"Well, that was fun. The nonstop thrill ride that was Allen Iverson, Part II, came to an end yesterday when 76ers general manager Ed Stefanski announced that Iverson would miss the rest of this exciting NBA season.

It was an oddly worded statement in a way, but what hasn't been odd about the team's whole misguided dalliance with the past?

"After discussing the situation with Allen, we have come to the conclusion that he will not return to the Sixers for the remainder of the season, as he no longer wishes to be a distraction to the organization and teammates that he loves very deeply," the statement attributed to Stefanski said.

Not: "Allen has decided he will not return."

Not: "Allen has been told not to return."

But: " . . . we have come to the conclusion that he will not return . . ."

So, we don't know who was the decider in this mess, and who was the decidee, but it is admittedly a reasonable conclusion since Iverson has been gone for two weeks. What took so long to reach that conclusion is another matter.

It should have been embarrassing for the organization when coach Eddie Jordan had to admit he didn't know whether to expect Iverson on any given day. That's no way to keep a team focused, with everyone casting a glance over his shoulder every time the door opened on the practice court.

Embarrassing the Sixers isn't easy, though, and if the two months Iverson was on the roster didn't do it, nothing probably will.

Let's pause right here and acknowledge that there is an apparently sick child involved in this story, and although neither Iverson nor the Sixers have been forthcoming about the nature or severity of the illness, that situation must be understandably difficult for Iverson.

It might be less difficult if, as he said when he signed, he was committing himself fully to Philadelphia, and moved his family here. If that were the case, he could have kept doing his job.

Iverson is not served by the memory that he often missed work in his first tenure here because of illness at home. He is further not served by the additional memory that he was occasionally spotted out on the town during those absences, or that he was able to make an appearance in Charlotte, N.C., last weekend."