After six seasons of pushing and prodding, it was, of course, the only way for Larry Brown to greet Allen Iverson.

"Let me see your arms," Brown said to his former player on Sunday night at John Jay College. "Take off your shirt."

Iverson did not need any clarification.

"I told him that I've been lifting a lot since the season's been over," Iverson said. "I told him I'm not getting any bigger, but I'm getting stronger. That's the most important thing."

The most important thing to USA Basketball is that the soap opera-like relationship between Brown and Iverson remains in the past. The superstar coach and superstar player had a love-hate coexistence in Philadelphia, which is one reason Brown left the 76ers for the Detroit Pistons after last season.

Their meeting before the national team's first practice was the first time Brown and Iverson had spoken since Brown resigned. It seemed plausible that the coach's abrupt departure would create tension, but that was not the case.

Yesterday, Iverson said it takes a Hall of Fame coach like Brown to turn a team of all-stars into a cohesive unit, and Brown said he is honored to have Iverson on the club.

"I'm looking forward to it," Brown said of coaching Iverson on Team USA, which will begin the 2004 Olympic qualifying tournament on Aug. 20 in Puerto Rico. "He's a great player and he's got a huge heart."