Allen Iverson arrived at the Wachovia Center yesterday to sign his new megabucks deal wearing the white No. 5 jersey of Donovan McNabb, another prominent Philadelphia athlete who recently signed a megabucks deal.

Of course, McNabb, the Eagles' quarterback, has been under much scrutiny since signing his $112.9 million contract last year, becoming the No. 1 target of the city's boobirds given the team's 0-2 start.

But Iverson, who wore the jersey in a show of support for McNabb, knows all about scrutiny. The 76ers' franchise guard said he has gone through it "all my life" and knows it's bound to get more intense after the four-year, $76.7 million extension that he signed yesterday on the arena floor in front of about 3,000 season-ticket holders who cheered every other sentence he uttered.

Even with the scrutiny and the criticism in his seven seasons, Iverson insisted he didn't want to be anywhere else but Philadelphia for the next six years, or through the 2008-09 season.

"That was the whole plan," he said last night. "Once I got drafted, I felt I did not want to do that to little kids. I didn't want them to see me in a Sixers uniform one year and see me in another uniform in another city the next year. It just means a lot to me that I can be in a Sixers uniform for the rest of my career."

Iverson, 28, has two years remaining on his current deal - worth $13.5 million this season and $14.625 million in 2004-05.

He is expected to make $16.4 million in the first year of the extension, followed by annual salaries of $18.3 million, $20.1 million and $21.9 million, according to league sources.

Adding up the salaries for six seasons, Iverson will be earning about $104.8 million. The contract will keep him in a Sixers uniform until two months before his 34th birthday.