Iverson's career is likely over, but his off-court problems are reportedly continuing to get worse.
Allen Iverson’s career and marriage appear to be over thanks primarily to serious problems with alcohol and gambling, the yappy Stephen A. Smith reported Monday in the Philadelphia Enquirer.
Smith’s column reads like a bizarre cry for help, but his connections throughout the NBA suggest that the column is 100 percent accurate. Finally there appears to be an explanation to AI’s strange demise in recent years.
According to Smith, Iverson has been banned from casinos in Detroit in Atlantic City. Long known for playing as hard as anyone in the NBA, his dispassionate and shockingly bad play in the last two years raised eyebrows around the league. Either Iverson had aged rapidly or something else was going on–it looks like the latter based on today’s news.
Like his career, Iverson’s marriage has experienced some tough times and is coming to an end. Iverson’s wife Tawanna has been separated from the father of her five children and filed for divorce last week in Atlanta, saying the marriage has been “irretrievably broken.” Tawanna had stuck with AI through thick and thin, including the 2002 incident where he allegedly threatened to kill her and forced her out of their house while she was completely naked. They had been married for roughly 8 1/2 years and together since high school.
Iverson’s vices have clearly led to his downfall. His legacy has already been tarnished and will continue to be tainted as more details emerge regarding his downward spiral.
Meanwhile, David Stern is hoping AI’s gambling issues quietly go away.
