The last that we had heard of the man, the myth, the legend, and NBA superstar Turkish Basketball superstar Allen Iverson was that his triumphant return to professional basketball in Europe had hit a snag after finding a growth on his leg between the muscle and bone. The unfortunate growth had the possibility of being very serious so A.I. left his Beskitas teammates to return home to the States for surgery and a long uphill battle on the rehab circuit.
Iverson’s leaving a team he is under contract with seems to fit the pattern he started last season when he left his supposed 2nd home with the Philadelphia 76ers prior to season’s end to tend to an ill daughter. It was later speculated and reported that A.I. left Philly amid rumors of a boatload of gambling debts and a serious problem with alcoholism.
After leaving his European club, which he signed with for $4 million over 2 seasons, the Internet went wild with rumors with everything from his impending retirement, to a return to the NBA with Charlotte or Cleveland, he was in rehab, or maybe, just maybe he was telling the truth.
All of that changed and things became clearer when TMZ recently reported that his Lamborghini was pulled over for an improper lane change in an Atlanta suburb and it was discovered that the luxury car’s tags were expired for nearly 2 years. Apparently Mr. Iverson, who was found in the passenger seat by the way, used a bit of trickery by replacing the expired tags with a current dealer plate to avoid detection.
When reading over the official police report, it claims that Iverson seemed a bit “out if it” and wanted to get out of the car and get something to eat while the police officer was writing up the information on the vehicle. When the officer said no, Iverson became verbally abusive toward the officers.
According to an NBC affiliate in Atlanta, the report said that Iverson went on for the next 20 minutes, saying, “Do you know who I am? I make more money than you will in 10 years!” Looking towards the future, that statement might not be entirely true.
The officer said that it really didn’t matter who Iverson was, he was trying to conceal his vehicle with a fake, drive out tag due to not paying for your tags, which cost roughly $30 annually. After a tow truck came to take away the vehicle, the report said Iverson came back and apologized to the officer, saying he was just upset about the car.
Police cited the driver for failure to signal while changing lanes and for the expired tag. As police prepared to tow the car away, Iverson reportedly hopped into a Rolls-Royce that the NBA star’s friends were following in, and pulled off. I guess in Iverson’s eyes, it’s a case of no harm, no foul.
In closing, it’s just plain depressing. Iverson, who was at one point during the late 90‘s and early 2000‘s the biggest superstar that the NBA had seen since Michael Jordan’s heyday, just can’t seem to stop following this downward career spiral from a sure-fire 1st ballot NBA Hall of Famer to a 2nd tier European also ran, to now not even being able to pay for vehicle registrations. Where will the Iverson saga end? Surely only A.I. knows.
Let’s leave on a positive note, checking out a video of Iverson’s Top 10 Moments as a Sixer:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
