The official word is he's being shut down for the rest of the season and the playoffs because it's the "best course of action at this time," according to a press release issued by the Pistons.

Truth is, it's the only course of action if Detroit wants to salvage what's left of its season.

Iverson never fit in, plain and simple.

He tried to play "Pistons Basketball" early on, making a point of trying to get the ball to his teammates as often as possible, even if that meant passing up shots that, as he often said, he could "make with my eyes closed."

But there was just one problem ... they didn't want that.

The Pistons wanted him to be the prolific scoring threat that for years had defensive-minded coaches waking up with a cold sweat in the middle of the night.

We never saw that in Iverson.

Instead, we saw an Iverson who, even when he got major minutes, didn't score a ton of points or rack up a bunch of assists. We saw an Iverson whose defense was dreadful. We saw an Iverson who skipped a Thanksgiving practice that, for the most part, was held to get him up to speed.

The reality is that while the back still was bothering him, you look around the Pistons' locker room -- and just about every playoff contender's locker room -- and you'll see guys playing through pain and discomfort.

Why?

Because that's what you do when your goals are bigger and greater than your own personal agenda.

Iverson never fit in, plain and simple.

So where does that leave Detroit?

In the short term, it hurts them because he was an X-factor that could have given Detroit a legitimate shot at knocking off any of the top three seeds.

Without him, their best shot of getting past the first round will be against Orlando.

Long-term, this will work out well for Detroit .

Because the Pistons will be one of the last teams to qualify for the playoffs, their first-round pick in June will be somewhere in the middle of the first round, rather than the mid-20s pick they get most seasons.

There also is the salary cap relief Detroit will get with Iverson's contract coming off the books this summer.

Rasheed Wallace's contract also expires in the coming months.

Detroit will look to land an impact player, probably a power forward, on the free agent market.

The Utah Jazz will have a hard time keeping Carlos Boozer and restricted free agent Paul Millsap. Adding either one would be a significant upgrade for the Pistons.

New Orleans might be looking to move Tyson Chandler again. He, too, would be an upgrade for Detroit.

But until a deal of that magnitude comes down, the Pistons will have to live with the fact they gave away one of the team's great leaders, Chauncey Billups, for a once-dynamic player (Iverson) who never came close to being a difference-maker.

Sure, his back injury hurt his chances of living up to his billing.

But more than that, Iverson did not fit in, plain and simple.