Not only is Allen Iverson sober, but the NBA great known as ‘The Answer’ is also back with his ex-wife, Tawanna.
Speaking to Stephen A. Smith on ESPN’s First Take, the ex-Philadelphia 76ers star discussed his widely publicized struggles since officially retiring in 2013. Iverson said his ‘lowest point’ came when Tawanna left him that same year.
‘It was self-inflicted, but when Tawanna divorced me, that’s when I knew I hit my lowest point and it was time for some deep, self re-evaluation,’ Iverson told Smith. ‘You know what I mean? [She is] my number one. Obviously we’ve been together over, well, 35 years. If you hang in there that long, it takes a lot to want to go.’
The worst part, he told Smith, was seeing ‘Iverson vs. Iverson’ on the legal documents.
‘I had tried everything, nothing was working,’ said Iverson, who is promoting his memoir, Misunderstood. ‘And when I’m sitting in that courtroom, and I usually watch Sixers. vs. Sixers in the scrimmage or Georgetown vs. Georgetown, and I’m sitting there and them tears hit the page and I saw Iverson vs. Iverson. I was like oh man, this is the lowest it gets right here.’
High school sweethearts from their days growing up on the Virginia coastline, Iverson and Tawanna married in 2001 and share five children. The two had been off and on since their 2013 divorce, but Iverson said they are firmly together these days.
Allen Iverson is seen with ex-wife Tawanna Turner during a 2016 event in New York
Iverson, 50, is now six months’ sober and says it’s one of the best decisions of his life
And Iverson’s sobriety is a major part of that reunion.
‘I had to change a lot of things,’ Iverson said. ‘What is so crazy about me not drinking anymore, she told me this was the first time that she had ever prayed on it—when I told her I was stopping—because I had before. That was the first time she said she prayed on it, and I was authentic.
‘I had to convince her that basically this wasn’t the same old me. I expressed to her what she means to me in my life and how pivotal that she is in my growth and my maturation and where I want to go in life. I don’t feel like I’m the same Allen Iverson without her, you know what I mean? She is my life.’
Iverson also discussed his sobriety during an interview with CBS’s Maurice DuBois, saying he has not had a drink in sixth months.
‘One of my best decisions that I ever made in my life was to stop drinking,’ Iverson told DuBois.
And asked how he feels since he stopped drinking, Iverson replied: ‘Better than I did when I was doing it.’
‘When you get drunk, you’re not how you usually are,’ Iverson continued. ‘The more and more I see it on other people, the more and more it makes me happy about the decision. And the more and more I see how the people around me appreciate it, I love it.’
Allen Iverson is pictured during his time at Georgetown alongside coach John Thompson
Allen Iverson drives on Pacers guard Mark Jackson during the 1999 NBA Playoffs
Iverson didn’t win an NBA or NCAA title, but remains a cultural touchstone for basketball fans of a certain age. Generously listed at 6-feet, 165-pounds, Iverson’s remarkable quickness, ball handling and toughness helped make him the top pick out of Georgetown in the 1996 NBA Draft.
He would go on to win Rookie of the Year and, in 2001, an MVP award. It was that season that Iverson famously led an overmatched 76ers team into a doomed NBA Finals series with Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers, but while he never threatened for another title, he remains a legendary figure in both Philadelphia and Washington.
Off the court, though, Iverson has struggled with legal problems and a 2002 incident in when he was accused of throwing Tawanna out of their home during a domestic dispute. He was also accused of threatening two men with a gun when they asked about her.
Charges were later dropped.
Despite his troubles, Iverson was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.
‘When I had hard losses, didn’t play well, you know, the media treating me like they did throughout my career, I always came home and forgot about all of that once I saw y’all,’ an emotional Iverson said of his fans at the 2016 induction. ‘So, thanks for being my crutch and I love y’all so much.’
