the history of the game (after Magic Johnson). But the idea of being a distributor first and scorer second stood in the way of a futile, ridiculous effort to chase Jordan. At 6-foot, 165 pounds, Iverson had as much of a chance of filling Jordan's Jordans as yours truly being the next Ron Jeremy.

Iverson tailored a compromise position — points guard. For much of his career, he played both backcourt positions at the same time, leaving his teammates plenty of opportunity to stand around and watch. In 13 NBA seasons, he's averaged 22 shots, 27 points, six assists and 42 percent shooting from the field. In comparison, Isiah Thomas averaged 16 shots, 19 points, nine assists and connected on 45 percent of his shots. In 11 seasons, Thomas played in 111 playoff games and won two titles. Iverson has played in 71 postseason games and advanced to the conference and NBA Finals just once. (It's also worth mentioning that in two college seasons, Thomas won an NCAA title, and in the same amount of time, Iverson never made the Final Four.)

In 2001, after the Sixers embarrassed him with threats of an offseason trade and with Larry Brown brow-beating Iverson nightly, he put together a remarkable, MVP season and carried Philadelphia to the NBA Finals.

That season was the one glimpse at what Iverson should've been. He won a career-high 56 regular-season games with Aaron McKie, Eric Snow, Tyrone Hill and 34-year-old Dikembe Mutombo providing support. Focused and motivated, Iverson reluctantly listened to Brown and pretended to be a winner.

Of course, it didn't last long. Iverson's narcissistic play and demeanor prevented him from developing a Tonto, a Pippen, a McHale, a Worthy, a Dumars. Iverson has never been accused accurately of making the players around him better.

Iverson didn't bring out the best or worst in Carmelo Anthony in Denver. The two stars simply co-existed. Chauncey Billups, the other half of the Iverson-to-Detroit trade, has Anthony and the Nuggets sitting at No. 2 in the West and a sexy pick to win it all.

Iverson, a free agent this offseason, will return to the league next year. I'd imagine he'll try to cherry-pick a title by attempting to join LeBron James. It won't be a replay of Kevin Garnett teaming with Paul Pierce.

It'll be Titanic II with Allen Iceberg.

You can e-mail Jason Whitlock at ballstate0@aol.com