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PHILADELPHIA (AP) -Allen Iverson's nameplate was gone and his locker was cleaned out. All that's left to officially sever his relationship with the Philadelphia 76ers is a trade.
Iverson was still a Sixer on Monday night, though he was not in the arena for Philadelphia's 81-79 loss to Portland, the third straight contest he was on the inactive list, and the Sixers' eighth straight loss.
Iverson's days in Philadelphia are numbered and the NBA's leading scorer may soon have his trade demand granted. With four games this week, the Atlantic Division-worst Sixers seem unlikely to let the situation fester and are prepared to deal their franchise player.
Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks was peppered all day with questions about Iverson, but said his only focus was on the players in the locker room and snapping the team's seven-game losing streak.
"I'm not here to say how this happened, how that happened," Cheeks said. "We're just going forward with the people we have and we're trying to win games. I think our team has been pretty good through all of this."
Team president Billy King said in an e-mail to The Associated Press on Monday that he would not comment until a deal was done.
Iverson's relationship with Cheeks had deteriorated this season, with Iverson leaving a recent practice reportedly after a blowup with his coach. He skipped a team bowling function later that night, apologized and was fined by the organization.
Iverson demanded a trade last week and Sixers chairman Ed Snider said on Friday the All-Star guard had "probably" played his last game with Philadelphia.
When the Sixers hired Cheeks in May 2005, Iverson joked he was so elated Cheeks got the job he wanted to kiss him on the mouth. The two formed a close relationship when Cheeks was an assistant coach with the Sixers.
"If you got a problem with Mo Cheeks, there must be something wrong with you," Iverson said at the time.
Cheeks said he would only look back fondly on Iverson's 10-plus seasons with the Sixers.
"I have no hard feelings about Allen, none whatsoever," Cheeks said. "He's been a phenomenal player for 11 years. There have been not many people who can stay as consistent as he has his years in the NBA."
While Cheeks said he had not talked to Iverson, third-year swingman Andre Iguodala - Philly's other A.I. - said he had a brief conversation with his soon-to-be former teammate to see how he was holding up. Iguodala joked he asked to borrow one of Iverson's chains, but didn't talk about all the swirling trade rumors.
"Any time a player who's had a great and successful career in this city, whenever it ends, it's kind of bitter," Iguodala said.
Kyle Korver said the Sixers are prepared for a season without Iverson.
"We want it to be over. We just want to move on," he said. "Obviously now Allen is probably going to be traded, or is going to be traded, so we just want to move on and not have to have long interviews after shootaround."
Also, the Sixers said Chris Webber would be fined for missing shootaround. Webber's return flight from an unannounced destination was delayed. When asked before Monday's game where he came back from, Webber said, "wherever I came back from."
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