76ers' rookie out of Georgetown holds a $40 million contract. Gaskins attends a good percentage of the Sixers' games, home and on theroad, frequently goes to practices and shootarounds. But he is not, he says, "a baby sitter." Nor, he says, does he perceive Iverson as having "a posse."

"Everyone knew Allen needed some structure in his life, and we'retrying to become the Nordstrom's of our industry in terms of service," said Gaskins, valedictorian of his class at Florida A & M, with an MBA in marketing and advertising from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern.

"When David Falk first represented Michael Jordan and Jordan signedwith Nike, they had Howard White in this role for him. This isn't a new concept."I grew up in Washington, D.C., I'm close with the family of Georgetowncoach John Thompson, there was a common denominator here." Gaskins knows Iverson has a healthy regard for Jordan, the Chicago Bulls superstar. He laughed at the incident in which Iverson was supposed to have told Jordan he "doesn't have to respect anybody."

"Anyone who knows Allen knows Jordan is his guy,"Gaskins said. "Allen's a heck of an artist, and when the family lived in a project in Virginia he drew a life-size mural of Jordan on the door. When they moved, they wanted to take the door with them, but the landlord wouldn't let them. Michael's sister,who lives in this area, sold me my home. Michael talks to her, tells her things that might benefit Allen. She tells me."

Gaskins believes the perception of Iverson being surrounded by a "posse," defined in the dictionary as a force of men, might have come, in part, from people seeing Iverson's family at early- season games. "His mom, his sister, some uncles, some surrogate uncles, some cousins," Gaskins said. "At last Friday's game against Sacramento,there were four guys and his uncle, Greg. I don't think that's unreasonable."

And then there's Iverson's background, having served four months on a work farm in Virgina after a brawl in a bowling alley, a conviction that was later overturned on appeal. "I don't think people will let him get past that," Gaskins said."People will always think his friends are a gang. They see his stigma, they know about the negativity in his past. Until he wins championships, they won't look at him differently."He has to decide whether he needs to change or stay who he is, but he's always dealt with it. I don't think he should change. We didn't endorse himbecause we wanted him to change. We saw perseverance, a winning attitude, no fear."