<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Now that the inevitable has happened - the coach who refused to make any friends got his pink slip - we turn our attention away from Jim O'Brien and back to Allen Iverson, where it always seems to end up. It's hard to believe that O'Brien got fired after just one season, a 43-39 record, a 10-game improvement from the previous year, and a trip to the postseason. But now it is Maurice Cheeks, Philadelphia's beloved son, who is the 21st head coach in 76ers history. If our attention were not focused elsewhere, it could easily be directed at Sixers president and general manager Billy King, now responsible for subsidizing two coaches no longer employed by Comcast-Spectacor, which owns the team. But that has never been possible with Iverson in town. And it never will be as long as Russian roulette continues to be played with those hired to coach him. O'Brien was fired yesterday, in part because of his coaching ability, but mainly because of his attitude. Check with the Sixers' inner circle and you'll get nothing but denials. Especially from the mercurial star who averaged a league-leading 30.7 points per game and finished with first-team all-NBA honors. The same player who took the court during the playoffs in Detroit infuriated because O'Brien would not allow his pregnant wife and three children to fly on the team's chartered plane. Iverson never liked O'Brien so much as he tolerated him. He never believed O'Brien was the coach who would maximize the potential of Samuel Dalembert, Willie Green, or anyone else who thought to dribble before shooting. But at this moment, with Iverson "not young anymore," as he has said on many occasions this year, the pressure falls squarely on him to produce and to not see a sixth coach depart under his watch. Johnny Davis was a first-year coach tagged with low expectations, but it still counted as a departure. Larry Brown took six years to exit, leaving behind the impression that he couldn't coach Iverson any longer. Then there was Randy Ayers (someone Cheeks covets as his top assistant), dismissed after only 52 games on the job. Interim coach and noted disciplinarian Chris Ford followed and took about two hours to sever any relationship with Iverson. Now O'Brien is the latest sacrificial lamb, the one presumably incapable of meshing athletic youth and experience with the three-time scoring champion.</div> Source
I'm not surprised. Maybe Iverson did somewhat despise him but he just held it in for the time being. After having the worst season of his career prior to this year I'm sure he wanted to stay out of the headlines this time around and if he really did dislike O'Brien he did a good job not expressing it. However, I still think O'Brien firing was more of Dalembert and Webber not being fond of him. I for one believe Iverson wouldn't really care all that much if he returned, but if you have key componets such as Dalembert and Webber not liking this guy a change was needed.
Well even if AI didn't like O'Brien he did a great job of just listening to him anyways, and not leaking anything of that matter to the media. It seems to me that AI liked him though, I remeber in the first game of the season against Boston, AI gave O'Brien the game ball but then again that was only the first game of the season.
I would have thought that Iverson would have liked O'Brien. I mean, O'Brien did trust Iverson with like ninety percent of the possessions. Plus, he used the run and gun strategy that suited the playing style of Iverson. In addition, he never publicly called out Iverson or anything major like that. Personally, I thought he rather sucked up to Iverson and tried too hard to make friends with him. However, maybe Iverson cared more about the team? I think at this point of his career, he cares more about wins and getting closer to the finals than personal achievements. I don't know.
Who knows, Iverson could be very likely to be an influence on the firing. I do not think Iverson and Jim O'Brien had the best relationship, but I wouldn't say a very bad one. However, I think the man who should be in the 'hot seat' is Chris Webber. We all know he didn't have the best words for J.O.B. and was frusturated when he couldn't quite get accustomed to the Sixers' style of play. *Also do not forget Dalembert was complaining to the media not to long ago about his frequent substitutions during the seasons.
