REPORT: NBA Superstar Allen Iverson "Broke", Playing in Turkey

Former NBA superstar Allen Iverson is now playing in Turkey because he is "broke" after reportedly spending much of the estimated $100 million he earned as one of the league's highest players, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Iverson is not a sensation here, but rather an exciting curiosity for small pockets of basketball fans, playing for a club that doesn't even compete in Euroleague, Europe's most prestigious. The 76ers' former all-everything guard is broke - by all accounts except his own - and playing here in Istanbul for a number of reasons, none of which is to become an ambassador for Turkey's solid, but often overlooked, professional league. In early November, Iverson signed a two-year, $4 million contract with Besiktas, then missed his original flight to Istanbul, got on a plane two days later, and scored 15 points in his Besiktas debut on Tuesday.

"It's not a problem, it's not a problem - money," Iverson said at an Oct. 29 news conference in New York. "Obviously if it was about money, I would jump out there and say, 'You want me to come off the bench? How much money are you paying?' It wouldn't be a big deal. It's not about money or anything like that."

" A member of one NBA front office, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the subject matter, said that prior to last season, a member of Iverson's family called to inquire about a contract for Iverson, explaining that Iverson owed that person money and would be unable to pay without a contract. A similar source explained that Iverson is broke, plain and simple. Over his NBA career, including his lucrative deal with Reebok, Iverson made more than $100 million.

The 35-year-old 11-time NBA All Star was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers as the number one pick in the 1996 NBA Draft. After more than 10 seasons in Philadelphia and ultimately earning a reputation as a difficult player to manage, he was traded to Denver in 2006, then Detroit and Memphis. At the height of Iverson's career in 2002 and 2003, his annual salary was about $13 million plus $5 million annually in endorsements.

Comments

[Trey]

This is the fate of so many black athletes. it's really sad. I wish him the best.

[ReggieH]

When will the NBA (and other sports) invest in some basic financial education for players? I know...never, 'cause they really don't care about them, only about how much money they make for the owners and the league....

[True Words]

WOW, that is shameful...all of that money and now broke...I think this needs to be investigated because someone got rich and someone is poor

[Black Pegasus]

When you're a Poor Hood Ignoramus, you can just as easily be a Rich Hood Ignoramus.

The only difference is:Rich Dummys have more to lose than Poor Dummys.
In this case, money (or the lack thereof) is once again the great equalizer.

Congratulations You Big Poor Dummy! I never like you anyway! lol

[FREELEO]

You can take the boy out of the ghetto but too often you can't take the ghetto out of the boy. Very sad, whether you like a person or not. Black people (including Toni Braxton) have got to get it together. It is a business and you have to be diligent.

[terrell]

Some blacks encourage this to a point and let those clear people get away with it. Coming from nothing, instead of pushing them to complete their college education, getting a degree and then playing ball, it is encourage by their own families and friends to take the money and go before they are properly educated on how to manage it. Then we ask why are there so few head honchos who are black coaching and owning teams n the nfl or nba. We are white America's play things until they get tired of us. The phrase "we can always go back to school" applies when they end up dead broke! You hardly hear about this shit from white players, not saying it doesn't happen

[mjolnir202]

$100 Million dollars! Yikes!! I think I'd kill myself. It seems like there's a story like this weekly, with only the name of the broke athlete changed.

I don't think it's really the responsiblity of the NBA/NFL to teach these athletes how to manage their money. It would be nice if they did, but it's not going to happen. These are grown men, afterall. Do you want your boss telling you how to spend your paycheck?

Clearly, they're not to get good advice from their friends and family since these two groups always seem to be the major reason these guys are going broke in the first place. To top it off, half of these guys are so arrogant, obnoxious and ghetto themselves, even if a more senior player tried to school them, they wouldn't listen anyway. It makes it hard to feel sorry for them in the end.

[gogoswang]

While it may be the case that Iverson lost all of his money, I don't think this is typical for the majority of black athletes. We just hear about the ones that lose everything.

[tee]

this isnt true, dude. the "reporter" thzt originally ran this story didn't do any fact-checking, or they would have knkown that 1)Iverson's made over $200 million in salary and endorsements, 2)he's under a lifetime contract with Reebok that pays him $6 mil a year as long as he's playing, 3)he has businesses in philly and va that are pretty darn lucrative.

[Ross]

ya he def made over $100 million. in 08 with detroit he made $20.8 million from NBA alone. so your saying in the previous 12yrs (96-08) he only made $80 million???Whoever wrote this just wanted to start rumors and hurt AI's name. Just like he said, if it was about money he make way more in NBA coming off bench but he wants to play.