July 31, 2017
DALLAS — Allen Iverson did not show up for the Big3's games in Dallas, and the league says it is investigating his absence.
The former NBA MVP is the biggest star in Ice Cube's 3-on-3 league of former NBA players. Iverson signed on as a player and coach of Three's Company for the league's inaugural season.
He hasn't been playing very much — he didn't play at all in his much-hyped return to Philadelphia — and the league says in a statement it had no advance notice that Iverson wouldn't attend the game Sunday.
— BIG3 (@thebig3) July 30, 2017
The league says it will make a statement once it has gathered all the facts surrounding Iverson's absence.
According to TMZ Sports, who posted photos of Iverson sitting at a roulette table with a large stack of chips, the former Sixers guard was spotted at a Chicago-area casino gambling into the morning hours on the night before he was scheduled to appear in Dallas.
Allen Iverson was gambling in a Chicago area casino hours before he blew off a BIG3 basketball league game in Dallas over the weekend ... TMZ Sports has learned. ...
Iverson was first spotted at the Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, IL on Saturday night into early Sunday morning. One witness says AI was still in the building at 3 AM. [tmz.com]
TMZ also reported (with more photographic evidence) that Iverson was still in the Chicago area on Sunday night.
Hours later, Iverson surfaced at the Sugar Factory restaurant (around 10 PM on Sunday -- wearing the same clothes he'd been wearing at the casino in the days before. Fans who recognized him asked for photos, but he refused. [tmz.com]
It's unknown what discipline, if any, Iverson could face from the league for skipping the Dallas trip without giving any warning.
In his absence, team co-captain DerMarr Johnson took over the coaching duties Sunday.
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