Iverson mulls unfinished business His right hip still aches, the lone remaining vestige of a long, hard season. But the true ache inside Allen Iverson has finally, mercifully dissipated. Maybe that is why he met with reporters yesterday for the first time since the 76ers were eliminated from the NBA Finals by the Los Angeles Lakers. The symphony that was the 2000-01 season will forever remain unfinished, but Iverson - as he began his fourth annual Celebrity Summer Classic weekend - insists he at least is on familiar turf now. He knows the goal, he knows how to get there. "I had to get away, to try to calm down a little bit with all the excitement, all that went on," he said. "Even though we lost, it just feels good to be back. "After the [last] game was over. . .I couldn't really concentrate on losing, knowing the season was over. All I could say was, 'Now I get a chance to heal.' Everything else hit me later on. "I just felt good about what we accomplished, what the city accomplished, everything we had been through. It was a great season, one that helped me out in my basketball career. Now I know what it takes to get to that point. "I saw the little special [about the Sixers' season] on ESPN, and it made me feel like getting back in the gym. But all I could think about was getting better. That's going to help us. And coach [Larry Brown] knows now he can lead a team there." Iverson was the league's leading scorer and Most Valuable Player. The Sixers went to the Finals for the first time since 1982-83. Brown went to the Finals for the first time in 18 seasons as an NBA coach. The script was exactly as Iverson had envisioned. But the Lakers, with the overwhelming presence of Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, blocked their path. The Lakers took the best-of-seven series in five games, sweeping the final four. "We drew a nice picture, we just didn't finish it," Iverson said. Now what? Brown, weary after two nonstop years of coaching and some health problems, is at home in Southern California, contemplating whether he wants to continue. Pat Croce, the irrepressible president, is vacationing overseas, deciding whether he needs a fresh challenge. Starters Dikembe Mutombo and Aaron McKie are among the six free agents on the roster. Brown and Croce? "Until they call me and say they're leaving, there's not too much I can say about it," Iverson said. "If it's right, they'll be here. If that's the way it's supposed to be, they'll be here." The roster? "You can add a whole lot of stuff," Iverson said. "Chris Webber would make us better; any of the top guys [would]. Michael Jordan, he'd make us better. But we can't think like that. We've got to look at it like this is the team we got here with. We've got to feel like we can do it and win it all this way first, because if we don't add anybody, then what? You can't start thinking we can't win because we didn't pick anybody up.'' Iverson joyously talked about the warmth of the city, about how Philadelphia has become his second home, about how that all came to be. "Philly is everything to me," he said. "I always wanted to be a Sixer. I wanted to be the first pick [in the draft]. I almost left here. I had to get better as a player, but first I had to get better as a person. I had to listen a little better. "[The Sixers] were talking about getting rid of me. I heard a lot of negative things, even from the fans. I just kept working. Eventually, they accepted me for who I was inside; not my hair, my jewelry, who I hang with, my music. Philly is home "just like Virginia is my home," Iverson said. "I was thrown in jail in Virginia, but I still love it. It's still my home. That's my first home. That's life." His roots are in Newport News and Hampton. "I don't know anybody from Newport News in the NBA," he said. "When I was growing up, everybody laughed at me when I said I was going to be a professional basketball or football player. All those guys are in jail or dead or still at home. I'm not laughing at them, but I'm laughing now." And he was laughing at one more thing. He cannot play in his celebrity basketball game tomorrow afternoon at the Liacouras Center because his body is healing and the game has not been sanctioned by the league. But he said he would coach. "I'm going to snatch people out of the game and hopefully they'll flip out on me like I do [on Brown]," he said, his eyes dancing. "I'm going to make them play the right way. And I know how to play the right way because my coach makes sure I play the right way." *		Author Phil Jasner   Source Daily News   Return to Articles