Croce hurt by talk Disagrees with Brown, Iverson; says he helped STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Pat Croce will never forget one tumultuous weekend in December 1999. Larry Brown didn't want to coach the 76ers if Allen Iverson remained as a player. If Brown stayed as coach, Iverson wanted to be traded. That left Croce, in his fourth season as the Sixers' president, agonizingly arranging a meeting between Brown and Iverson, a meeting neither party wanted to attend. But the meeting happened, Brown and Iverson eventually found common ground, and the Sixers stormed to last season's NBA Finals. Which is why Croce, who relinquished his presidency last summer, was dumbfounded, stunned, shocked - fill in your own descriptive term - when Brown said Monday that ". . .in terms of the relationship with me and Allen, he had nothing to do with that. If anything, I thought he hurt that. He interfered. I don't think it was his place to get involved and I told him and that was over. We had a 3-minute argument and it was over." Last night, Brown shortened that disagreement to "30 seconds.''  More significant, he said, "A lot of people didn't hear what I said [Monday], especially in regard to Pat.'' "I said our franchise benefited by him being there,'' Brown said. "I look at him as being a dear friend. He gave me a great opportunity; he allowed me to coach and do my job. The only time I ever had any issue was that one instance. . .But people don't want to hear that. That's not good news. If people heard one little part of it, [Croce] had a right to be upset. "I don't think I ever said anything bad about him, or would have reason to. . .I'm sick that he left. I think he's really going to miss it, and I'm going to really miss him. But like Michael [Jordan]. . .if this makes him happy, fine.'' Croce, named yesterday as part of the NBC's studio team for pregame and halftime shows during the season, said, "I was shocked to hear Larry say that I interfered.'' "This was one time, two years ago,'' Croce said. "He didn't want to attend that meeting. He told me to get rid of Allen. I said, 'You've got to coach him, you're the coach.' I made them both go to the meeting. I mediated it, yes, but I didn't take sides. Larry was angry about it, and I apologized, but they communicated. Larry threatened to quit. I had to do that. I was very forceful. I felt I needed to be. "I dread to think of what could have been the destruction of the franchise if either Larry or Allen hadn't come to that meeting. I've never talked negatively about Larry. I wouldn't do that." Iverson said that Croce "helped a lot,'' but that he and Brown deserved credit as well. No argument there from Croce. "I agree with Allen,'' Croce said. "I don't want credit. I was just doing a job. I wanted everybody on the same page. I wanted that, whether it was in the marketing department, the sales department or any other department. The way that was worked out was 100 percent due to Larry and Allen; it was their choice to make it work. I couldn't force that. "I consider Larry Brown my friend. I was there to support everyone, to help them reach their goals. I did what I felt was necessary. Look at it - it worked. But it wasn't just me. It was [general manager] Billy King and [assistant coach] Randy Ayers, who were both involved in that meeting, being very instrumental. If that meeting hadn't happened, I don't know what would have happened to the franchise.  "That whole situation was so painful for me. I remember going to bed thinking that the franchise was going to unravel. But I have no regrets. I'm glad their relationship is good and strong; I've never taken credit for that. They had to choose that. We wouldn't have had the success we had without either one of them.'' Brown said Monday he was "real close'' to leaving after last season, "but when Pat left, it more or less made my decision a no-brainer.'' "If Pat leaves, then I leave, how would that look?'' Brown said last night. "You guys would have been writing what a jerk [chairman] Ed Snider was, right? My thinking was, with Pat leaving, we couldn't afford to have anybody else leave.'' Croce said he hoped all along Brown would remain as coach. "Maybe he felt if he left, there would be too much of a void,'' Croce said. "But I don't feel I left a void, not with Billy there, not with [executive vice president of business operations] Dave Coskey there, not with Larry there. I was just disappointed Larry felt I interfered. "I'd have cleaned the streets for him.''		Author Phil Jasner   Source DailyNews   Return to Articles