Allen Iverson planted a kiss on the 76ers logo at midcourt and blew imaginary ones to the fans.

With a packed Philadelphia crowd standing and roaring in appreciation for their former MVP, Iverson had to wonder if his career would be different had he simply kissed and made up with the Sixers last season.

“I had a big hand in me getting traded,” a reflective Iverson said Wednesday night. “I always wanted to finish my career here in Philadelphia. The opportunity was there for me to do it. In a lot of ways, I made sure that didn’t happen.”

All of Iverson’s arguments with former coach Larry Brown, the complaints about practice—practice!—and his falling out with coach Maurice Cheeks that led to his trade to Denver were forgotten the moment he walked into the Wachovia Center for the first time as a visitor.

Iverson hugged security guards, embraced Cheeks, kissed the team logo and joked about not knowing where to go inside the Wachovia Center. He took a different route to the arena than he did in his years with the Sixers, dressed in a new locker room and sat on the visitor’s bench.