PHILADELPHIA — The 76ers have said goodbye to A.I.
Allen Iverson’s second stint with the team he once led to the NBA Finals ended Tuesday when the 76ers announced the guard would not return this season.
Iverson has mostly been absent from the team for a month, returning to Atlanta to be with his family as they deal with an undisclosed illness of his 4-year-old daughter, Messiah.
Iverson, who returned to the 76ers as a free agent in December, has not played since Feb. 20.
“After discussing the situation with Allen, we have come to the conclusion that he will not return to the Sixers for the remainder of the season, as he no longer wishes to be a distraction to the organization and teammates that he loves very deeply,” team president Ed Stefanski said. “It has been very difficult for Allen and the team to maintain any consistency as he tries to balance his career with his personal life.”
The former NBA MVP and four-time scoring champion averaged 13.8 points in 28 games this season. He started the season with Memphis but played only three games before he announced a short-lived retirement.
Iverson, 34, was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1996 draft and spent 10 seasons in Philadelphia before he was traded to Denver in December 2006. He won the MVP in 2001 when he led the 76ers to the Finals.
Now the global superstar, who popularized “talking about practice,” might be talking about retirement.
This time for good.
