Sadly, history repeats itself

By Steven Lienert

Perhaps we are making too much of this Allen Iverson divorce from the Sixers. It's not like we shouldn't have seen it coming.

Tell me if this sounds familiar: The Philadelphia 76ers employ one of the best players ever to play basketball, the first player ever to lead the league in rebounding for five straight seasons. The team is coming off one of its most successful seasons in years. But after a disagreement with ownership, the player was shipped out-of-town for three role players. It led to a dark period that bottomed-out with a 9-73 record, still the worst record in the history of the NBA.

The year? 1968. The player? Wilt Chamberlain. He went on to win an NBA championship with the 1972 Lakers.

How about this: The Philadelphia 76ers employ one of the best players ever to play basketball, the second player ever to lead the NBA in rebounding for five consecutive seasons. The team is coming off one of its most successful stretches in team history, including Philadelphia's last championship in 1983. But an injury forced a trade that returned aging players Jeff Ruland and Cliff Robinson.

The year? 1986. The player? Moses Malone. He went on to win another rebounding title, was named to the All-Defensive team twice and averaged 20 or more points a game for the next three years. He was named as one of the top 50 NBA players of all time.

Oh, and who can forget this one: The Philadelphia 76ers employ one of the best players ever to play basketball, voted one of the top 50 NBA players of all time and a member of the original Dream Team. The Sixers are coming off two consecutive playoff losses to Michael Jordan's Bulls. But after missing the playoffs the following year, a disagreement with ownership about the direction of the team resulted in the player being shipped out-of-town for three role players.

The year? 1993. The player? Sir Charles Barkley. What did the home-town team get in return? Tim Perry, Jeff Hornacek, and Andrew Lang, none of whom could carry Barkley's sizeable jock. Barkley, of course, never won an NBA crown, but he came close, losing to Jordan's Bulls as a member of the Phoenix Suns in 1993.

More losing seasons ensued until...

The Sixers draft Allen Iverson. After hiring Larry Brown and surrounding Iverson with complimentary defensive-minded players, the Sixers reach the NBA Finals. Things fall apart, however, after the player has a rift with the coach, opening the Pandora's box in which Iverson feels he can get any coach fired. A carousel of figure heads follow and Sixers GM Billy King does nothing about it.

This is one fine mess you've gotten us into, Billy.

So, it should come as no surprise the Sixers are, once again, getting rid of one of the best players ever to put on a pair of shorts. To the 76ers, it doesn't matter if they were the old-school ball-huggers or the baggy below-the-knee jobbies of today. The story remains the same.

I see the headline 'Sixers trade Iverson for three role players' in your future.

Three years after that, we'll read about A.I.'s first NBA championship.