I’M THINKING CHAMPIONSHIP

The news could have turned into another ugly controversy for Allen Iverson’s impressive collection.

Not even five minutes after sitting down with reporters to talk about the season, Philadelphia 76ers coach Larry Brown slipped an interesting tidbit into the conversation: Iverson, his star player and occasional adversary, was going to have to change positions again.

Iverson won his first scoring title last season after Brown moved him to shooting guard. Now, the coach wants him to move back to point guard for about 18 minutes a game so promising second-year player Larry Hughes can have more playing time.

There was a time when Iverson would have instantly rebelled, railed against the establishment, wondered aloud why everyone was out to get him.

This isn’t the same Iverson.

“I can play any position on the floor, unless you try to have me guard somebody like Shaq or post him up,” Iverson said, laughing. “I’ll do anything to help this team win, I don’t care what it is. I’ll do anything it takes to get a championship. I think coach Brown knows what it takes to get there.”

These are revealing words from a player who cursed Brown during a game last season after a long spell on the bench. As he prepares for his fourth year in the NBA--his first coming off a winning season--Iverson is saying all the right things.

“It took winning for people to just open their eyes and listen to me,” said Iverson, preparing for a season of heightened expectations after leading the Sixers to the playoffs for the first time since 1991.

“I think it’s always been unfair the way people treated me when I first came in the league, because of my past,” Iverson said. “I always had some baggage anyway. People were always taking shots at me from the beginning.”

The 24-year-old Iverson finally proved to his critics last year that he can be the leader on a winning team. The Sixers were 28-22 in the lockout-shortened season, upset Orlando in the first round of the playoffs and were swept by Indiana in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Iverson became the first scoring champion of the post-Michael Jordan era and was named to the all-NBA first team. Hounded by losing, missed practices and trouble with the law in his first two seasons, Iverson made it through the year with only one minor squabble with Brown.

“I’ve always told him, these awards will come if you play on a winning team,” Brown said.

Iverson’s relationship with his old-school coach has evolved from what seemed like an impossible mismatch into one of respect, even admiration.

After moving Iverson to shooting guard to take advantage of his scoring ability, Brown is adding a new twist this year.

“He has to allow us to put Larry Hughes on the court, and I think it’s going to be a challenge,” Brown said. “He’s going to have to play point guard 16-18 minutes a game.”

After having so many differences with Brown over playing time and playing style, Iverson suddenly sounds like a Brown clone.

“My main goal is just to play better defensively,” Iverson said. “I want to hopefully lead the league in steals. I want to get my assists up more than I did last year, and my rebounding, but most importantly my field goal percentage.

“I want my coach to say, ‘He’s gotten better at every aspect of his game.’ ”

As an assistant to Rudy Tomjanovich on the U.S. Olympic team, Brown said he will offer his endorsement of Iverson.

“Based on what he did last year, I think he deserves being considered,” Brown said.

With Brown’s history of moving around, he admits he can see the day when Iverson is playing for someone else. Already in charge of the Sixers’ basketball operations, Brown says, “I wouldn’t mind watching somebody else coach someday if we felt we built it the right way.”

Brown, who played for Dean Smith and worked as his assistant at North Carolina, said there is still one job he’d have a hard time turning down.

“If coach Smith called me up and said, ‘Larry, I’d like you to coach the University of North Carolina,’ that would be a tough call for me,’ ” Brown said. “But I would love to finish my career here if that’s possible.”

When the Sixers met with the media last week before heading to training camp in Chapel Hill, N.C., Iverson seemed relieved to talk mostly about basketball.

He clowned around for the cameras and posed for shots while holding a Mr. Potato Head doll. It was part of a TV commercial for Disney On Ice, a rare endorsement opportunity. Iverson is scheduled to meet with Sixers officials soon to discuss plans to get him the marketing exposure he’s lacked.

“The same progress he’s showed on the court, he’s showed off the court the last three years,” said Dave Coskey, the Sixers’ vice president for public relations.

Iverson spent four months in jail during high school on charges he was involved in a brawl, but the conviction was later overturned. He said many people in that situation “never bounce back.”

“With me, I took advantage of my second chance,” he said.

His goals have changed, his worries faded perhaps just enough so he can see the future more clearly. And he sees jewelry in the future; the kind NBA players like to put on their fingers.

“I’m thinking ‘championship,”’ he said.