Matt Geiger was vilified and ridiculed for not playing last season when he said he was hurt. He left the 76ers bench during a playoff game because of a fan's brutal taunt.

He was seen as a social animal, a guy who liked a good time, as if he wasn't supposed to enjoy his time away from the court.

His arthritic knees would not allow him to be the backup center and power forward everyone wanted him to be. The moving vans pulled up Tuesday to his suburban home - the one once populated by teammate Allen Iverson and his family - and by Wednesday night, when the Sixers had waived Geiger and he had subsequently announced his retirement, he was already long gone.