Memphis general manager Chris Wallace defended the team's offseason moves to the Boston Globe recently.

Many observers speculated that the Grizzlies decided to sign Allen Iverson for the sole reason of increasing ticket sales.

Wallace has denied the accusations, claiming that Iverson was added in hopes of curing the team's fourth quarter woes while also providing experience.

"The passion in which he plays the game every night, the intensity, the desire to win, the frustration when he loses, those qualities will be noticed by his teammates and will help us immensely," Wallace told the Globe, "because even during the controversial days of his career, I never once read an article that said Allen doesn't care, Allen is a good loser, or Allen doesn't play hard.

"He wears his emotion on his jersey, but that's very positive. It's very easy to get numbed by losing in the NBA when you are a team trying to build."