Bye Bye A.I.

By David
Kaye

The end of an era has arrived in the city of brotherly love as Allen Iverson has demanded a trade from the 76ers. Since coming out of Georgetown in 1996 Iverson has enjoyed great success as a member of the Sixers, but he has long battled with Philly management.

There's no questioning that Iverson is one of the best players in basketball and up until this week was the 76ers franchise player. He is averaging 28.1 PPG for his career and has averaged at least 30 PPG 5 times in his career. He has also won NBA Rookie of the Year in 1997, NBA All Star Game MVP in 2001 and 2005, league MVP in 2001 and made the NBA finals during the 2001 season.

Unfourtanately, the negatives in Iverson's case out weigh all the positives he has done for the city of Philadelphia. Even though he has brought great electricity to the city and has played extremely diligently, he has ostracized many coaches and has been a great distraction to the 76er team. Iverson is an overly selfish player and when he's not winning he can get very volatile.

The 76ers poor play on the court has been well documented and Iverson has brought his frustration straight to management. Despite saying ''I truly want to retire a 76er'', Iverson has asked on numerous occasions to be dealt. Finally, last week chairman Ed Snider confirmed that ''We're going to trade him."

It''s sad that a player so publized like Iverson can't take a lesson from fellow superstar Kevin Garnett and learn to keep his mouth shut when his team isn't playing well. The 76ers have currently lost seven straight and stand in last place at a despicable 5-14.

I feel sorry for what ever team ends up trading for A.I. because they will be forced to deal with another headache and a player who finds it much too difficult to get along with the front office. ''The Answer'' was not the solution in Philadelphia and will not be the solution for his new team.

In a positive gesture 76ers chairman Ed Snider said ''He's one of the greatest basketball players of all time, he has incredible talent, he's done a lot of great things for this organization and we wish him well."