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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- One of basketball's most celebrated Odd Couples is back together.

Larry Brown and Allen Iverson, the unbending coach and the free-spirited point guard, never really got along in Philadelphia. But a year after they parted ways, they're combining forces on the U.S. Olympic basketball team and finding that maybe what they had with the 76ers really wasn't so bad.

"To me, he's the best coach in the world," Iverson said.

Those words almost seem laughable considering the six tumultuous seasons the men spent together in Philly.

They were constantly at odds, Brown chafing at Iverson's penchant for dogging it in practices or missing them altogether. The coach also felt Iverson was selfish at times and didn't take coaching well, a tough trait to ignore for a man who loves to teach.

Shortly after the 76ers lost to Detroit 4-2 in a playoff series to close their 2003 season, Brown resigned and took a job with the Pistons. Iverson showed up to the arena only 30 minutes before the game that ended Philadelphia's season, saying he was late because of a flat tire. Some say that might have been the last straw for the coach.

Over the ensuing months, they mended their relationship. Brown got his NBA title with the Pistons in June. Iverson didn't find things much better in Philly, where the Sixers missed the playoffs, and his relationship with interim coach Chris Ford -- who came on after Brown's replacement, Randy Ayers, got fired -- was actually worse than it was with Brown.

"A lot of it was mostly me, not being mature at times," Iverson said. "He knows the game 1,000 times more than I do. I always took criticism that he gave me the wrong way when, all the time, he was trying to help me."

But Brown concedes he wasn't perfect either. The game has changed since he first coached in the NBA with the Nuggets in the 1970s. The coach's word -- even a coach as good as Brown -- is no longer sacrosanct in a league filled with multimillionaire stars with multimillionaire egos. He admits he was overbearing at times.

"You don't always do the right thing by your players," Brown said. "I could have changed some things early on in our relationship that maybe would have helped him."

But talking this week, as the Olympic team trains in Jacksonville, neither of these guys seems to have regrets about their past. With Brown coaching, Iverson became an All-Star, a Most Valuable Player and made it to the NBA Finals in 2001. And with Iverson as his star, Brown went 255-205 with the Sixers, made the playoffs five times and further cemented his name among the all-time coaching greats.

"I wouldn't be coaching this team if it wasn't for the contributions he made in the years I spent with him," Brown said.

He'll need everything he can get out of Iverson at the Olympics. The Americans -- who play an exhibition against Puerto Rico on Saturday, head to Europe for more training next week and open their Olympic schedule Aug. 15 -- are considered a favorite in Athens, but hardly a prohibitive one.

Iverson is one of the few consistent outside threats on a team built more for size than shooting or ballhandling. Stephon Marbury is the only true point guard. The 6-foot-4 Dwyane Wade is listed as a guard, as is 6-8 LeBron James, and that's where the list ends.

At 29, Iverson is also the oldest member of the team. The Answer, an elder statesman? Who would have thought that?

"That's never happened to him in his career," Brown said. "Watching him now, he's really trying to sacrifice some of the things he does well to try to make everybody comfortable with what we're trying to do."

As much as anyone on this 12-player team filled with NBA All-Stars, Iverson's success could determine how the Americans do in Athens. Regardless of the result, player and coach are almost certain to get along better than they ever did in Philadelphia.

"I learned a lot from him, he learned a lot from me," Iverson said. "If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be the player I am today."< ^STARS AND STRIPES:@ NBA commissioner David Stern attended practice Friday, and addressed the players, thanking them for the time they're spending playing for the Olympic team. ... Carlos Boozer missed practice because he was in Utah signing his new contract with the Jazz. ... Iverson sprained his left pinkie in a scrimmage Thursday against Puerto Rico. X-rays were negative, and his availability for Saturday's exhibition was to be determined before the game.

Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press

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