On Tuesday, Allen Iverson vented to the press. On Wednesday, Larry Brown answered. In a press conference yesterday, Brown commented on the soap opera involving himself and Iverson.

Phil Jasner of the Daily News reports that Brown said again yesterday that he's staying as the Sixers' coach; Iverson said Tuesday that he's staying as the team's star, that neither man is going anywhere. A trade of Iverson? Not if you listen to these two men, who border on being geniuses in their respective fields.

"I know I'm here for a reason," Brown told reporters in the 30-minute session. "There's nobody in my profession who has had a challenge like this. Nobody. And I don't look at that in a bad way. Some of the proudest things that have ever happened to me as a coach have happened because of him. So I'll take the good with the bad. But I do know that I'm here for a reason with this kid, and I'm going to make sure that we both do what's right."

Brown said he sees Iverson as "a young kid reaching out for help." He said "not to put much stock" in Iverson's Tuesday rant, not to overreact to Iverson's display of anger, pain and stubbornness. And since even a news conference can use a touch of levity, Brown opened by sitting back and saying, "It's been a great five years here, guys..."

Brown saw the level of pain when Iverson talked about his 7-year-old daughter being forced to answer questions at school about whether her father might be traded and why people were saying nasty things about him.

In a Tuesday meeting that included general manager Billy King, Brown said he told Iverson: " 'You can tell your daughter not to worry about it, Daddy is going to be living in Philadelphia and we're going to see him at training camp at Penn State and move on and try to figure out a way we can get better.' "

We've been watching this soap opera for 5 years now and it looks like it's been renewed for another season.