Larry Brown, who coached Iverson in Philadelphia, has called often recently, extending invitations to Dallas. Brown now coaches there, at Southern Methodist University, and two of Iverson’s former Sixers teammates, Eric Snow and George Lynch, are on Brown’s staff. Brown thinks it would be good for Iverson to be around the game and people who still care about him, but Iverson hasn’t visited.
“I worry about him,” Brown said. “A lot.”
McKie and others have texted. Iverson responds sometimes, although days or weeks often pass. Other times, there’s no reply. He keeps to himself, something of a recluse, and declines most interview requests. Last year his eldest daughter, Tiaura, asked to live with her father, according to divorce testimony transcripts. She was concerned about how few people her dad interacts with.
“I just don’t like to see it end this way,” Brown said.
Multiple attempts to reach Iverson for this story were unsuccessful; Moore said Iverson has been told to avoid the spotlight. But more than 600 pages of transcripts and court documents from the divorce proceeding suggest that spurts of questionable behavior during his career weren’t just layers to Iverson’s character. They were warning signs.
“For him to be as successful as he was, he had to be determined and have that little chip on his shoulder and that inner voice telling him, ‘Do it your way, Allen,’ ” Lynch said. “And that’s probably his downfall.”