Iverson has Gambling and Alcohol Problems

[Dirty]

Report: Iverson facing trouble

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ESPN.com news services

Multiple NBA sources say Allen Iverson is facing alcohol and gambling issues that have derailed his career and threaten his post-basketball well-being, Stephen A. Smith of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports in a column published Monday.
[+] EnlargeGary Dineen/NBAE/Getty ImagesAllen Iverson played only 25 games for the 76ers before stepping away for the season.


According to multiple NBA sources, there is widespread concern that the four-time NBA scoring champion, who left the Philadelphia 76ers in February to deal with his daughter's illness and will not return this season, "will either drink himself into oblivion or gamble his life away," Smith reported.
Iverson's gambling problem is serious enough that he has been banished from casinos in Detroit and Atlantic City, N.J., according to Smith.
The report comes as Iverson is dealing with significant personal problems.
Iverson's wife Tawana filed for divorce on March 4, the same day the Philadelphia 76ers announced that the All-Star guard would not return for the rest of the season. In the divorce filing, made at Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta, Tawana Iverson said the couple's 8½-year marriage is "irretrievably broken" and sought full custody of the family's five children, child support and alimony.
Iverson, who played 25 games for the Sixers this season, returned to Atlanta in February to be with his family and deal with an undisclosed illness affecting his 4-year-old daughter, Messiah.
Smith, who has covered Iverson closely for years, wrote in Monday's column that Iverson needs someone with "the ideal combination of compassion and toughness" in his life. And former Temple coach John Chaney said that person is John Thompson, Iverson's former college coach at Georgetown.
"[Thompson] is the one guy who'll have a chance of slowing this train wreck down, who could wrap his arms around Iverson and have an impact, because clearly it has not been done," Chaney said, according to Smith. "But there's still this one question: Will [Iverson] listen?"
Iverson started the season with the Memphis Grizzlies but only played three games, amid disagreements over playing time, before announcing a short-lived retirement. He signed the 76ers as a free agent in December, making a tearful return to the city where he spent his first 10½ seasons, won four scoring titles, earned the 2000-01 MVP award and led the Sixers to the 2001 NBA Finals.
Iverson was traded to the Denver Nuggets in 2006 and played for the Nuggets through 2008, when he was dealt to the Detroit Pistons.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.


Report: Allen Iverson facing alcohol, gambling problems - ESPN

[Dirty]

Iverson will try to return in 2010-11

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Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA -- Allen Iverson is working on a comeback.


Iverson
Gary Moore, Iverson's personal manager, said that Iverson is planning a return to the NBA next season. Iverson returned to the Philadelphia 76ers in December and took a leave of absence in March because of family issues.
"Allen is working out and he's getting himself prepared to make his return," Moore said by phone Friday. "He absolutely will try and play next year."
Iverson left the Sixers to deal with an undisclosed illness of his 4-year-old daughter, Messiah.
"With God's graces, she's doing very well," Moore said.
Iverson has not talked publicly since ending his second stint with the Sixers. Iverson's wife, Tawanna, filed for divorce the same week he left Philadelphia. He posted messages on his Twitter account in March telling fans he expected to overcome the most recent obstacles in his life.
Iverson's most recent Twitter updates were promotions for his basketball camp in July and his documentary "Deconstructing Allen Iverson." Moore said the film could be released in the fall.
Iverson was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1996 draft and spent his first 10 seasons in Philadelphia. He won the MVP in 2001 when he led the Sixers to the Finals.
Sixers president Ed Stefanski said on an NBA.com chat this week the team was "not aware of what his plans are for the future."
Iverson, who turned 35 on June 7, was a four-time scoring champion and averaged 26.7 points in a 14-year career with the Sixers, Denver, Detroit and Memphis. He failed to win a championship.
Iverson made a tearful return to Philadelphia eager to prove he wasn't finished after disastrous stints in Detroit and Memphis. He returned to a sold-out crowd dotted with No. 3 jerseys, but he only showed flashes of his former playmaking self when he ruled the NBA as one of the best guards around.
"Allen wants to come and help a team win a championship, which he's completely capable of doing," Moore said.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press




Allen Iverson primed for next season, manager says - ESPN

[The Devil]

WAS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE A SURPRISE???

[Dirty]

haha.... Like a Girl jumping out of a birthday cake at a stripper party