Brown, AI and where now?

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/5955801.htm

As of yesterday, the Los Angeles Clippers were still deemed as front-runners, with Cleveland, Denver and Houston lagging behind, in that order.

Posted on Wed, May. 28, 2003


Stephen A. Smith | Cold comfort for Iverson: He is left to face the heat
By Stephen A. Smith
Inquirer Columnist

The chairman, Mr. Ed Snider, didn't frown like the character in Zoolander. Larry Brown was nattily clad, gracious, and emotional enough to rival former Eagles coach Dick Vermeil. Billy King and Dave Coskey were quiet. The First Union Center was devoid of shock and annoyance, which means almost everything that occurred during Brown's farewell address on Monday went as smoothly as planned.
Except for the absence of Allen Iverson.
Had Iverson been in attendance instead of chillin' in Miami's South Beach, the Sixers' star guard would've been able to answer questions himself, stifling speculation before it volcanically erupts.
Iverson would've thrown a few gratuitous hugs in Brown's direction, lauded all Brown had done for him, thanked the coach for helping to make him a perennial all-star, a league MVP, an Olympian and, nearly, an NBA champion.
Instead, Iverson was conspicuous by his absence. He wasn't around to hear Brown say that he's still "pumped about coaching" and that he was free to go elsewhere without the Sixers requiring compensation. Now, because of Iverson's absence, because of the residue of speculation as to why Brown would walk away from $12 million and complete control of basketball operations, the Sixers' franchise player, predictably, will get draped with a label he's spent the last two years desperately trying to avoid.
Iverson: the man who drove a 62-year-old Hall of Fame coach out of town.
It isn't fair.
It isn't right.
Knowing Brown the drifter, it definitely isn't the whole picture. But Brown, Iverson and their respective hangers-on can spew all the rhetoric they want, and it still won't change the perception that the old-school coach couldn't deal with the ultimate representative of Generation X.
So hostility will follow. In waves, from fans, from the media, from the next coach who remotely has to deal with some of the same problems Brown endured with Iverson.
Meanwhile, the Sixers' star guard, the same man who averaged 31.7 points per game in the playoffs, will be left to deal with ripple effects unlike anything he's seen throughout his career.
Told this yesterday, while en route to Philadelphia from Virginia, Iverson's business manager and right-hand man, Gary Moore, said: "That's ridiculous. Al and Coach Brown were just fine. He told Al how proud he was of him, how far he'd come, and their relationship had improved by leaps and bounds."
When asked Monday whether his relationship with Iverson ended on a good note, Brown said: "I thought Allen had a pretty good career with me as his coach. I am pretty proud of what he has done and where he has brought [the Sixers'] franchise. You will have to talk to him about that. I don't worry about it. I think it has gotten better every year that I have been around him."
Except that doesn't mean it was ever good enough for Brown. And therein lies the problem.
After years of one contentious moment after another, Iverson grew up and didn't challenge Brown's authority this season as much as he used to. By his standards, Iverson was a model citizen. The maturation process had kicked in.
But there was always: "Practice, man! We talkin' 'bout practice."
It was an issue when Brown arrived. And it remained an issue up to the day he said goodbye.
While I've been told that Iverson was at practice, that his tardiness had dissipated and that he was far less contentious with Brown than he had been in years past, practice was still a poignant issue with Brown where Iverson was concerned.
Iverson would show up at practice, but he didn't practice that much. One Sixers source speculated that once the regular season began, Iverson sat on the sideline more than 50 percent of the time, choosing to receive treatment instead.
Players dealt with it begrudgingly. Coaches worked around it. But Brown, whose mantra is "playing the right way," never felt comfortable, yet never said much about it, either. "That's how we knew he was probably going," one Sixer told me.
Since Brown is gone, the speculation has begun.
Iverson has been accused as the reason for Brown's departure. The search for a coach has begun, yet questions persist: Who can deal with Iverson?
The Sixers are on the phone with Portland because they believe coach Maurice Cheeks is the ideal candidate for that job, among others. They're praying too much compensation won't be required. And Brown, Mr. Fix-It, is looking for new but different challenges.
As of yesterday, the Los Angeles Clippers were still deemed as front-runners, with Cleveland, Denver and Houston lagging behind, in that order.
Yet Iverson, free to go elsewhere in two seasons, isn't blessed with such immediate options. For the time being, he's stuck in Philadelphia, forced to live with loud murmurs about his being the thorn in Brown's side, the reason for the exodus of his now-former coach.
It is true that Iverson has seen a lot in his life, and there's no doubt he'll see more as time goes on.
But chances are, he's never, ever seen anything like what's coming his way next season. Especially if Brown is working to build another franchise, leaving it to others to say why he really didn't stay to finish the job in Philadelphia.

 

That's a Philly writer's order. I don't see it, at least the Cavs' part.

I suspect it is between Rox and Clips but the Nugs make the most Brown-sense, I suggest.