No, Allen Iverson doesn’t plan on retiring. But he is considering surgery that could sideline him for up to six weeks.
Iverson, playing for Besiktas in Turkey, needs to have a lesion removed from his right leg and will travel back to the United States for surgery. He hopes to rejoin Besiktas in time for the playoffs.
“People need to know that Allen is and always has been a fighter,” Gary Moore, Iverson’s longtime manager, told The Associated Press. “He’s got a battle ahead of him.”
Iverson, through Moore, refuted an earlier report, which said that the former Sixers star was set to announce his retirement. Iverson signed a two-year, $4 million deal with Besiktas this year after the NBA passed on his services. He is scheduled to undergo an MRI this week, and then the Turkish team will assess the guard’s future.
By all accounts, Iverson has enjoyed his first season playing in Turkey.
“He’s enjoying the beauty of the country, the beauty of the people,” Moore told the AP. “No one has any expectations of him other than what he gives on the basketball court.”
