"Iverson had hit rock bottom. At 34—having nearly exhausted his athletic gifts — he’d washed out of the NBA." (Image by Keith Allison.)

Beset by personal problems and in possession of seriously diminished skills, former NBA great Allen Iverson finds himself playing minor-league basketball in Turkey. Philadelphia magazine writer Robert Huber visited Istanbul to file a report about the troubled, faded star as he attempts to revive his life in an unlikely locale. (Thanks Longform.) An excerpt:

“IVERSON IS AT A CROSSROADS IN HIS LIFE. There is no going off into the sunset for him, no taking his vast millions and his fame and finishing off the job of raising his five kids in splendor and ease. Nothing works that way for him.

In fact, last spring — just after Iverson abandoned the Sixers following a short second stint with the team — Gary Moore said publicly that things were very bad for Iverson. His young daughter Messiah was quite sick with an undisclosed illness. His wife had filed for divorce. There were stories that he was gambling and drinking himself into oblivion. At one point, Moore beseeched a reporter with a chilling request:

‘Please pray for us. We need all the prayers we can get.’

(Image by reeb0k2008.)

Iverson had hit rock bottom. At 34—having nearly exhausted his athletic gifts — he’d washed out of the NBA, largely seen as too troubled and demanding to finish his career with some team needing to get a few more fannies in the seats. That failed last year in Philly, after Iverson had already been pushed out of Detroit and bolted from Memphis. His career seemed done, and maybe he was, too.

So he has come to Turkey to resurrect not only his basketball career, but his life. In … Istanbul? How is he going to survive camped out in a Friday’s in Istanbul?

As one NBA official put it, the guy spent the past five years pretty much living in either bars or casinos. But word has it that his family is coming, that he and Tawanna have reconciled and she’s about to arrive with all five kids, ranging in age from two to 16. The team has checked out schools and is finding the family a villa to live in. It’s a new beginning.”