Good news for Allen Iverson fans. The former NBA MVP apparently did not kidnap his five children. He simply hung out with them inside a hotel room while arrangements were made as to whether the player’s ex-wife would drive forty-five minutes to pick the brood up or whether AI himself would do the actual traveling for the handoff. At least that was Allen’s story when he took the stand last week as part of the ongoing legal fallout from his broken marriage.
According to TMZ, Tawanna Iverson and her attorney initially told the judge Allen had kidnapped the kids and forced them to stay inside the hotel room, but upon further review, the situation was actually a lot more complicated. All parties reportedly admitted the kids weren’t kidnapped so much as he didn’t shuttle them to her house when the visit was officially over. Not surprisingly, the former Mrs Iverson was pretty pissed off about it, but the judge decided said offense wasn’t enough to send him to jail. In hindsight, this mess actually might turn out to be a positive too.
The legal brouhaha has gotten Allen and Tawanna to start communicating again, and they’ve apparently decided to increase the amount of time the former will spend with his children, who range in age from three to sixteen. Considering the couple’s break-up has featured not only the kidnapping allegation but also home break-in accusations, it’s actually very impressive and surprising they’ve come this far.
Maintaining a long-term relationship is often very hard for athletes, especially when they get to retirement age. For years, they’ve traveled the world and spent weeks at a time away from home and then suddenly, their career is over and they’re home every minute without reasons to train or reasons to get out of the house. That adjustment can be extremely hard on both the athlete and the spouse, who are both used to plenty of alone time. That’s why some wind up finding a new partner who might be more in line with their new, more carefree lifestyle.
At only thirty-eight-years-old, there are the occasional whispers that Iverson may try to return to the hardwood in the role of a sixth man/ bench scorer, but to date, nothing has ever come of those rumors, possibly because they would require Iverson to accept a very limited role and a veteran’s minimum contract.
We’ll keep you updated on Iverson’s custody situation moving forward. Until then, you can remind yourself of how brilliant he was on the hardwood by watching this dominating video…
