In the NBA, breakups between players and franchises are part of the business, but they don’t always end cleanly. Some leave behind more tension than resolution.
Allen Iverson‘s departure from the Philadelphia 76ers is a striking example. After more than a decade as the heart of the team, his exit became a drawn-out, emotional process. Months later, while already playing for the Denver Nuggets, “The Answer” looked back and admitted it shouldn’t have been so complicated.
An unceremonious departure
Iverson’s NBA journey started in 1996, when the Sixers picked him first overall — a choice that would shape the team’s future for years to come.
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Even though he stood just six feet tall, the Virginia native played with a fearless attitude that made him stand out. Game after game, he brought relentless intensity to the court, making his size irrelevant and clearly capturing Philadelphia’s grit, elevating him from a star to a true symbol of the city’s resilience.
Iverson’s achievements during a decade-plus tenure in Philly speak for themselves: MVP in 2001, a Finals appearance that year, multiple scoring and steals titles, several All-Star selections and All-NBA First Team honors.
Given all that, you’d expect Allen’s departure — no matter who initiated the trade — to be handled carefully. After all, he had truly earned that. But instead, it turned into a long, messy process heavily covered by the media, ending only when A.I. was finally traded.
How the 76ers’ front office handled it is something the legendary guard never fully accepted.
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“After everything I did for them in Philadelphia,” he later said, “I don’t think it had to end the way it did.”
Shut out in Philly, saved in Denver
What exactly bothered Iverson about the chaotic ending in the “City of Brotherly Love”? The 1997 Rookie of the Year explained this by admitting it was “them not letting me play, not letting me into the arena.”
In the end, it wasn’t the trade itself that hurt the most, but how the team pushed him aside early in the 2006-07 NBA regular season, when the Sixers were struggling with a 5-10 record.
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Trade rumors had been circulating since the previous summer, and reportedly, “The Answer” made his feelings clear after that disappointing start: he wanted to leave for good. However, rather than quickly resolving the situation, the franchise, still aware of Iverson’s value, left him in limbo, keeping him off the court and even away from the arena.
Weeks passed before anything changed. Finally, in December, Iverson and Ivan McFarlin were traded to the Nuggets in exchange for Andre Miller, Joe Smith and two first-round picks in the following NBA Draft.
In the end, although many parts of how his former team handled the situation frustrated him, A.I. admitted that ending up in Colorado was something he was grateful for. He said he was appreciative that then-Sixers GM Billy King had sent him there.
When asked why, Allen explained that he felt “like a whole new person” with his new team and believed the trade was “probably the best thing that could have happened” to him.
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Iverson’s personal manager at the time, Gary Moore, also pointed out this shift, saying, “This trade changed him. He finally got to see the other side of life. He sees how life really can be.”