Allen Ezail Iverson was born in Hampton, Virginia, on June 7, 1975. The son of Allen Broughton and Ann Iverson, his dad skipped out on the family and he and his sister Brandy were left in the care of their mother Ann. In 1991, Iverson, Brandy and their mother welcomed a new addition to the family, Leisha, who was ill, adding to the family bills.
Iverson had a very poor childhood, one without the basic necessities like electricity, heat or water (a far cry from today, with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of jewelry and a Mercedes, Range Rover and Bentley). His poor upbringing was one of his reasons for wanting to go pro earlier than expected.
Although Iverson's mother enrolled him for little league basketball practice, he was more of a football fan, which is what he played in high school along with basketball. In his days at Bethel High School in Hampton, Iverson was a star football and basketball player, and won many awards for both sports, most notably being named Virginia AAA Football Player of the Year, in his junior year as Point Guard and Tailback.
Unfortunately for Iverson, he was sentenced to five years in jail after his involvement in a fight at a bowling alley during his senior year in high school. Due to his incarceration, Iverson missed out on a scholarship to Kentucky University, but as fate would have it (and luckily for Iverson), the governor of Virginia allowed him to get out early if he promised to stay off the courts and work hard at receiving his high school diploma.
He studied while in jail, and after 5 months behind bars, Iverson was set free. In the meantime, Ann Iverson went to Georgetown University to convince Coach John Thompson to be her son's guardian, in terms of coach and father figure. Once Thompson saw Iverson's talent, he accepted to coach him and Iverson was offered a full scholarship to Georgetown University.
At Georgetown, Iverson was an Arts major, while fascinating fans on the basketball courts. His days at Georgetown were marked by 2 Big East Defensive Player of the Year awards, Rookie of the Year award, 1995-1996 All-Tournament 1st Team, and a Gold Medal for his win at the World University Games in Japan in 1995. He was also Georgetown's All-Time scorer.
As his family situation worsened and he had more mouths to feed (such as his daughter Tiaura, with his then girlfriend Tawanna Turner), Iverson wanted to play professional basketball as soon as possible, which meant leaving school before graduating. He was introduced to David Falk, an agent who put his trust in Iverson and ultimately helped him realize his dreams.
Next thing Iverson knew, he and his family were moved to a nicer apartment, and in the June 1996 NBA Drafts, Iverson was the Philadelphia 76ers' #1 pick. In his first season he was named Schick Rookie of the Year, and with his multi-million dollar contract with Reebok, he had a sneaker based on him named the Question (based on his nickname, the Answer).
In his next few years of the NBA, Iverson led the 76ers in the 97-98 season in scoring; was named NBA Player of the Week for the week ending January 18, 1998; named NBA Player of the Month for February in the 98-99 season, led the 76ers in scoring; selected to the 99-00 All-NBA Second Team; finished 7th in the AT&T Shootout during 2000 All-Star weekend; and became the second player in the 99-00 season to score 50 points.
Off the courts, his second season in the NBA were marked by his second Reebok shoe, named the Answer 2 (which has spawned the top-selling line of "Question" and "Answer" sneakers) and the birth of his second son, Allen Iverson Jr., (Iverson refers to him as Deuce), with his long-time girlfriend. A miscarriage bought the death of his first son.
He also released a rap album entitled Slow Motion, which features appearances by his friends Ma$e, Jermaine Dupri, Da Brat and Kool-G-Rap.
In addition to the luxury cars and jewelry he owns, Allen also has approximately 21 tattoos, including "VA's Finest" on his left forearm; Tiuara and Deuce (his kids' names) on his right chest; Prayer Hands with his mom's and grandmother's initials on his left chest; "NBN" on his left inner forearm; "Jewelz" written upside down on his right inner forearm; "Bad Rep" on his right forearm; "CRUTHIC," the name of his record company; and "Only the Strong Survive."
During the 2000-2001 NBA Season, Iverson made outstanding plays, which were honored with his being named League MVP. He took the 76ers to the playoffs and despite the team's loss to the Lakers, Iverson was a standout on the courts (despite Kobe's and Shaq's plays) with his fast moves and incredible shots.
The 76ers Shooting Guard is now married to the mother of his two children, and is the pride of his mother, who is present at every game with a sign reading "That's My Boy #3."
Number 3 may be written on his jersey, but Iverson, also known as the Answer, AI and Bubba Chucks, is surely #1 on the courts.
Allen recorded another album that featured the song “Forty Bars” that featured death to homosexuals and sexual favors to women. Protest began and Allen was citied for doing the song. He released another version of the song that radio stations still refused to play.
Allen decided not to release his second album at the request of David Stern. Some would view this as a good thing since the majority of the radio stations refused to play any of the songs from the album.
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