Report: Iverson to announce retirement, or is he?
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Report: Iverson to announce retirement, or is he?
Allen Iverson is reportedly set to have a news conference today to announce his retirement from basketball.
However, Iverson's personal manager Gary Moore, told the Associated Press that Iverson "totally disputes" any report of his retirement. Moore said he and Iverson spoke today.
Iverson has been playing for the Turkish team Besiktas. He recently suffered an ankle injury and is returning to the United States for surgery.
Moore said Iverson needs to have a painful lesion removed from his right calf. He said the injury is the most painful that Iverson has had in his career.
“It has to be removed and tested to see if it’s benign or not,” Moore told the AP. “Once that’s removed, Allen is going to look to rehabilitate his leg because the doctors tell him he’ll be out four to six weeks, He’s hoping to be able to play in the playoffs.”
The report was originally in the Turkish newspaper Ajansspor, which quoted Iverson as saying, "Leaving the basketball world makes me sad but, sometimes, we have to accept things like they are. I can say goodbye to basketball,” he said.
A team spokesman said the team would determine Iverson's future after another MRI this week.
Iverson, who spent part of last season in his second tour with the Sixers, was playing in Turkey after no NBA teams offered him a contract for this season.
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His legacy is that he played with alot of heart and left everything on the court. But he never understood the concept of team and what it takes to win a championship. That he took a bunch of rag-tag teammates to the finals one year is a testament to his great talent, but ultimately a selfish player like AI will never win it all.— blaqjaq
I smell a VH1 reality series in Iversons future— Serge_Matthews- After hearing Eric Snow...put him in the booth with Marc Zumoff and watch the TV ratings soar!— dasher
- I have to agree. Eric Snow is TERRIBLE. Is there such a thing as too entertaining? If I hear 'Lou Will' one more time, I'll scream. [Lou Will take a bad shot early in the shot clock, Lou Will dribble the ball for 20 seconds and THEN pass, Lou Will play the fourth quarter like he's at a pick-up game.] The sad thing is Snow probably has some valuable insight, but he is such a 'homer', he lacks credibility. I feel much better... — fillyfan
too bad they don't do ankle surgery at Friday's....— dexter55- Ankle injury? Lesion on right calf? And the shin bones connected to the...?— podunko
Iverson, good riddance.— tiger- Praying for you, AI. Maybe he'll see the light, and have a post-sports career like several ex 'bad boys', like Deion Sanders, Charles Barkley and Michael Irvin.— fillyfan
- I smell sadness and a pitiful story coming. If just some of the stories I've heard are correct then it's not hard to understand how he may have blown multi millions. To think, his kids may soon be showing up on courts around Atlanta or Philly?. I said courts didn't I?????????— stoneman
I enjoyed watching him play and wish him the best. That being said, I just can't see how he's going to get by if he's as broke as some people say he is. I would guess he's had most regular life stuff done for him as he has gone through his career. I'm not even talking about working a regular job I mean things like grocery shopping, writing out the monthly bills, renewing your car registration...I hope I am wrong but I see a sad ending to this..
Iverson retired the day after we lost the championship to the Lakers and decided to live off that playoff run for the rest of his miserable life. I hope to buy some fries from him one day.- I always had mixed emotions about AI, as I think most people do. I hope he gets his life straightened out, but it doesn't look good right now. There have been a lot of ex-pros who end up with IRS problems, liens on their properties,etc. It's not a stretch to see that happening w/ AI. He wasted a lot of talent,and apparently, a lot of $...— Polecat_39
- AI isn't broke. He said in the Philadelphia Magazine interview he has plenty of money.— Drew777
- AI isn't broke. He said in the Philadelphia Magazine interview he has plenty of money.— Drew777
- We shall see. I have a feeling we will hear much more about his finances in the future. — JonKap
Bob Cooney has been at the Daily News for more than 20 years, working in the sports department for the past 15. This is his third season on the Sixers beat. He has covered just about everything, but mostly college basketball, where he was the La Salle beat writer for six seasons. E-mail Bob at cooneyb@phillynews.com and follow him on Twitter.
