USA - Iverson requests trade from 76ers

PHILADELPHIA (NBA) - USA international and Philadelphia 76ers superstar guard Allen Iverson has likely played his last game for the team after asking team president Billy King to be traded.

"As hard as it is to admit it, a change may be the best thing for everyone," said the four-time scoring champion in a statement. 

"I hate admitting that because I love the guys on the team and the city of Philadelphia. I truly wanted to retire a 76er."

"I know that he is the heart of Philadelphia," team-mate Chris Webber said. "I can't imagine Philadelphia without him. I don't know if basketball fans can imagine us without him."

Sixers team owner Ed Snider said on Friday night that Iverson, who was a co-captain of Team USA's Olympic bronze-winning team in 2004, would be accommodated.

"Allen did a lot of fine things for this organisation and I wish him well," Snider said. "I think it's time for him to move on and for us to move on as an organisation and see where things stand."

Second in the NBA in scoring this season at 31.2 points per game, Iverson hobbled off the court after the third quarter of Wednesday's 121-94 loss at Chicago with back spasms.

Iverson, 31, is not with the team. He missed Friday's 113-98 home loss to Washington and will not travel to Orlando on Saturday, a decision made by coach Maurice Cheeks.

"I made the decision based on Wednesday's game in Chicago, where he didn't play the fourth quarter," Cheeks said. "He didn't practice (Thursday) and he didn't go through shoot-around (Friday). I made the decision based on that."

In his statement, Iverson had a slightly different account.

"When I got onto the court, I was told that I did not need to participate, so I stood on the sideline until practice was over," he said. 

"When shoot-around ended, I went into the team huddle. Afterward, the coach told me that I did not need to come to the arena tonight or travel to Orlando.

"I've played through injury and illness. I think everyone knows how much I love being out on the court, competing and winning. That's why it was so disheartening to be told that I couldn't play, knowing that I was ready. It hurt even more to be told not to come at all."

Asked if Iverson would be traded, Snider said, "No question about it."

The Sixers have missed the play-offs in two of the last three years and are off to a 5-13 start this season, having lost 13 of their last 15 games.

"This season has been frustrating for everyone," Iverson said. "Nothing seems to be working."

Last season, Iverson averaged a career-high 33.0 points, 7.4 assists and 1.9 steals, but the team collapsed down the stretch and finished 38-44, and Iverson and Webber did not attend Fan Appreciation Night at the final home game of the season.

At the time, King said it was necessary to "change the culture" of the team and in the off-season tried to trade Iverson. 

Denver and Boston were among the rumoured suitors, but King could not swing a deal and in July met with Iverson to tell him he would not be traded.

King admitted that he is looking to change the roster.

"When you're (bad), you got to look at everything and that's what we're doing right now," King said.  "I've talked to a lot of general managers."

"I didn't see this coming," Snider said.  "Allen said all the right things and I really thought he was behind what Mo was trying to do here, but obviously he wasn't."

This apparently is the last straw for the Sixers regarding Iverson, who throughout his 10-plus seasons in Philadelphia has been a lightning rod for controversy, making no secret of his dislike for practice and feuding with coaches Larry Brown and Chris Ford.

"This is a big issue right now, but I think that we've handled it and addressed it with the team," King said.

As a teenager, Iverson spent over four months in prison for his role in a brawl in a bowling alley. 

He received probation for a marijuana arrest in the summer following his rookie season and was arrested on alleged gun charges in 2002.  Those charges were dropped.

With his braided hair, tattoos, aborted venture into rap music and brutally honest approach, Iverson became an icon of the hip-hop culture, which endeared him to young fans but made older fans cringe. 

He had more than one run-in with NBA commissioner David Stern.

However, there is no denying Iverson's talent.  Perhaps the best small player in NBA history, he has a career scoring average of 28.1 points, topped only by Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain. 

Earlier this month, he eclipsed 40 points for the 76th time in his career.

With his rare blend of speed and toughness and a relentless motor, the 6-foot, 165-pound Iverson disrupts opposing offences and defences by making plays for himself or team-mates, averaging 6.1 assists and 2.3 steals in his career.

He may have been at his best in the 2000-01 season, when he put aside his running feud with Brown, led the NBA in scoring and powered the 76ers to a 56-26 record and their first appearance in the NBA Finals in 18 years, earning MVP honours.

The 1997 Rookie of the Year and a seven-time All-Star, Iverson has two years and USD 39 million remaining on his contract after this season. 

He is one of the NBA's true drawing cards - especially with young fans - and could be the missing piece for many contending teams.

"I'm going to have to joke with him on how I hope that he doesn't win a championship before me," Webber said.

PA Sport