However, the NBA, which didn't embrace the guy it pegged as a troublemaker when he was the top pick in the draft by Philadelphia in 1996, now is partially entrusting Allen Iverson with carrying the league into the next millennium. Hypocritical? Not really.

	Iverson has picked up his game and again leads the league in scoring.

While plenty of eyes will be on the big guys in Sunday's All-Star classic, it's the smallest participant who just may steal the show. So it's easy to see why the NBA all of a sudden likes the guy.

What's interesting here is that the Iverson you see now just might be the same Iverson who came out of Georgetown with so much fanfare. He says he is, though those around him disagree.

"I haven't changed a bit, though I am getting wiser and smarter every day," Iverson told ESPN.com on Friday at All-Star weekend. "No, I'm not changing, it's just people are trying to understand me now. I was 20, 21 years old when I came into the league and the league wanted me to be 30. You don't see a kid who is 21 wearing suits every day. That wasn't me."

Maybe people didn't know what Iverson was all about back then. There were certainly reasons to wonder if he would fit in, on and off the court. Iverson was considered a troublemaker, and it's more than the unfortunate incident at the bowling alley that landed him in prison (the governor of Virginia later pardoned Iverson). It's the fact that he was labeled a threat to land in trouble at any time, to speak his mind. And occasional wars with Sixers head coach Larry Brown haven't helped change that perception.

But Iverson has changed. Since moving from point guard to shooting guard last season, he turned into the top scorer in the league and it's not even close. Iverson is at 30 points a game and Shaquille O'Neal is three points a night below that. And off the court, the man they call The Answer seems more mature to those who play with and against him and the media that see him often.

THE MEDIA ON IVERSON

"It's life experiences. He is the same guy and he believes it, but he is more mature. You can become more responsible without changing who you are. And now the team is winning, which makes it easier. He's always been nice to me." -- Dei Lynam, daughter of former Sixers coach Jim Lynam and current broadcaster for Philadelphia's Comcast SportsNet. "I don't think he's changed all that much. People's perceptions change. He is still the same guy. That's the problem with people, you judge what you don't understand. The mainstream media doesn't understand a young hip-hop guy." -- ESPN's Stuart Scott. "His behavior has changed drastically. I used to see him at games with an entourage of 50 to 100 people. You don't see that now. He has a ways to go, but he has matured. He's leading the league in scoring. Is he selfish? To a degree, but he really wants to shoot every time because he believes he has the best chance on the team to make it. And he is." -- Philadelphia Inquirer 76ers beat writer Stephen Smith.

"Everybody loves Allen," 76ers teammate Larry Hughes said. "When there was all this trade talk he told me he was on the block a couple of times and not to worry about it. He's a good friend. He's not the reason I'm on the trading block."

Well, indirectly he is. Of course, the reason Hughes is on the block isn't a question of talent, it's because he, like Iverson, is a shooting guard, and there may not be enough room for both players. This was also the same problem that most people assume elicited the departure of another Sixers top pick, Jerry Stackhouse, now thriving in Detroit after being dealt for Theo Ratliff.

"Nah, it was really addition by subtraction for them because they got a big man," Stackhouse reports. "To get a big man they had to trade me. That other stuff, it's not right. Allen is a good guy. We still talk. The deal worked out for both sides. That wasn't his fault or my fault."

So maybe Iverson isn't trying to get his buddies moved out of town, but he also isn't very interested in sharing the ball. The NBA is a lot of flash and dunks, and Iverson has no problem with that playground style of play. There are a number of games -- too many if you ask coach Brown -- when Iverson has more turnovers than assists and shoots his team out of games. Of course, where would they be without him?

"I don't have to get everybody involved, that's not my job," Iverson said. "That's Eric Snow's job. I'd rather they just let me get off. A lot of guys get up to face me every night."

A few Sunday's back Iverson dropped 50 points on the defense-deficient Sacramento Kings. The next day in the newspapers there were quotes from Pacers veterans Reggie Miller and Mark Jackson saying that wouldn't happen to them the next night. It didn't. Iverson got less shots and missed most of them, finishing with 14 points. Philly was blown out.

While the league acts more scared of Iverson than approving of him, he does seem to be well-liked by many, though you can't expect anyone to rip him in public. Sixers president Pat Croce gushed about him at a Friday get together in San Francisco, and he had to engineer a desperate meeting with Iverson and Brown a few months ago so neither guy would quit or demand a trade. Snow said he was happy with the way the team was playing, as he's racking up double-digit assist games night after night while Iverson scores in the 40s occasionally. And Charlotte's Eddie Jones, who will start next to Iverson in the backcourt on Sunday, said he would have no problem playing the point to help Iverson get going.

"Hey, it will be fun for me to watch him play, see him do that crossover on someone else," Jones said. "He might feed me a bit, I might feed him. If he starts five-for-five, he'll get the ball from me every time."

So maybe Iverson has become a sort of hero in the NBA because his game has managed to override everything else about him that doesn't make him the perfect role model. So what if he shoots 40 times some nights; The 76ers were brutal before they got him and for awhile after, and now they are on their way to another playoff appearance. And Iverson says now that he has one scoring title and another on the way, all that matters is winning a championship.

Image is everything, but it's how that image is created that is so interesting. Iverson doesn't care about his image or the financial considerations he may have lost or will lose because of it. Iverson admits he's not here in Oakland for any other reason than to play basketball. "It's what I do best, and that's all that matters. The other stuff, it doesn't matter."

"He will get more respect, he has to over time," Cavaliers rookie point guard Andre Miller suggests. "People want to forget about the other stuff and watch him play. That's his image."

There really is no other player in the NBA like Iverson. Other players may score 50 points, take a ton of shots, carry a team to the playoffs, argue with a coach, get in a little trouble off the court, make their hair look the same way. So what? With no Michael or Larry or Magic, the game has evolved.

And whether Iverson has with it or not, he's here to stay, and the NBA is pretty happy about that.