To many, the thought of earning millions of dollars a year sounds like a dream come true. However, for former NBA MVP Allen Iverson, the reality of being a professional basketball player came with its own set of challenges.
Not long after the Philadelphia 76ers selected Iverson as the first pick of the stacked 1996 NBA Draft and he signed a three-year deal worth $8.9 million, he soon realized that he not only had to look after himself and his family, but an entire village that included long-lost uncles and distant cousins.
For a 21-year-old who grew up with meager resources, Iverson admitted it all became a little too much to deal with, given he also had to worry about the first thing: performing on the basketball court.
A rough upbringing
Growing up in Hampton, Virginia, Iverson had more questions than answers, especially since his father wasn’t involved in raising him, leaving everything to his mother, Ann, who had him when she was only 15. Without a bona fide father figure, he gravitated towards different characters and people he considered family.
“Growing up, he made a pact with his friends, some of whom had long criminal records,” Larry Platt, a renowned Iverson biographer, revealed. “They were going to be rappers and he was a baller. And whoever made it, the rest were along for the ride.”
As Iverson went on to play for Georgetown and it was clear that, at some point, he was going to be an NBA superstar, his “family” grew in number. They all came out of the woodwork, hoping to gain his favor and reap the benefits of his success.
“At one point, there were about 35 families on the payroll,” Platt disclosed. “Both relatives and friends.”
It was a reality that the Answer had no choice but to deal with. More often than not, he had to say yes to any requests from these different hangers-on, which only added to his already stressful lifestyle as a professional athlete.
“Everybody coming at you, picking at you, wanting something from you. Pulling and tugging. That was rough,” A.I. stated. “Not knowing how to handle money, not having known about money your whole life, that was the tough part of it.”
He was seen as a cash cow
Allen’s aunt, Jessie Iverson-Bowman, explained that the situation worsened when his so-called friends began treating him like the answer to all their problems. Need lunch money? Call Bubba. Struggling to pay the electricity bill? Reach out to Allen.
Worse of all, these people tried to guilt Iverson into helping them, claiming they were family or had helped him along the way.
“All the people he was friends with, if they did any little thing for him, they threw it up in his face: ‘Man, I looked out for you when you were coming up!'” Iverson-Bowman expressed. “He hears so many people’s problems: ‘Man, my lights about to get cut off, they taking my car, can I get a few dollars?'”
With the word “no” not often in Iverson’s vocabulary, he would give whatever he could to help these people out. But over time, this began to take a toll on him financially and emotionally.
“I was basically a fish out of water; you go from not having anything in your life to all of a sudden having everything and it’s so hard for guys that age, 21, to adjust to something like that,” A.I. said.
“What I mean is I’ve come up with so many cousins and uncles and aunts and relatives, so many different friends from all over the world and it’s tough at that age to distinguish who loves you and who cares about you for you and them trying to do something for you,” he surmised.
Over time, Iverson learned how to discern who truly cared for his well-being and who was just hanging around for the money in his bank account. It was a tough experience, but the lessons he learned from that rugged period of his life taught him critical lessons about sincerity and loyalty.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 17, 2025, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.