Although Allen Iverson and his ex-wife, Tawanna Turner, divorced 12 years ago, they've repaired their relationship for the better.
AI, who was married to Turner from 2001 to 2013, spoke about their reconciliation on the Tuesday (October 8) episode of First Take with host Stephen A. Smith. Around the five-minute mark of the video below, Smith asked the retired NBA player about the "lowest point" of his life.
Iverson replied that the divorce with Turner was "self-inflicted." The couple, who have since gotten back together, share five children. In the same year as their divorce, Iverson retired from professional basketball.
"That's when I knew I'd hit my lowest point and it was time for deep self-reevaluation," Iverson continued, calling Turner his "number one." "Obviously, we've been together over 35 years. If you hang in there that long it takes a lot to want to go."
Iverson said that he "tried everything" to improve his relationship with Turner during their marriage breakdown, but "nothing was working."
"And when I'm sitting there in that courtroom, I used to watch Sixers vs. Sixers in a scrimmage, or Georgetown vs. Georgetown. Them tears started to hit the [divorce] papers when I looked down and saw 'Iverson vs. Iverson.' It's like, 'Aw, man. This is the lowest it gets right here.'"
Iverson added that he had to "change a lot of things," like recovering from alcoholism, which Turner "prayed" for.
On pulling off the reconciliation, Iverson credited his improved relationship with Turner to "a lot of begging."
"A lot of Keith Sweat," he joked. I had to beg a lot... and I had to convince her that this wasn't the same old me. I expressed to her what she means to me in my life and how [pivotal] she is in my growth and my maturation and where I want to go in life."
"I'm not the same Allen Iverson without her. You know what I mean? She is my life," he concluded.
Three years after their divorce, Iverson, who released his memoir Misunderstood this week, thanked Turner for "real love" during his Basketball Hall of Fame speech in 2016. "I can't thank you enough for all you've done for me," he told his ex-wife.
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