Without Stars, 76ers Shine a Little Brighter
Philadelphia Has Overcome Losses Of Iverson, Webber

By Michael Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 14, 2007

PHILADELPHIA -- The bottom was expected to fall out after the Philadelphia 76ers traded Allen Iverson and later paid Chris Webber approximately $38 million not to play for them anymore. The losses were projected to increase at an alarming rate, along with the team's chances to get the No. 1 pick in what many expect to be the best NBA draft in decades.

Greg Oden or Kevin Durant, anyone?

Iverson and Webber asked out of Philadelphia because the team couldn't win. But now that they are gone, it appears that the 17-35 76ers, who play the Washington Wizards here on Wednesday, don't even know how to lose correctly, as if reserve forward and Ashton Kutcher look-alike Kyle Korver has fans enduring a season-long episode of "Punk'd."

The draft lottery-bound 76ers remain one of the worst teams in the NBA, but since Iverson was shipped to the Denver Nuggets in December, they have a better record (12-17) than when he was with the team (5-18). In their past 13 games, they have gone 7-6 and allowed the Memphis Grizzlies and Boston Celtics to slip below them in the standings. Or should that be rise above them in the pursuit of Ping-Pong balls, the method used by the NBA to determine which teams get the top draft picks?

"Everyone is competing here," said Andre Iguodala, Philadelphia's third-year swingman. "However the balls fall, that's how they fall."

Philadelphia Coach Maurice Cheeks laughed when someone mentioned that the 76ers weren't losing enough to compete with Memphis and Boston for the league's worst record. "We're not trying to go out and lose any games, by no means," Cheeks said.

When asked if he hears complaints from 76ers fans whenever the team wins, Korver smiled and said: "You hear a bunch of stuff, but we're focused on winning basketball games. We're not focused on a draft pick. If we get a great draft pick, we'll welcome him with open arms, obviously. But we're trying to develop what we have here, not worry about developing someone else later on."

By parting with Iverson and Webber, the 76ers wanted to see if their young players really were holding back their stars, or if it was the other way around -- if Iguodala was more than an athletic leaper, if center Samuel Dalembert could do more than block shots and snare the occasional rebound, and if Korver was more than a one-trick, three-point-shooting pony.

So far, the 76ers' youngsters -- especially Iguodala -- have risen to the occasion. "Each player has accepted more responsibility with how we play," 76ers President Billy King said last week. "Our goal is to get better each day. I said, 'If we focused on that, and not everything else, in the big picture, we'd be okay.' "

With Iverson gone, Iguodala has emerged as the 76ers' go-to-man, with the ball being placed in his hands in crunch time. The other A.I. has responded by scoring at least 20 points in 19 of the 35 games Philadelphia has played since Iverson last suited up for them. He had scored 20 or more points only 14 times in his first 181 career games.

"I'm putting more on myself, picking up some of the slack with Allen being gone. Just doing what I can do because nobody is going to replace what he did," said Iguodala, who also has three 30-point games and a triple-double since the trade. "We don't have the best players in the league anymore, so it forces us to come together, play team ball. We lost a lot in Allen, but we got better in some other areas. . . . It's like a tale of two different teams, you could say."

The first team featured two aging stars, frustrated that their windows for winning a championship were rapidly closing. After Iverson told King that he'd rather be traded than continue losing, King made the surprising decision to banish him before a game against Washington on Dec. 8 and cut ties with him after more than 10 years with the organization (the Nuggets are just 12-15 with Iverson).

Webber had gone to King in November and reportedly demanded a trade, claiming that his nearly two-year stint in Philadelphia was "easily the most difficult part of my career." Unlike Iverson, who was able to fetch point guard Andre Miller, Joe Smith's expiring contract and two first-round picks, no teams were interested in dealing for Webber because of his exorbitant contract and gimpy knee. He forced a buyout and landed with the Detroit Pistons last month. "I definitely had to get away for my sanity," Webber said. "I actually talked to some people about not playing basketball again and retiring. It was tough, but I'm glad I made it out of there."

King didn't want to discuss Iverson or Webber last week. "I'm done talking about that," he said. "I've turned the page."

His team has too. And although Philadelphia's fans are protesting the new direction in the form of empty maroon seats at Wachovia Center -- the 76ers have the worst attendance in the NBA at 14,499 per game -- the mood in the 76ers' locker room has gone from sullen to sunny. "It's just fun playing basketball on this team. It really is," Korver said. "Going to practice is fun. Playing the games is fun. We're turning it around. We're not winning as frequently as we'd like to, but we're doing so much better. Everyone has really grown and finding new roles. It's a lot of fun to be a part of it."