IVERSON FACING TROUBLE

Multiple NBA sources say Allen Iverson is facing alcohol and gambling issues that have derailed his career and threaten his post-basketball well being, Stephen A. Smith of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports in a column published today. Allen Iverson played only 25 games for the 76ers before stepping away for the season. According to multiple NBA sources, there is widespread concern that the four-time NBA scoring champion, who left the Philadelphia 76ers in February to deal with his 4 year old daughter's illness and will not return this season, "will either drink himself into oblivion or gamble his life away," Smith reported. Iverson's gambling problem is serious enough that he has been banished from casinos in Detroit and Atlantic City, N.J., according to Smith.

Iverson's wife Tawana filed for divorce on March 4, the same day the Philadelphia 76ers announced that the All-Star guard would not return for the rest of the season. In the divorce filing, made at Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta, Tawana Iverson said the couple's 8½-year marriage is "irretrievably broken" and sought full custody of the family's five children, child support and alimony.

- Jason