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Whether it was Allen Iverson or his agent on the other end we may never know.

But Walsh said the Knicks are "checking into" bringing the 10-time NBA All-Star to New York to help revive a team that is off to its worst start in franchise history (1-9) and threatening to spiral out of control.

"I've always had a lot of admiration for him because I had to play against him in the playoffs every year when I was in Indiana and I have a lot of respect for his career," Walsh said after practice. "He's a small man who did everything he could to win games and took a lot of hard knocks and always got up."

Iverson, 34, and the Memphis Grizzlies agreed to part ways Monday after he took a leave of absence for what were described as personal reasons. He is expected to clear waivers and become a free agent. The Knicks have an open roster spot and Iverson could be had for the veteran's minimum.

Gary Moore, Iverson's personal manager, told Yahoo! Sports that Iverson "absolutely still wants to play," adding that the four-time scoring champ would love to play in head coach MIke D'Antoni's system.

"That's one of his favorite places to play," Moore told Yahoo! Sports. "He loves D'Antoni's style of play. He's always had respect for Donnie Walsh since his days in Indiana. We'd be elated if that is true.

"We don't want to jump the gun. But that would definitely be of interest. That would work family-wise with him having family in Philly and his wife having family in New York."

The Knicks had an opportunity to sign Iverson over the summer but chose not to. Iverson ultimately signed a one-year, $3.1 million deal with Memphis.

Asked why he might change his mind on Iverson now, Walsh said: "I didn't change my mind yet. That's what I got to think out."

D'Antoni said the original decision was rooted in a desire to keep the team's core from last season together with an eye toward the free-agent crop of 2010.

"I don't know if there was a decision totally but we had our little group from last year that we wanted to keep together and that was the decision in the summertime," D'Antoni said.

"Not to disrupt what we had. Now basketball's fluid and things change every second."

What's changed now is that the team is 1-9 and sporting the second most porous defense in the NBA. It has allowed 110.2 points per game.

Asked if the team's record is impacting his decision-making process, Walsh quipped: "1-9 makes me look at my wife differently."

No matter the outcome with Iverson, D'Antoni said the overall objective was to focus on the summer of 2010, when LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and others become unrestricted free agents.

"We want to do everything we can to win right now within the framework of keeping 2010 open like we've talked abput," D'Antoni said. "Whatever it takes to make us competitive and to win right now, I think we'll do as an organization but we're not going to mess up 2010. We've come too far to mess that up."

Iverson has scored more than 23,000 career points, but since leaving Philadelphia midway through the 2006-07 season he has bounced around to Denver, Detroit and Memphis. None of those stops has ended well.

He averaged 12.3 points and 3.7 assists in just three games in Memphis this season.

Asked if Iverson's recent history would impact his decision, Walsh said: "You try to consider everything if you're going to be thinking about a guy, but we haven't gotten to that state stage yet because he's not waived."

If Iverson were to join the team, the Knicks would have an abundance of guards and could opt to buy out veteran Larry Hughes, one of six key Knicks in the final year of their contracts.

Knicks point guard Chris Duhon has struggled this season, averaging 6.5 points, 5.9 assists and 2.2 turnovers.

Iverson was reportedly unhappy coming off the bench in Memphis, and if he came to New York he could pair up with Duhon in the backcourt or potentially take Duhon's job.

"He's been a great player, a guy that can score, create his own shot," Duhon said. "He's definitely a Hall of Famer and he's considered one of the best guards to ever play."

Would Duhon welcome the chance to play with him?

"If it's going to help us win," Duhon said, "I would welcome anybody."

Curry set to play Wednesday: Perhaps lost in all the Allen Iverson hoopla is the news that Eddy Curry could make his season debut Wednesday in Indiana.

Curry played just three games last season while dealing with various injuries and personal tragedies. He has been out since training camp while rehabbing from a torn calf muscle, but has since lost a lot of weight and is now listed at 295 pounds.

"He's ready to play some," D'Antoni said. "He's making progress. We'll see how the game goes. He's not in his form of two years ago but he's making good progress."

Said center David Lee: "I think he's looking and moving like he was a couple years ago when he was averaging great numbers for us and helping us inside. He could really give us a boost and that's what we're looking forward to out of him."

Taking the blame: Both Walsh and D'Antoni have taken turns in recent days accepting the blame for the Knicks' record-setting start, but Lee said the players were as much to blame as anyone.

"It's everybody's fault but we're the ones on the court losing games," Lee said. "Coach has put us in position to succeed. He's done a great job in both of his years here and we made strides last year and we've taken a couple steps back this year. We need to move forward at this point but it wouldn't be fair to leave the players blameless. We're the ones on the court that have gotten beaten nine times and only won once."