"THE DAY THEY brought Allen Iverson back, amid the tears and the promises and the stampede to the box office that lasted one game, the belief here was that nothing Iverson could do in his return to Philadelphia would alter the polarized opinions that already existed. Even if nobody could have predicted the twists and turns, that part turned out to be true.

Because the people who love Iverson continue to love him, and cite his decision to leave the team to tend to the unspecified illness of his child as a sign of mature growth and an enduring symbol of the man's heart.

And because the people who deride Iverson continue to deride him, talking about a club appearance for charity he made in Charlotte over the weekend as more of the same old/same old, and wondering if he really would be walking away if the Sixers were a contending team instead of a team playing like stink.

That's the thing about Iverson, and it has never changed - that wherever you have staked out your position, he is more than happy to supply you with enough ammunition to sustain you through a long winter's fight.

Whatever, it's over. The beginning was a little murky and the ending was a lot murky but, as of yesterday, officially, finally, Allen Iverson doesn't play here anymore.

"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," team president Ed Stefanski said in a statement. "It has been very difficult for Allen and the team to maintain any consistency as he tries to balance his career with his personal life."

Three months ago, Iverson was brought here to fill a void on the guard line when Lou Williams was out with a broken jaw. The original thought was that the Sixers were in a real bind because Williams would miss about 2 months (Miscalculation No. 1). The other thought, going in, was that Iverson was still a very good player (Miscalculation No. 2).

What evolved, after Iverson wiped the tears from his eyes and got done kissing the floor at his sold-out homecoming game, was that he wasn't nearly the player he was before, that he lacked the same explosiveness, that he wasn't in shape at the beginning, that he was playing on a bum knee that continually needed to be drained and rested, and that Williams was back weeks earlier than the original prognosis.

What made little sense at the beginning, except as a vehicle for generating interest in a moribund franchise, made less and less sense in the weeks thereafter. And then Iverson's daughter got sick, and he left the team to be with her, and then he came back for a little while, and then he left again. It complicates every conversation and every attempt at analysis - because there is nobody who does not feel for a parent in the same situation."