"We were worried Aaron had a complete
rotator-cuff tear," said Andrews, who performed the procedures
at his Alabama Sports Medicine facility. "And in
Allen's case, we thought he might have a rather severe
arthritic component to his elbow. And as you know, there is
no true cure for arthritis."<br><br>While the
hour-long operation should reduce Iverson's chronic
discomfort, Andrews said it didn't guarantee that he will be
able to move it more freely.<br><br>"We've got some
work to do in Allen's elbow to get the motion back in
it," said Andrews.<br><br>Coming on the eve of
training camp, the arthroscopic procedures raised
questions as to why they weren't done at the end of the
2001 season.<br><br>According to King, both players
had hoped time away from basketball would heal
them.<br><br>"The decision was that rest would probably resolve
it," he said. "Rest did not. . . . But I'd rather be
dealing with this now than in December or
January."<br><br>McPhilemy said he suggested surgery to Iverson as far back
as the night the Sixers lost to the Lakers in Game 5
of the NBA Finals. He said he also raised the issue
with McKie a few times during the
offseason.<br><br>"But suggesting it and getting it done are two
different things," said McPhilemy.<br><br>Iverson's
decision was complicated by his recent wedding and a busy
offseason, said McPhilemy. McKie, meanwhile, had been a free
agent before signing a six-year $35.5 million deal this
summer and apparently wanted to resolve that situation
first.<br><br>Andrews said he and the players watched the
Washington-Green Bay Monday Night Football game the night before.
The doctor said he assured Iverson that he had
performed the same procedure on Packers quarterback Brett
Favre a decade ago and that he was throwing as well as
ever.<br><br>"I also did a very similar procedure on (Portland's)
Scottie Pippen last season and I think he got back pretty
quickly," said Andrews.<br><br>McPhilemy said that most
recently both players had been scheduled to see him for an
evaluation on Sept. 11, the day of the terrorist attacks on
the U.S. That delayed their final pre-surgical exam
until last week.<br><br>Both players could start their
rehabilitation program as early as tomorrow.<br><br>"They'll be
starting motion exercises probably (tomorrow) as soon as
they feel comfortable," said McPhilemy. "We'll
progress their motion exercises slowly over the course of
the next several weeks based on their response. . . .
Then we'll begin some strengthening
exercises."<br><br>Iverson, McKie, Eric Snow, George Lynch and Matt Harpring
all will be rehabilitating when camp starts on
Tuesday.<br><br>"I told Larry (Brown) that this could help our team
because it allows other guys to get some playing time
in," King said. "When guys stepped in for injured
players a year ago, I think that really helped them when
we need them later."<br><br>Iverson, 26, led the
league in scoring for a second time (31.1 points a game)
in pacing the 76ers to the Eastern Conference
championship. McKie averaged a career-high 11.6 minutes.