Allen Iverson agrees in principle to play in Turkey
NBA player Allen Iverson has agreed in principle to a two-year deal worth $4 million with Besiktas, a Turkish team, according to Yahoo! Sports.
The 35-year-old combo guard is expected to sign the deal this week and report to the team a week later.
According to Yahoo! Sports, the deal would allow Iverson to opt out of the deal after one year in Turkey but would not allow him to leave the team before the end of his first season.
Besiktas executive board member Seref Yalcin told the Anatolia news agency on Monday that he plans to travel to the U.S. this week to discuss some specific terms of the deal with the 11-time
NBA All-Star. Yalcin said he would be discussing “a variety of details” with Iverson, including finding an appropriate school for his five children.
“I think this transfer will take place,” Yalcin told the news agency.
Iverson’s first game with his new club could be as early as Saturday 6 November, when Besiktas take on Bornova. Having played their first game on Tuesday 19 October, Besiktas is at 1-1
on the season.
Although Iverson had solicited more lucrative offers to play in China this year, he seems to be more interested in playing basketball in Istanbul.
Iverson’s career, which he has mostly played in a Philadelphia 76ers' uniform, has been filled with ups and downs. In his rookie season in 1996, he was selected as Rookie of the Year.
Despite his small stature at 6ft 0in, Iverson led the league in scoring in four seasons between 1998 and 2005. He won the All-Star MVP award in 2001 and 2005 as well as the NBA MVP for the 2000-01 season, the same season where he made his lone Finals appearance. Iverson
is 17th on the NBA’s career scoring list with 26,368 points over 14 years in the league, averaging 26.7 points per game.
But over the last few years, Iverson has made controversial exits from the Detroit Pistons, the Memphis Grizzlies, and again the Philadelphia 76ers. He has not received any offers from
an NBA team this year.
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