October 09, 2025
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images
Allen Iverson released a new memoir, 'Misunderstood,' this week. Above, the Sixers legend attends a ceremony for the unveiling of a statue honoring him at the Philadelphia 76ers training complex in Camden.
Allen Iverson is on a media tour to promote his new memoir, and the Answer is getting flooded with questions about everything from his relationship with his ex-wife to his newfound sobriety.
In the last couple days, the Sixers legend has been on NBC's "Today" show, sat down with Stephen A. Smith on ESPN's "First Take," and was interviewed by CBS News’ Maurice DuBois.
"Misunderstood," a candid look into the NBA Hall of Famer's life, career and struggles, was released Tuesday.
"The book is about my confessions of being human," he said on "Today."
Here are some takeaways from the recent interviews:
The book fittingly begins with the word "practice," alluding to Iverson's most famous news conference rant in which he tirelessly says the word 22 times.
Iverson explains during an interview on "Today" that he was "ecstatic" heading into the media room on May 7, 2002, because trade rumors had been swirling. but he was just assured by coach Larry Brown and general manager Billy King that he was going to be staying in Philadelphia for at least another year. Still, all the media was focusing on was his dedication to practice.
"I was upset because we were supposed to be celebrating and it turned into that," Iverson said. "And everything else is history."
Iverson disclosed that he's been sober for the past six months, telling CBS's DuBois that stopping drinking was "one of my best decisions that I ever made in my life."
When he started reflecting on his relationship with alcohol, Iverson told Smith that he didn't see how it was helping at all.
"All I could think about was negative experiences," he said.
DuBois asked Iverson to list his top five NBA players of all-time. The names he rattled off are not surprising, but it's a contemporary list – Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Steph Curry and Shaquille O'Neal. Each Hall of Famer was active within the last 30 years so their careers are intertwined with Iverson's.
As a rookie in 1997, Iverson crossed paths with his hero, Jordan, and left him in his dust after one of the most memorable crossover dribbles of all-time.
In 2001, Iverson famously stepped over the Lakers' Tyronn Lue as he led the Sixers to a Game 1 victory in the NBA Finals. While that moment is entrenched in basketball lore, it also happens to be the last time Philadelphia won an NBA Finals game, as Bryant and O'Neal marched Los Angeles to four straight victories to take home the NBA title.
When Iverson won the NBA All-Star MVP Award in 2005, it was James who was his sidekick on the East squad, with the two combining for 28 points, 12 rebounds, 16 assists and seven steals in a 125-115 victory.
As for Curry, his first year in the league was Iverson's last. They faced off twice in the 2009-10 season in what seems like passing-of-the-torch encounters for two of the game's most beloved small guards.
While an NBA title alluded Iverson, this starting five has a combined 23 championship rings.
Iverson has had a decades-long, on-again, off-again relationship with Tawanna Turner. The couple got married in 2001, split up in 2008 and divorced in 2013, which Iverson described as the lowest point in his life.
But the couple is together again. So how did he win Turner back?
"A lot of Keith Sweat," Iverson told Smith. "I had to beg a lot."
Iverson and Turner, both now 50 years old, met while they were in high school in Virginia. They have five children together.
