PHILADELPHIA — A tearful Allen Iverson is happy to be back with the Philadelphia 76ers. Iverson is returning to the franchise where he was an MVP, calling it an opportunity he couldn’t turn down. The 10-time all-star guard signed a nonguaranteed deal with the 76ers on Wednesday.
“I want to retire here,” Iverson said Thursday at the Wachovia Center.
Iverson, 34, was teary almost from the start of his return news conference. He said he retired after his ill-fated stint with the Memphis Grizzlies because he felt like “the basketball part of my life was over.”
Iverson will play his first game for the 76ers against Denver on Monday.
“Coming back home, all I could think about was the people who made me who I am,” said Iverson, the NBA MVP in 2001, when he led the 76ers to the finals. Philadelphia hasn’t won a playoff series since 2003.
He had a bitter parting with the 76ers in December 2006 and was traded to Denver. He’s also played with the Detroit Pistons and three games this season with the Grizzlies.
“I always thought it was strange having another uniform,” Iverson said. “I couldn’t feel comfortable with another uniform.”
His return generated the kind of buzz the 76ers haven’t felt in Philly since he left in 2006. The 76ers said they had 327,657 page views on their website Wednesday once his signing was announced — up from 36,000 the previous Wednesday.
