Basketball: Iverson ends faltering Sixers comeback

PHILADELPHIA - Allen Iverson's second stint with the Philadelphia 76ers ended yesterday when the team announced he would not return for the rest of the NBA 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 as a free-agent to the 76ers in December, has not played since February 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 organisation and teammates 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 the Memphis Grizzlies but played only three games before he announced a short-lived retirement.

The 34-year-old Iverson made a tearful return to Philadelphia eager to prove he wasn't finished after disastrous stints in Detroit and Memphis.

He returned to a sold-out crowd dotted with No 3 jerseys, but he showed only flashes of his former playmaking self when he ruled the NBA as one of the best guards around and led the 76ers to the NBA finals.

He scored at least 20 points six times - including a 23-point effort in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers that turned into a retro one-on-one duel against Kobe Bryant.

Iverson said at a February 15 practice that it was emotionally draining to leave his family to play basketball.

He was hobbled by an arthritic left knee and constantly needed it drained. But his dwindling performance didn't bother his fans - he was voted an Eastern Conference All-Starter, although he did not play.

Dalembert, who played with Iverson in both stints, said A.I. was not the same player who once terrorised the opposition. But he also noticed a more reserved, humbled Iverson who just wanted to fit in.

The Sixers have been awful with or without Iverson. They are 22-37 after losing 126-105 to Orlando.

- AP