Ginobili is the best player since John Havlicek to willingly accept a bench role. Havlicek never started for the great Celtics teams of the 1960s and '70s, but his role was the template for the league's Sixth Man Award.

Havlicek is in the Hall of Fame, and if the totality of Ginobili's career, NBA and international, is considered, he will be enshrined someday.

Allen Iverson is headed to the Hall, too, but when it comes to acceptance of roles, he and Ginobili are alpha and omega.

The Answer, on personal leave from Memphis to attend to family problems, has become a series of questions.

* Will he retire out of sheer spite?

* Wasn't he told before he signed that there was a strong likelihood he would be asked to come off the bench?

* Is he trying to force a trade, a la Stephen Jackson?

* Why did he sign with the Grizzlies in the first place, and for a relatively paltry $3.1 million?

Iverson is among the most competitive players ever, and this is the crux of the problem the Grizzlies face. He's been an MVP and led the league in scoring. He feels entitled to a spot in the starting lineup.

Rasheed Wallace, Iverson's former Pistons teammate who is coming off the bench for the Celtics, told the Boston Herald a great player has to first accept the decline in his abilities before accepting a bench role.

When Iverson looks in the mirror, he still sees a player capable of dominating games.

Michael Finley is a former All-Star and a volume shooter who has adapted to a lesser role with the Spurs . He feels A.I.'s pain but wonders about his response to being asked to play behind young Mike Conley.

"A.I. is a future Hall of Fame player and a former MVP," Finley said. "For him to go to a bench role is difficult. That being said, from the outside, looking in, I thought he knew the situations he was getting into. But when that ball goes up, that competitive instinct takes over, especially when your team's not winning."

Rationalizing his pique, Iverson asked anyone questioning his anger to check his r?sum?.

"His r?sum? says he's put in a pretty good NBA career," Finley said. "For him to take less of a role on a team with young guys who haven't even established themselves in the league is a hit to his ego."

Iverson earned his ego, and over his career, he earned maximum NBA money, including $20.8 million last season. His ego went on a bad trip last summer when none of the NBA's title contenders offered a former MVP a free-agent deal.

Then the Grizzlies made their offer, and Iverson said he would go help Memphis win.

Finley didn't buy it, then or now.

"I personally think he made an emotional decision, out of anger, when no teams were trying to pick him up when I think he is still capable of doing some good things for some teams," Finley said. "At the time, that was the best offer, and I think he just took it. Once he got there, he might have realized he didn't make a wise decision."

Here's the real question about The Answer: What were the Grizzlies thinking when they added Iverson and ball monopolizer Zach Randolph to a young roster that already featured volume shooters O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay?

Iverson always has been a box-office draw. Owner Michael Heisley needed an attendance boost but forgot Sports Marketing Rule No. 1 in team sports: Nothing sells like a winner.