Allen Iverson Close To Signing Deal To Play For A Team in Turkey
In September, reports said he was considering the option to play in China. However, his manager told Yahoo! Sports recently that the 35-year-old athlete is in serious talks to play for a Turkish team.
Following short stints in the NBA with the Memphis Grizzlies and Philadelphia 76ers last season, Iverson is close to inking a contract to play with the Besiktas, said his business manager.
If the deal is finalized, unnamed sources said he could net as much as $2 million.
“We are in very serious negotiations with [Besiktas],” Iverson’s manager Gary Moore told Yahoo! Sports. “Istanbul is beautiful from everything we’ve learned. It’s not that far from the U.S., and the competition is good, which makes it all attractive.
“Allen wants to play basketball,” he continued.
According to the report, one stipulation Iverson wants on the contract is that there is a cap on what the team can fine him.
Iverson is seeking a cap of less than 1% of a $1.5 million salary for each fine, said the report. His team says they hope to get the contract by the end of the week, though the deal could take up to 10 days to be finalized.
Besiktas is among the top teams in Turkey’s first division, which starts play this weekend.
As far as the NBA, Moore said that Iverson had not been contacted by any NBA team, which they are surprised by
“We’re very astonished, to say the least, that not one team has contacted us with any interest,” Moore said. “I just don’t understand it.”
Iverson played just three games for Memphis last season before he returned for a second stint with the 76ers. In Philly, he averaged 13.9 points for the Sixers before he took a leave of absence in March because of family issues.
In his prime, Iverson was one of the biggest stars in the NBA. His jerseys and sneakers were among the top-selling among all NBA players. Despite his production declining, he was still voted an Eastern Conference All-Star starter last season.
He’s currently 17th on the NBA’s career scoring list with 24,368 points over a 14-year career. Iverson spent his first 10 seasons with the 76ers, before stints in Denver, Detroit and Memphis.
Hard 2 Knock 