DENVER -- With allegations of heavy drinking and gambling swirling around Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony said he never observed such behavior when the two were teammates for two years on the Denver Nuggets."No, man. I haven't seen any of that,'' Anthony, Iverson's teammate on the Nuggets from December 2006 to November 2008, said Tuesday after Denver's practice. "When I hear stuff like that, I just be wondering, 'Where is it coming from?' I want to hear it from him. So I'm pretty sure in a couple days I'll get him on the phone and talk to him.''
Anthony, who called Iverson "one of my close friends,'' has kept in touch regularly with Iverson since he was traded from the Nuggets 1 1/2 years ago, beginning an odyssey that has taken him through disappointing stints in Detroit, Memphis and Philadelphia. But Anthony said he hasn't talked with Iverson for a few weeks, wanting to give him some space as he left the 76ers due to his 4-year-old daughter, Messiah, battling an undetermined illness.
The 76ers announced last week Iverson wouldn't play again this season. Since then, his wife, Tawanna, has filed for divorce and the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Iverson's life is spiraling out of control due to drinking and gambling, a contention Iverson vaguely touched upon in a Twitter message in which he said people are saying "things about me that aren't true.''
"I really don't know where his mind is right now. I'm pretty sure he's not thinking about basketball right now.''
- Carmelo Anthony
on Allen Iverson While many figure Iverson, 34, has played his final NBA game, Anthony believes he still has the ability to help a team.
"I hope so,'' said Anthony about Iverson again playing in the NBA. "I don't think as far as his game he's done. But I really don't know. I really don't know where his mind is right now. I'm pretty sure he's not thinking about basketball right now.''
Meanwhile, Anthony now must worry about helping keep the Nuggets (42-21) afloat after having lost starting power forward Kenyon Martin for an undetermined amount of time as he undergoes platelet-rich plasma treatment on his ailing left knee. There has been some hope in the Nuggets camp that, if all goes well, Martin could be back by the end of March. But Anthony said "we really don't know how long Kenyon is going to be out.''
Martin did travel with the team for Denver's upcoming four-game trip that begins Wednesday at Minnesota.
"If it comes down to it, I might play a little bit of [power forward],'' said Anthony, the team's starting small forward. "I don't want to, but I might have to. ... Guys have got to step up.''
Anthony then changed his tune a bit about sliding some to power forward.
"I don't have a problem playing [power forward], but it just depends on how the game is going and what's going on out there and the flow of the game,'' Anthony said.
The Nuggets have fallen a game behind Dallas (44-21) for the No. 2 seed in the West. They entered Tuesday just 1 1/2 games ahead of Utah (40-32) in the Northwest Division.
The Nuggets have other obstacles. Nuggets coach George Karl, battling a form of throat cancer, will be replaced by assistant Adrian Dantley for Wednesday's game due to his treatment, and he might also be out Friday at New Orleans. And Dantley said Tuesday that backup point guard Ty Lawson, who had hoped to return Wednesday after missing four games because of a left shoulder contusion, "is out for another week.''
But Karl and Lawson will be back before Martin."Of course, that's one of our anchors,'' guard Chauncey Billups said of Martin. "It's bad news for us but the good news is there is light at the end of the tunnel for us (with Martin's treatment) and we can live with it. We just want him to get healthy. ... There's not one person that can come in and make up for everything he does. Collectively, we've just got to band together.''
Anthony expressed similar sentiments during this trying time about the Nuggets. He also wants to reach out to his friend Iverson.
Chris Tomasson can be reached at tomasson@fanhouse.com or on Twitter @christomasson
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
what's really curious to me is Steven A. Smith's motive for putting this stuff into the air at a time when the man is clearly handling a challenge to his daughter...that's just cold. I'm not an AI fan for a second, I hated him when I lived in Philly and watched the "We're talking bout practice" arrogant attitude night after night...
however, NO man deserves to have his crap flown out into the air while dealing with an ailing kid...and if this is some sick Attempt on Steven A Smith's side to somehow jumpstart AI into rehab then he needs to examine his own psychological motivations...
Leave him alone right now, and let him help his daughter...there's plenty of time to go after his drinking and gambling because as the track record for those addictions goes, they aren't going away soon...
Ay I the sixers play tough even though you're not playing but harder cause you were involved dont doubt your inspiration like julius erving seventy sixers and you go well together if erving was coach you know how much money that would generate even if yall stunk passion is passion all this would be to me is a money issue i'd keep you there for the rest of your playing days.I said more on my post but i was made to re write it over and you know how tired i am with all the things going on in the world; just trying to keep it together fight for your place love, E