76ers G ALLEN IVERSON has "severed his ties" with DAVID
FALK, following "months of rumors," according to Stephen
Smith of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. Iverson had his
attorneys "draw up papers to dismiss Falk" on Thursday and
had them sent to FAME on Friday. Iverson: "I fired him
because I felt that with the new collective bargaining
agreement, all I needed was my lawyers. I just felt it was
time for me to move on." Iverson added that aside from his
$40M Reebok deal, "have you seen me with any other
(endorsements)?" Smith writes that people "close to
Iverson" said that they "expect him to sign soon with MAGIC
JOHNSON, who has collaborated" with the WILLIAM MORRIS
AGENCY. Iverson said that he's "getting ready to go with
the best marketing people" and does "want to see what's up
with Magic," but added, "I'll be looking at him and a couple
of other people." Neither Falk, Johnson, Iverson's lawyers
nor William Morris reps were available for comment
(PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 3/23). Per the new CBA, a player
cannot sign with another agent for a period of 15 days after
notifying the original agent, the player's team and the NBPA
(Phil Jasner, PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 3/23).
NO LOVE LOST: In N.Y., PETER VECSEY wrote on Sonics F
VIN BAKER dropping Falk: "There may be something wrong with
[Baker's] thumb, but, as evidenced by his shrewd judgment to
drop David Falk, there's obviously nothing wrong with his
middle finger" (N.Y. POST, 3/23). Falk, on Vecsey: "Peter
Vecsey writes where his financial interests lie. What
people like Peter Vecsey, who I think is an embarrassment to
the word 'journalism,' write is not going to change how I do
my job" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 3/22 issue).
