Allen Iverson to Make a Basketball Comeback?
Allen Iverson is eyeing a comeback to professional basketball through Puerto Rico's professional league.
Iverson's business manager Gary Moore has talked with Puerto Rico officials about a possible deal for the 11-time NBA All-Star, sources told Yahoo! Sports.
The league's teams have been discussing a bidding process to court the former NBA star. Fresh off the heels of a lackluster season in Turkey and a subsequent calf injury, it will take the league some serious convincing to get the star, who is still seeking an NBA comeback, to spend a season on the island.
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Sources told Yahoo! Sports that the Puerto Rican league, which begins its 30-game season next month, pays its star players approximately $20,000 a month, plus living expenses. At the height of his career, Iverson signed a six-year, $70 million contract extension with the Philadelphia 76ers prior to the 1999-2000 NBA seasons.
But the Puerto Rican league's commissioner, who sees Iverson's former stardom as potential sit filler for the upcoming season, is wooing the athlete with the idea that a possible stint with Puerto Rico could help him work his way back to the NBA, Yahoo! Sports reported.
Other NBA players have taken a similar road. The Caciques de Humacao team recently signed former NBA players Ike Diogu and Rashad McCants for the 2012 season, Yahoo! Sports reported.
Iverson, rated the 5th greatest NBA shooting guard of all time by ESPN in 2008, began his fall from grace after he ended his 10 year reign with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2006. He has since been living and training in Atlanta in hopes of returning to the NBA.
Front-office NBA executives told Yahoo! Sports that Iverson's representatives have reached out to teams on his behalf this season, but none have expressed any interest in signing him.
