Familiar territory

Iverson's troubles again keep focus off court

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Allen Iverson's troubles off the basketball court are again overshadowing his dazzling play on it.

The Philadelphia 76ers star is accused of barging into an apartment with a gun last week and threatening two men while looking for his wife. The district attorney was considering whether to charge Iverson with counts ranging from aggravated assault to making terroristic threats.

Iverson, 27, has not spoken publicly about what happened and his attorneys have declined comment, leaving others to fill the void. Sportstalk radio has been buzzing the last several days, with many callers coming down hard on Iverson, one of the NBA's most popular players.

While Iverson has always been mesmerizing as a player, his off-court behavior has often brought him just as much attention.

He was arrested in a Hampton, Va., bowling alley brawl in 1993 and spent four months in prison before then-Gov. Douglas Wilder granted clemency. The conviction was overturned on appeal in 1995.

In 1997, Iverson pleaded no contest to a gun charge after police near Richmond, Va., stopped a car in which he was a passenger and found a gun belonging to Iverson and two marijuana cigarettes. Iverson completed 100 hours of community service, two years of drug testing and three years' probation, after which his record was expunged.

"He stayed out of trouble for three years. Unfortunately, he may have a problem now," Commonwealth's Attorney Linwood Gregory, who prosecuted the Virginia case, said Wednesday.

In 2000, NBA commissioner David Stern rebuked Iverson for lyrics from his unreleased rap CD that contained derogatory references to gays and women. That summer, the cornrowed, heavily tattooed star was nearly traded.

Yet Iverson seemed to mature after that, and his image improved greatly.

He married his longtime fiancee, the former Tawanna Turner, in August, two months after leading the Sixers to the NBA Finals for the first time in 18 years. Time magazine named him America's top athlete for 2001. Reebok turned Iverson's 10-year $50 million endorsement contract into a lifetime deal.

Where he was once seen as selfish, immature and threatening, the diminutive guard was praised for his courage, toughness and heart. Iverson even mended fences with Sixers coach Larry Brown, with whom he often feuded, and won the MVP award in 2001.

But Iverson seemed to backslide this past season. In October, he was stung by the news that a close friend, Rashan R. Langeford, 29, was shot to death in Newport News, Va. Langeford had been a groomsman in Iverson's wedding. Iverson wore a black armband with Langeford's nickname, "Ra," tapping it before every free throw.

Iverson underwent elbow surgery just two weeks before training camp and missed the first five games. Relations between Iverson and Brown soured again, with Iverson often missing practice.

After a season in which the Sixers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, Iverson staged a bizarre 35-minute news conference in which he lambasted those who questioned his work ethic and said he couldn't believe practice had become such an issue.

After two years at Georgetown, Iverson was selected No. 1 overall in the 1996 draft. He won Rookie of the Year honors, but gained a reputation for selfish play. Charles Barkley once dubbed him "Allen Me-Myself-and-Iverson."

 

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