| | PHILADELPHIA -- Philadelphia 76ers guard Allen Iverson is expected to play Friday night when the Sixers host the Utah Jazz, according to a team spokesman. But coach Larry Brown has made no promises.
Iverson, the NBA's scoring leader, said he didn't feel well when he woke up Thursday, so he skipped the team's 11 a.m. shootaround in Miami.
Brown considered Iverson's absence unacceptable and suspended him indefinitely, as first reported by ESPN's Jason Jackson. Sixers president Pat Croce said Thursday that the suspension was just for one game, but Brown would not say how long the suspension would last.
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Iverson sat out Philadelphia's 92-77 loss to the Miami Heat Thursday night and was angry afterward.
"I felt I had a better relationship with this organization,"
said Iverson, slumped in a corner of the locker room. "I don't
think this is fair at all."
Brown disagreed. "He missed practice today, but there's a lot more to it,"
he said. "I've let it go too far. It's just the culmination of a lot of things."
Thursday's game was important for the 76ers, who fell 5½ games
behind the first-place Heat in the Atlantic Division.
Iverson, 24, has clashed previously with Brown. Croce said the
All-Star guard missed practices a couple of weeks ago, but the
problem was temporarily resolved after a meeting with Brown.
According to general manager Billy King, Iverson phoned the team
trainer Thursday morning to say he had a headache and wouldn't be
at the 11 a.m. shootaround. King called Iverson's hotel room
shortly thereafter, but there was no answer. King, who finally reached Iverson in his room after the workout,
said a headache wasn't an adequate excuse.
"I told them I couldn't be at practice because I wasn't feeling
well," Iverson said. "I guess that wasn't enough. ... I've been
here four years. They know who I am as a competitor, so don't
question my heart."
Iverson said that after calling the trainer, he took two Advil
and went back to sleep. He became agitated when asked if he didn't
feel well because he had been out late on trendy South Beach the night
before. "You think I'm going to come to Miami from freezing Philly and
not go out?" he said. "I know how to take care of my body. I'm
not a little kid. I go out and come in when I want to."
Croce said speculation that Iverson was out late partying wasn't
an issue. "I don't know and I don't care," Croce said. "I care about
team practice and team play. I'm not his babysitter."
Iverson will lose one-82nd of his salary for each game he's
suspended. His six-year, $70.9 million contract averages about
$144,000 per game.
Brown suspended Iverson for one game three years ago for missing
a practice in New York. In December, Iverson lashed out at Brown
after being benched for the final 20 minutes of a loss at Detroit.
Iverson said then he should be traded if Brown was unhappy with
him.
Croce said his reaction to the latest situation was
"disappointment, frustration, hurt. Allen knows we're counting on
him, and you can't miss work. If you miss work, you don't get paid
and you don't play."
Iverson met with King and Croce before the game. Croce said
Iverson expressed regret about the situation and understood the
reasons for the suspension.
Croce said what he wants from Iverson is "a commitment to this
team, this city, this franchise that he'll go out and kill it every
day all the way through the playoffs."
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 Larry Brown suspends Allen Iverson.
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