Iverson's Return to Philly Is Mostly a Happy One

PHILADELPHIA, March 19 -- Denver Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin stopped in his tracks, took off his headphones and began to backpedal after he saw the horde of reporters gathered at the Wachovia Center entrance Wednesday night. Martin turned around and walked back into the tunnel to seek out the VIP that warranted all of the attention.

"Hey, George Bush," Martin said. "Wassup, prez."

Allen Iverson walked through the doors and shouted to himself, "Man!"

Almost 15 months after his sensational but often controversial career with the Philadelphia 76ers ended with a trade to the Denver Nuggets, Iverson returned to the city where he spent his first 10-plus seasons, a stretch that included four scoring titles, one MVP award and an appearance in the 2001 NBA .

After an emotional introduction that that nearly pushed him to tears, Iverson dazzled his former home crowd with his electric drives and leaning jumpers and scored a game-high 32 points. But he missed a potential game-tying jumper as his current team lost to his old one, 115-113.

"Everything was perfect but one thing, and that was not winning the game," Iverson said.

Iverson had faced the 76ers twice before in Denver, but he was overwhelmed by being in a building in which he once ruled. The crowd stood and applauded for 65 seconds after he was introduced. Iverson lifted his arms, blew kisses to the fans and saluted them with right hand, then cupped his hand behind his left ear, which elicited an even louder response. He clapped, nodded and smiled. He said he cocked back his head to keep the tears from falling.

"I dreamed it up a certain way," Iverson said of his return. "It was better than that. After leaving here, I thought I was going to leave for good, but after that ovation and seeing how these people care for me as a person, there is no way I can leave this place. I might not be selling that house now."

Speaking before the game in a wide-ranging and heartfelt 15-minute news conference, Iverson acknowledged that if he had done things differently, he never would have had to enter this place as an opposing player.

"I had a big hand in me getting traded," Iverson said. "I always wanted to finish my career in Philadelphia. The opportunity was obviously there for me to do that, but in a lot of ways, I made sure that that didn't happen."

The game featured a playoff atmosphere mixed with the nostalgia of a family reunion, as the arena was filled with fans wearing Iverson's No. 3 76ers and Nuggets jersey. Before the game, Iverson, who had "THXPHILA" written on one of his sneakers, paused to kiss the 76ers logo at center court. He received loud applause the first time he touched the ball, but by game's end, Iverson heard boos.

"Philly fans are the best because they care about their team. They're die-hard fans here," Iverson said. "At times, it was, 'I love you, A.I.' At times, it was like, 'We going to whip your [butt], A.I.' "

The most poignant moment came before the game, when Iverson raced to hug 76ers Coach Maurice Cheeks, with whom he had a bitter fallout. Cheeks had banished Iverson from the team, which expedited his trade, and the two had not spoken since.

"I don't have any hard feelings, honestly," Iverson said before the game. "People can talk about how ugly things went toward the end, but I think when you have a marriage and you get a divorce, it's not peaches and cream in the end.

"Looking back on it, I wish I didn't react the way I did," he said. "Somehow, someway, you got to understand, somebody lives their life in one place for so long, and goes through so many things there, and not really want to leave, and feel like you was forced out, it was tough for me to deal with. If any of you had to go through that, it'd be tough for you, too."

The irony of the night was that Iverson wanted to be traded to a team with a shot at winning a title, but his Nuggets (40-28) are struggling to get into the playoffs while the 76ers (34-34) are seventh in the East and could move higher.

"A lot of people would think I wouldn't want those guys to succeed. But I've been in wars with Kevin Ollie, Andre Iguodala, Louis Williams, [Samuel Dalembert]. We became like brothers," Iverson said. "Why would I want to see them go through any types of hardships? I just want the best for them. I don't feel like, because Allen Iverson left Philadelphia, it wouldn't be a successful franchise again. It was successful before me and they're going to be successful after me."

He blamed the Nuggets' struggles on being in a tougher-than-ever Western Conference. "We believe that we're going to be in the playoffs," Iverson said. "We don't just believe we're going to get in the playoffs. We really believe we're going to win a championship. Anything else would be a disappointment for me, especially at this point in my career."

"For the fans, for the people in Philadelphia, it's time to move on," Iverson said. "That chapter is over. But that doesn't mean the book has to have a sad ending."