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Saturday, December 23, 2000
Iverson miffed that 76ers cut Maxwell
Associated Press
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PHILADELPHIA -- Allen Iverson and Larry Brown are at odds
once again.
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| Iverson |
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| Maxwell |
Iverson was visibly upset before the Philadelphia 76ers' 91-71
loss to the New York Knicks on Friday night because Brown cut his
best friend on the team, Vernon Maxwell.
"I'd be surprised if he didn't react," Brown said of Iverson.
"(Maxwell) was his best friend."
Iverson had bigger problems by the end of the night. He
partially dislocated his right shoulder in a collision with Chris
Childs late in the fourth quarter and will be out one-to-three weeks.
He will begin rehabbing the shoulder Saturday.
Iverson didn't speak to reporters, but was animated in a
conversation with a team official.
"You got to do what you got to do," Brown said, refusing to
address the matter any further.
Maxwell, signed Oct. 27 as a free agent, played in 24 games and
averaged 5.0 points and 1.2 assists. He started in six of the last
seven games.
He was released Friday after the Sixers signed point guard Kevin
Ollie. Philadelphia had been looking for a point guard since Eric
Snow went down with a fractured right ankle earlier this month.
Brown said he made the move because Maxwell couldn't get enough
minutes playing behind Iverson and Aaron McKie at shooting guard.
"I couldn't give Vernon the minutes he wanted so we decided to
get help at point guard," Brown said. "Vernon did everything I
asked."
Maxwell shot just 34 percent (42-of-125), including 21-of-64
from 3-point range. He grew close to Iverson after his arrival in
Philadelphia.
Iverson and Brown have had a rocky relationship since the coach
joined the Sixers four years ago. The two appeared to have resolved
their differences after a tumultuous summer that included several
trade rumors.
Iverson, fined repeatedly for lateness last year, has reported
early to practices and improved his play on the court. But there
was friction earlier this week after Brown criticized the team in a
30-minute meeting following an 18-point loss to Dallas at the First
Union Center last Friday.
The next morning, during a team meeting in Chicago before a game
against the Bulls, Iverson angered his coach by telling him he's
treating the players as if they were losing.
Brown then skipped practices on consecutive days when the team
returned to Philadelphia. He insists his absence was not related to
any dispute with the team.
"The problem wasn't with the players," Brown said. "It was me
and I backed off and everybody made a big deal out of it."
Iverson wasn't thrilled when the Sixers dealt close friend Larry
Hughes to Golden State in a three-way trade for Toni Kukoc last
February. He also didn't like it when the Sixers didn't re-sign his
buddy Derrick Coleman after the 1997-98 season, and he was miffed
when his pal Jerry Stackhouse was traded to Detroit three years
ago.
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ALSO SEE
Iverson injures shoulder in Sixers' loss to Knicks
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