Larry Brown and Allen Iverson, the old-school coach and the hip-hop basketball star, remain strange bedfellows, all these years later.

Iverson is out of a job this week — though apparently not for long — having been waived Monday by the Memphis Grizzlies, the fourth team to employ the 10-time NBA All-Star, four-time league scoring champion and one-time 76er.

And Brown, who had a love-hate relationship with Iverson when the two of them worked for the Sixers (1997-2003), has been lobbying for him, publicly and privately.

"I hope somebody picks him up," Brown said Wednesday night, before his current team, Charlotte, lost to the Sixers in the Wachovia Center. "I don't want to see him end his career this way."

Brown said he has been in contact with Iverson and his agent, Leon Rose, and that he has called other teams on behalf of his former player. Perhaps it is no coincidence the Knicks are reportedly interested in signing Iverson; their president is Donnie Walsh, with whom Brown worked for years in Indiana.

"I didn't have a lot of issues with him as a player," Brown said of Iverson. "My issue with him is that I thought he should have been more responsible. But he tried to win, competed and he brought a lot of excitement (to Philadelphia). … He's still got a lot to offer."

Brown and Iverson led the Sixers to the 2001 NBA Finals. Their most notable clash came the following year, after the team lost in the first round of the playoffs and Brown complained to the media about Iverson constantly missing practice during the season. Iverson responded with his rant on the subject, which remains a YouTube staple.

Brown, known for his nomadic ways, departed the Sixers after the '02-03 season and landed in Detroit, winning a title the very next year. He spent another year there, then a forgettable season with the Knicks. He is in his second season with the Bobcats.

Iverson, 34 and in his 14th season, was traded to Denver midway through the '06-07 campaign, and early last season was dealt to Detroit. His contract was up at the end of the season, and Brown said the Bobcats came "close" to signing him.

In time they decided otherwise, Brown saying Wednesday that he "didn't think it would be fair" to his young guards (Raymond Felton, D.J. Augustin, et al.) to bring Iverson in. Iverson wound up opting for a one-year deal with the Grizzlies, but played only three games for them, all as a reserve.

According to Yahoo Sports, he was so unhappy coming off the bench that he would often sit in the back of the team bus and loudly complain about coach Lionel Hollins (another ex-Sixer), who was well within earshot.

Iverson was granted a leave of absence on Nov. 7, and waived by "mutual agreement" Monday. His former team visits the Sixers tonight.