pennyccwai's video: Allen Iverson practise and interview in Turkey 2011

Allen Iverson finally spoke from Turkey after dodging the Philadelphia news media, having refused interviews even when reporters came to Istanbul to see him. Philadelphia Magazine cracked Iverson’s no-media embargo, when its reporter hung around practice for three days. Iverson plays for Besiktas Cola Turka of the Turkish pro league. He is in the first year of a two-year contract, which reportedly will pay him about $2 million per season. Besiktas is 7-5, good for seventh place out of 15 teams. Iverson, who is noticeably rusty at age 35 according to reports, is averaging 13.8 points and 4.2 assists through six games. Iverson was asked about many topics, ranging from whether he was playing in Turkey because he is broke from gambling debts and bad investments to why he thought he was not in the N.B.A. He is estimated to have earned $200 million through contracts, bonuses and endorsements over his 13-year N.B.A. career. “Everybody is making a big deal out of the money and making $2 million — what do people want me to do? Sit at home and just watch basketball, or play at the Y.M.C.A.?” Iverson said. “I had to do what I had to do to continue playing basketball.” Iverson said he would have been a fool to lose all his money. “One thing I do have, and I can say, is that I do have money — a lot,” he said. Still, questions abound about Iverson’s finances. He recently opened a store on eBay, called Iverson Authentics, to sell memorabilia. Autographed photos go for $49.99, shoes from his N.B.A. days are $179.99, and a Michael Jordan-worn and autographed Chicago White Sox jersey is up for a staggering $17,999.99. Iverson acknowledged he liked to gamble, but denied that he has a problem. Gambling is illegal in Turkey. He blamed rumors about his gambling for leading to his exit from the Detroit Pistons in 2009. The Detroit News ran a blog post charging that Iverson had been banned from Detroit’s three casinos, then removed it from its site and archives. Iverson said he thought the word was put out in the N.B.A., through the Pistons’ front office, that he was trouble. “I think that situation basically destroyed my N.B.A. career,” he said. “I honestly believe that.” Gambling and drinking rumors have followed Iverson, and he said he did not know why. “You find out when dealing with people that doesn’t have nowhere near as much money as you, that a lot of people who don’t have that money and can’t fathom it, would never understand,” Iverson said. “If I had that much to lose and I know it, then it’s not a problem for me.” Iverson continued: “I don’t remember getting any D.U.I.s or going to jail for getting drunk in public. I’ve never been reprimanded or anything, with any team or anything like that, because of any drinking.” Iverson’s family, which includes five children and wife, Tawanna, which whom he has recently reconciled, is expected to move to Istanbul soon. Tawanna had filed for divorce last spring, but Iverson said the couple was trying to save their marriage.