Allen Iverson

Background

Allen Iverson is an African-American retired basketball player who faced poverty throughout his childhood and was raised by his single mother. Besides taking part in sports, he constantly watched N.B.A. games to learn a thing or two. Though not as tall as most basketball players, Iverson was a force to reckon with in his heydays. He was known for his speed, quick moves, and pinpoint accuracy, making him one of the best point guards in N.B.A. history.

Iverson attended Bethel High School and later joined Georgetown University, where his skills got noticed by the head coach of the University basketball team. He started as a quarterback for the school’s football team and as a point guard for the school’s basketball team. During his junior year, he led both teams to Virginia State Championships. In both sports, he was named Associated Press High School Player of the Year. He played for the Boo Williams A.A.U. basketball team and won the 1992 17-and-under A.A.U. National Championships.

After two seasons at Georgetown, he was taken first overall in the 1996 N.B.A. draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. What’s more, Iverson was recruited from prison, where he was serving a lengthy sentence for fighting in a bar. He was only able to help the 76ers to a 22-60 record in the 1996-1997 season. In a game against the Chicago Bulls, he scored 37 points and famously crossed over Michael Jordan. He was named the N.B.A. Rookie of the Year, averaging, per game, 23.5 points, 7.5 assists, and 2.1 steals each for the season.

He was named to his first All-N.B.A. first team in 1998-1999, averaging 26.8 points per game. He extended his contract for another six years, at a cost of $70 million. Under his direction, the Sixers improved more, qualifying for the playoffs with a 49-33 record. In January 2013, he was offered a contract with the N.B.A. D-Texas League’s Legends, but he declined. Iverson later announced his retirement on October 30, 2013, saying he had lost his desire to play. In November 2013, the Sixers announced that his shirt number, three, would be retired in a special halftime ceremony on March 1, 2014, when they hosted the Washington Wizards.

Iverson began dating Tawanna Turner, his high school sweetheart, when they were both 16 years old, and they later married at The Mansion on Main Street, in Voorhees, New Jersey. They are the parents of five children. Turner filed for divorce on March 2, 2010, requesting custody of their children as well as child support and alimony payments. Iverson says they reunited less than a month after their divorce was finalized in 2013. He currently lives in Charlotte, in the neighborhood of Ballantyne, with his ex-wife, Tawanna, and three of their five children.