Phil Sheridan: Signing Iverson would be an act of surrender

If the 76ers sign Allen Iverson, they might as well skip ahead a few moves and make him coach and general manager as well.

Just turn the whole franchise over to Iverson, because bringing the former Sixers star back now, after everything that has happened, is acknowledging the failure of Ed Stefanski and, by extension, coach Eddie Jordan.

The logic is pretty simple.

If Stefanski had a plan with a prayer of working, he would not sign Iverson.

If Jordan had any intention of developing a young team to play the game his way, he would not want Iverson.

Ergo, they might as well give Iverson their jobs, as well as the $3 million or so it will take to sign him. Iverson will be deciding how much he plays and with whom, so the Eddies won't be necessary anymore, anyway.

And if this move is being forced on Stefanski and Jordan, well, the prognosis for both men is soggy and grim: They're already dead in the water.

This is a player the rest of the NBA has decided isn't worth the considerable trouble. Iverson - ahem - "retired" last week in a contrived attempt to attract attention to himself. After burning through the patience of franchises in Denver, Detroit, and Memphis, he would be attractive only to two kinds of teams: a championship contender faced with injury at his position (whatever that is) or a hopeless mess.

The Sixers are not a contender.

This is the Buffalo Bills signing Terrell Owens - a cynical move made for the sole purpose of bringing a little attention to a team that has proved itself incapable of earning it the proper way, by winning.

You can see the temptation for the Sixers. Iverson's heyday was this ownership group's heyday. The Sixers were hot. The arena was full. Things seemed a lot more fun and exciting and interesting back then, when Iverson and Larry Brown staged one of the more captivating and successful soap operas in Philadelphia sports history.

But the real reason for all that buzz was that the Sixers were winning. For a stretch, they were a team with a chance to contend for a title. Iverson was one of the best and most exciting players in the league, but he was also the guy who made a title possible. The ultimately fruitless search for the right complementary cast was the story arc that made the whole thing worth caring about.

Now?

Iverson can still run around and take a hundred shots a game and drive recklessly through the big men every now and then. He would still be more fun to watch than Andre Iguodala or, heaven help us, Elton Brand. But there would be no chance of contending with him. Not now. Not here. Not ever again.

As for the idea that he'd bring some excitement and sell tickets, well, let's think that through. Signing Iverson isn't going to help the economy, which is the No. 1 reason most people eliminate luxury items like overpriced basketball tickets from their budget. There might be a brief bump for the same reason people stop on the highway to look at car wrecks, but there won't be sustainable interest until the team wins consistently.

The Sixers weren't drawing at the end of Iverson's tenure here. There's little reason to believe he'll draw fans three seasons later.

But the most hair-raising aspect of all this was in an otherwise benign quote from Sixers rookie Jrue Holiday that appeared in the Daily News.

"I think Lou [Williams], Willie [Green], everybody here that played with him learned something from him," Holiday said. "I think I could learn from him, too."

That word picture should have everyone from Ed Snider to Peter Luukko to the security guard at the locker room door screaming into their pillows. There is nothing they could possibly want Holiday or Marreese Speights or anyone else to learn from Allen Iverson.

He is, or was, a great individual basketball player.

He is, was, and always will be poison in the well for whatever franchise employs him. It has become an easy way to get a laugh - "We talkin' 'bout practice?" - but that episode really did define what's wrong with Iverson. He didn't get it then, and he doesn't get it now. Basketball is a team sport.

So meeting with him in Dallas yesterday was purely for show. Nothing Iverson could say in a two-hour meeting could outweigh what Stefanski and Jordan already know from watching the guy throughout his career. A.I. isn't changing.

There's no point signing him in order to integrate him into a team concept. That ship sailed and sank years ago. To sign him now is to admit utter defeat and desperation.

If Stefanski and Jordan re-sign Iverson, they might as well resign themselves.