Former 11-time NBA All-Star and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Allen Iverson on Tuesday announced that he has been sober for six months.
Iverson, 50, revealed the personal news during an interview on CBS Mornings with Maurice DuBois, an appearance ahead of the release of his new book titled, Misunderstood: A Memoir.
"One of my best decisions that I ever made in my life was to stop drinking," Iverson told DuBois.
"Better than I did when I was doing it," Iverson said when asked how he's feeling. "When you get drunk, you're not how you usually are. The more and more I see it on other people, the more and more it made me happy about the decision. And the more and more I see the people around me appreciate it. I love it."
Iverson had a tough childhood growing up in Hampton, Va., a significant part of which was spent without his bioligical father in his life. His rise to stardom, from high school sports star to Georgetown Hoya to No. 1 pick in the 1996 NBA draft to league MVP, was filled with hardships, challenges and off-court issues.
But Iverson, as he explained in a Wednesday interview with Stephen A. Smith on ESPN's First Take, says the "lowest point" of his life was when his then-wife Tawanna Turner, whom he married in 2001, divorced him in 2013.
"That's when I knew I'd hit my lowest point and it was time for deep self-reevaluation..." Iverson said.
"When I'm sitting in that courtroom—And I used to watch Sixers vs. Sixers in a scrimmage, or Georgetown vs. Georgetown. I'm sitting there and them tears hitting the page [the divorce papers] when I looked down and I saw Iverson vs. Iverson."
Iverson said he has since reconciled with Turner. And he's also experienced something of a reconciliation with the NBA itself, as the league didn't always look at Iverson as fondly as it does today.
"Adam Silver has been great," Iverson said. "May he rest in peace, David Stern... He was phenomenal, definitely missed. Our relationship got a lot better towards the end of my career. But just the guys, the players. The older guys. The new generation, how they look up to me. They talk about how I inspired them and [that] I made a lot of them comfortable in their own skin and able to express themselves the way they want to."
Iverson spent 14 seasons in the NBA, earning 11 All-Star nods, winning one MVP award, four scoring titles and twice being named the All-Star Game's MVP. Iverson ranks 30th on the NBA's all-time scoring list and is a member of the league's 75th Anniversary Team.
More NBA on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as NBA Legend Allen Iverson Announces He's Six Months Sober .
