Allen Iverson was traded by the 76ers to the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday, sending the disgruntled NBA All-Star out of Philadelphia after 10 years.
The four-time scoring champion was given to the Nuggets in exchange for Andre Miller, Joe Smith and two 2007 first-round picks. The Nuggets also get Ivan McFarlin.
The trade comes one day after NBA scoring leader Carmelo Anthony of the Nuggets was suspended for 15 games because of a weekend brawl between the Nuggets and New York Knicks. Iverson now takes his 31.2 scoring average to Denver and ends his turbulent tenure with the franchise that made him the No. 1 selection in the NBA's 1996 draft.
PHOTO: AFP
"I'm very happy about the trade," Iverson said in an e-mailed statement. "Denver's style of play fits my strengths. I'm looking forward to playing with Carmelo, the rest of the Denver Nuggets, and for [coach] George Karl, who is a proven winner."
Iverson, a seven-time All-Star, transformed the Sixers from lottery losers to contenders, though he couldn't win an NBA title. He came close in 2001, when the 76ers lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA finals, but since then the team has fallen from the elite, missing the playoffs twice in the last three seasons.
This year is worse, with the 76ers on an 11-game losing streak.
Now the 31-year-old Iverson's chase for a coveted championship will continue in Denver.
Iverson is due the rest of his US$18 million this season, and a combined US$40 million through the 2008-09 season.
His relationship with the only team he's ever played for was irreversibly broken once he asked for a trade last week. Iverson had just been fined for missing a team function and his relationship with coach Maurice Cheeks had deteriorated to where the point guard didn't want to play for him anymore.
The Sixers sent Iverson home for good nearly two weeks ago after holding him out of a morning shootaround. Chairman Ed Snider said then the All-Star guard had "probably" played his last game in Philadelphia. His nameplate was removed, his locker was cleaned out and his dazzling highlights were edited out of a pregame video package.
Only Memphis (5-19) has a worse record than the 76ers (5-18), who are winless since Nov. 24.
No matter the drama in Iverson's personal life, it rarely affected his performance on the court. Even this season, with Iverson unhappy and the Sixers stuck in last place, he still is second in the league in scoring with 31.2 points per game, averaged 42.7 minutes and 2.2 steals.
At his best, he has been a hustling, hard-charging MVP who became one of the most popular players in the league. His No. 3 jersey was always one of the top sellers.
But with his rants about practice and his run-ins with former coach Larry Brown, Iverson was often a magnet for trouble.
He was arrested in 1997 for carrying a concealed weapon and for possession of marijuana, and in 2002 over a domestic dispute with his wife. He was sentenced to community service in 1997 and all charges were dropped against him five years later.
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