I mentioned yesterday that I would watch the Knicks way more if Allen Iverson was on the team. I suppose I should note that I would watch Allen Iverson do pretty much anything.

I feel that way about a couple other athletes, but usually they’re the ones who are epically great, guys like Albert Pujols and Michael Jordan who are tremendous in stature both physically and metaphorically.

Iverson is different. Iverson’s appeal is more akin to Carlos Beltran’s. Both great players, no doubt, but not legends like their contemporaries. They’re athletes whose appeal is bolstered by some kind of palpable aesthetic cohesiveness.

Beltran’s, I would say, is grace. Every part of his game is elegant and smooth, there are no hiccups or excess movements.

Iverson’s is something else entirely. Watching him, and actually considering the moves he’s making, you’d think he should look awkward, herky-jerky. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen another NBA player spend so much time stumbling.

But there’s a fluidity to Iverson’s game that creates some unified sense of style, and one that’s difficult to define.

It’s like he’s mastered the rhythm of basketball. When you think about it, I guess, that’s really the nature of his game: He knows exactly when everyone else on the court expects something to happen, and exploits it to his advantage. That’s how he pulls off the crossover dribble into the jumper, or the improvisational layup, or the takeaway at halfcourt.

It’s all about timing, I suppose, and that’s nothing new. Iverson just toys with it so perfectly. It’s like bebop, intentionally awkward and disarming, but inarguably poetic.

You can even see it in that thing he’s probably, and pathetically, most famous for — “We talkin’ about practice.” Was there anything so outlandish about what Iverson said there? Not really. It’s the way he said it — the rhythm of it, the repetition, the weird pauses and stutters — that made it so entertaining.

It’s the same stuff that makes him so awesome to watch, even now past his prime.

I have the utmost respect for what Donnie Walsh is trying to do with the Knicks. It takes a whole lot of chutzpah to maintain a patient approach to building a team in a city with such demanding fans and media.

But Iverson wouldn’t jeopardize that at all, not signed to a one-year deal. He’d simply be a diversion, a reason to watch the Knicks now while we all sit around and wait to find out what happens with LeBron.