Word around the league was that 76ers chairman Ed Snider recently had held a meeting in which he ordered rebuilding, including a trade of Allen Iverson, according to a report published in yesterday's Akron Beacon-Journal.

One problem, say the Philadelphia Daily News. The vacationing Snider, reached yesterday by telephone by the Daily News, said he never held any such meeting.

"I never had such a meeting," Snider said. "I don't give orders like that. I never have in 45 years of professional sports."

Snider seemed troubled by the premise.

"How can I order a trade?" he said. "[Sixers president/general manager Billy King] has already said we'll do anything we can to make the team better. But I can't order a trade of anybody."

"You can't order a trade. [King] calls the shots. He comes to me to tell me what opportunities we might have. If he comes to me with one, I would consider it. No one wants to be in the middle of the pack. If we can make a spectacular trade, break loose and go to the top the way Miami did with Shaq [Shaquille O'Neal]... But until we have that opportunity, there's no way to demand that opportunity."