"We say the Lord's Prayer as a team," the 76ers' guard said after scoring 46 points in a 110-105 loss to the Orlando Magic last night. "If somebody doesn't believe it, don't say it."

That was Iverson's way of saying that even though the Sixers have established a dress code, that doesn't mean he's going to abide by it. Coach Larry Brown met with veterans Eric Snow, George Lynch and Aaron McKie a couple of weeks ago and suggested they establish some standards: suits or sport jackets on road trips. On long postgame charter flights, they're free to be casual.

The players agreed as a team.

Iverson's response?

"It might be a mistake on my part, it might be something they don't like, but I never dressed like that in my life," he said. "Before [last season's] playoffs, I never wore a suit in my life. People see me like they know me.

"Who is anyone else to judge if I'm neat. It's not like I'm coming in dirty, ragged up. I want to be comfortable. I don't see a problem with guys dressing the way they want. I'm not going to let anybody tell me what I [have] to wear."

Snow saw an ESPN report the other day that mentioned the new dress code, and felt it pointed unfairly at the hip-hop Iverson.

"We all make enough money to be able to wear something nice," Snow said. "But people see something like that, they feel as if the finger is pointing at Allen. They just think Allen doesn't like to dress, whether they know him or not. We just feel it's about being in the public eye as a team. Other teams have rules; Milwaukee wears suits and ties everywhere. When I was with Seattle, we dressed on the road, but home games, when we came in individually, we said no jeans, no gym shoes. Just look nice, just look presentable. This wasn't about Allen."

Brown asked the players to make their decision and "we'll go with it."

"This is no dramatic thing, we did it in the playoffs," the coach said. "I just wanted to make things more clear-cut. My thing is, people saw Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen when Chicago was winning those championships, and they remembered how they looked. It made an impression. We've got a lot of games on [national] TV, I want people to see us in suits.

"Hopefully, the effect of this is that they look nice, that they realize they're professionals, that they act that way. It's good for them, it's good for the league, it's good for the kids [watching].

"I don't want to take away their individuality. If they have a certain look that they like, that's fine as long as they're neat. I don't have a lot of rules; be on time, care about your teammates, care about your profession."

Lynch recalled having a dress code when he played at North Carolina, when he came into the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers and when he was with Vancouver.

"I just thought this was because we have so many TV games," Lynch said. "Coach just wanted us to look appropriate when we represent the team. We don't want a situation where half are in jeans, half are in suits. We had a dress code in college, so I thought this was normal, part of the game."

Iverson, though, said he would stand his ground. Even if it means being fined. He said he did not know whether he had been.

"There might be a little beef about it, but if they take my money, so be it," he said. ". . .It's not going to matter. I'm going to wear what I want to wear."

This is likely to turn into a continuing story, but Brown already had left for the team bus when Iverson responded to questions. Practice is scheduled this morning at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Expect some fallout.