Iverson returning to Sixers

PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Allen Iverson will join the Philadelphia 76ers, returning to the NBA team that drafted him in 1996 and ending an eight-day retirement, the team said Wednesday.

Iverson had announced his retirement after being waived by Memphis Nov. 16. An injury to Lou Williams, who will miss about eight weeks, led the Sixers to look to Iverson.

"We felt that Allen was the best available free-agent guard to help us at this time," Sixers General Manager Ed Stefanski said Wednesday.

The team said Iverson would play in Monday's game against Denver.

Philadelphia made Iverson the first overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft and he played more than 10 seasons with the Sixers. He helped the team to the 2001 NBA Finals and was voted the league's most valuable player that season. Iverson is second on the all-time Sixers scoring list with 19,583 points.

Iverson, in his 14th NBA season, has been selected to All-Star teams 10 times. He averaged 27.0 points over 889 regular-season games. His 29.7-point average in 71 playoff games is second-highest in league history.