allen iverson now spends time with her children in charlotte, north carolina, where she lives. he does a lot of media and paid appearances due to his beloved ex-player status. The unique reebok contract he signed as a player saved him from possible financial ruin caused by his harsh lifestyle.
why did allen iverson retire?
allen iverson was an absolute killer at his best. He was an 11x All Star, made 7 All-NBA teams, and led the NBA in scoring four times.
iverson’s unusual skill was scoring. he scored 20 or more points per game for an incredible 12 consecutive seasons. Those incredible scoring years included four years in which he scored more than 30 per game.
As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you click and buy, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you
I argued in this post that he really wasn’t much of an advocate. I agree with that. Iverson got steals, but many of them bet rather than play within the structure of his team’s defense.
While he wasn’t much of a defender, there’s no doubt the response was a positive force for his Sixer teams. He led a team with Eric Snow, George Lynch and Aaron McKie to the NBA Finals.
No disrespect to those good players: I dream of playing basketball as well as they did on their worst day. but they’re not the kind of names you’d expect to see starting on a team in the finals.
The second and third best players on the NBA Finals teams are often household names for many years. ai’s teammates were a bit below that level for sure.
so how has iverson led those teams so far? he did it by scoring. the other players handled the defense and filled it out.
but as a 6’0″ guard, iverson wasn’t a traditional nba great scorer. if you never saw him play, you’d probably think iveson was some kind of dead eyed shooter to be able to score that much at 6’0 “.
you would be wrong. he was a 31% career 3-point shooter and a 78% free throw shooter. he was a decent shooter but not great by nba standards.
allen iverson scored through some crazy, otherworldly quickness and athleticism. you couldn’t keep ai in front of you.
like many of the best players in the nba, he was a crazy, atypical and unique athlete.
iverson became a legend in his first ten seasons in philadelphia. but at the start of his eleventh season, the team traded him to denver.
after moving to denver, iverson’s athletics began to decline rapidly. ai had another great scoring season in denver, where he averaged 26 points per game in 2007-2008.
From there, things quickly changed for the answer.
the following season, denver also moved from iverson and sent him to detroit. His days as the NBA’s elite scorer ended at age 33.
makes sense. ai was a pure striker and he did it not so much because of his skill as because of his athleticism.
As he got older, that athleticism quickly disappeared, taking with it his ability to score at will in the NBA.
An aging 7’0″ center can make up for lost athleticism through size, NBA experience and skill. As a 6’0″ shooting guard who wasn’t much of a shooter, Iverson couldn’t fall back on to other talents or gifts.
iverson stayed one more season in which he moved again, this time from memphis and then back to philly. but that was it.
allen iverson went from averaging 26 points per game with the denver nuggets at age 32 to being out of the league two years later because his game was based almost entirely on athletics. when he lost that abnormal speed and quickness, he had nothing else to fall back on.
where is allen iverson now?
allen iverson now lives in the charlotte, north carolina area. Iverson reports that he spends a lot of time with his five children. he mainly makes a living being allen iverson.
financial situation
Despite spending the vast majority of his millions of career earnings on gambling, drinking, and various forms of overspending, Iverson is not in as bad a financial situation as you might assume.
iverson earned more than $150 million in basketball salaries alone. but he burned it all down with a hard life. Iverson was known for serious gambling and drinking, and he is reported to have a net worth of just around $1 million.
Despite that, Iverson is still in somewhat decent financial shape. he and his agents made the brilliant decision to sign a one-off deal with reebok when he was in his prime.
Reebok’s contract pays Iverson $800,000 a year. If you had saved every penny and invested wisely, that amount could have been a rounding error.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you click and buy, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.
But given the way he lived, that annual salary is vital to Iverson’s ability to stay afloat financially.
Reebok’s contract also created a $32 million trust fund that ai can’t access until age 55 in 2030.
Iverson’s ex-wife is reported to control half of the trust fund, but that still leaves Iverson with a decent lump sum on top of annual salary.
Some reports say that Iverson and his wife reconciled after divorcing, but are currently not legally married.
work
iverson seems to work mainly by being allen iverson. His incredible Hall of Fame career combined with his personal appeal make Iverson highly sought after for appearances.
The Sixers still regularly fly him to games and make other contracted appearances as a team legend. Iverson also makes many other paid appearances and continues to be a beloved figure in NBA circles.
at the 2022 nba all-star weekend, iverson was a complete success appearing with several current star players and garnering widespread positive press.
cannabis business
In addition to his career as Allen Iverson, Ai has teamed up with former NBA player Al Harrington to become involved in a cannabis venture. Shawn Kemp also recently started a cannabis business.
iverson admits he used to “smoke every damn day”. but after a marijuana arrest in 1997, he faced drug tests every two weeks, for which he says he stopped using the drug.
Unfortunately, he says he then turned more and more to drinking and gambling. A recent book actually claims that Iverson was drunk during his infamous “practice talk” tirade.
working for the sixers?
In an interview with Taylor Rooks, Iverson stated that he wanted to take a more active role in the Sixers organization.
While it’s understandable why iverson would want to join the team, it seems unlikely.
iverson made life hell for his coaches. and the days of hard life of him don’t seem to be completely behind him.
while iverson seems to have changed to some extent, that change doesn’t seem complete enough to make him a serious candidate for a coaching or front office position.
Iverson seems more likely to continue to hold a PR or ceremonial position within the Sixers organization than an influential position in basketball.
summary: allen iverson now
allen iverson now lives in charlotte and mostly makes a living being allen iverson. he makes many paid appearances for the sixers organization and others. The unique reebok contract of his has saved him from the worst consequences of his unrestrained spending. Iverson reports that he spends most of his time with his children.
featured image credit – adapted from: “file:allen iverson 08.jpg” by keith allison is cc by-sa 2.0 marked.