Dalembert likes Sixers, but not 'the inconsistency'

Samuel Dalembert has heard, over and over and over again, that he is the problem, that the 76ers need to make a change at center.

Dalembert, of course, does not view the situation exactly that way.

"Nothing but action can prove anything to me," Dalembert was saying after learning that Eddie Jordan had been hired to coach the Sixers. "I don't think I have to be moved, but [the talk] is the way it is, the way it's going to be.

"I'm not somebody who causes trouble; I'm not somebody not trying my best. When coaches are consistent with me, you can expect the numbers I can give. But it has to go both ways; if they don't think I can do what they need in the time they give me, good luck finding somebody else."

Jordan is, at least for now, Dalembert's seventh coach.

"I like it here," said Dalembert, who arrived in the 2001 draft. "The reality is, I can't stand the inconsistency. When we play defense, we win. I'm not going to take the blame for a lack of defense; it's supposed to be a five-man defense. I'm not mad at anybody. It's just the nature of the business."

The Sixers attempted to trade Dalembert at the in-season deadline. It's reasonable to assume they are trying again, although his contract provides a huge roadblock; he has 2 years remaining at a total of $23 million, and any team acquiring him would have 30 days in which to pay a $3.5 million trade kicker.

"If I'm the problem, make something happen and I wish everybody well," he said. *