Iverson’s outburst muddies intended picture

WE HAVE SEEN this before - perhaps not to this extreme and definitely not for this length of time.

But this was Allen Iverson at his emotional core, aggressive, raw and always defiant. That it probably didn't help matters, well, that's an afterthought.

This wasn't a rant, although sometimes it seemed as if Iverson was ranting.

It wasn't a tirade, although at times Iverson was clearly speaking with anger.

It was just an outpouring of stuff, a bursting dam of emotion that instead of washing things clean might have made them murkier than ever.

I'm not entirely sure what to make of Iverson's 30-minute interview, discussion, debate with the media yesterday at the First Union Center.

I just know that Iverson was a man speaking with a lot of hurt and frustration. And because of that, what was supposed to be the presentation of a unified front in announcing that Iverson and coach Larry Brown would be returning to the Sixers turned into something else.

"I'm hurt because this is an issue," Iverson said when the subject turned to speculation about his being traded. "I'm hurt because I'm hurt. Why are we talking about this?

"Everybody on my team. All the rest of the soldiers that went to war with me are enjoying their summer, enjoying it. But look at me. Look what I'm going through. I've got to listen to [the media] talk to me about this s---. It's summer. I'm supposed to be enjoying life with my kids and wife - chillin'.

"I've got to go through this. This is Allen Iverson's life in a nutshell. I know I don't do everything right. I do a lot of s--- that ain't right, but I'm just like all of you. I'm human just like you . . .

"I'm upset because I'm having this discussion right now. I ain't upset about nothing else but this, just me being here."

Basketball has been the one thing Iverson always has had absolute mastery over, and yesterday he spoke like a guy who had lost some of that control.

Iverson never has wanted to be anything but a member of the 76ers, but since Friday's season-ending loss to the Boston Celtics, discussions have focused on whether Brown was going to trade him.

It has clearly been a situation that has bothered Iverson, so much so, that it dominated what was supposed to be a session to provide reassurance that Iverson wasn't going anywhere.

"I'm the only one going through this," Iverson said."You don't hear anything about any other of my teammates. It's me. I've got to deal with it. When we lose, I've got to deal with it, me, me.

"Now it's not even about me and coach Brown. It's about Allen Iverson, that's it. The ball is in his corner. I read the little articles. My friends tell me what people say.

"It's all on me. I accept it, but the s--- hurts, man. It hurts. It ain't just about me. Yeah, I got some s--- that I need to get better in, but everybody does. But you don't talk about nobody but me.

"I'm the MVP and I've got to worry about trade talk. I'm the MVP. The MVP . . . When I lose, this is what I've got to go through? "

Because the emotion was so high, there was so much reading between the lines that had to be done.

Iverson acknowledged that, as far as practice, he knew he "was supposed to be there. I know I'm supposed to lead by example." Then in another breath, he questioned why "practice, not the actual game, when it matters" should be an issue.

On one hand, Iverson said he's on the same page with Brown and that he loves Larry Brown. Then he later said, "In this situation right here, me and him, we ain't as tight as I thought we was by this s--- happening right now."

Maybe this was just the culmination of an emotionally taxing season for Iverson that began with the tragic slaying of his best friend Rahsaan Langeford and ended with a shocking first-round playoff loss.

"Just for one minute try to stick your foot in my shoe and try to deal with what I go through in my life," Iverson said."My best friend dead, and we lost.

"Now this is what I've got to go through for the rest of the summer until the season starts again. This is my life in a nutshell."

Emotion got the best of Allen Iverson yesterday. Then again, what else would you expect, because Allen Iverson is all emotion.