Allen Iverson’s Wife Files for Divorce

K. McKinney — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:28:35 +0000

Last week, the Philadelphia 76ers’ Allen Iverson announced he was leaving basketball for the rest of the season to spend time with his sick 4-year-old daughter, Messiah. This week, his wife Tawanna Iverson filed for divorce in Atlanta.

The couple has five children together, ranging in age from 15 years to 17 months. They were high school sweethearts, finally marrying in 2001. In the divorce petition, Tawanna Iverson asked for temporary and permanent custody of the children as well as child support and alimony.

According to the petition, the Iversons have lived in Atlanta since August 2009. Prior to that, the family lived in Rochester, Michigan, Englewood, Colorado, Denver, Colorado and Villanova, Pennsylvania. (Iverson played for the 76ers from 1996 to 2006 and returned to the team just recently. Since 2006, he played for the Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons and Memphis Grizzlies.)

Tawanna Iverson is known for being a private person. She has not spoken to the press and there has been no disclosure of the nature of Messiah’s illness. Rumors are now swirling that Allen Iverson is battling both alcohol and gambling addictions.

Normally, we would guess that no prenuptial agreement exists when a celebrity married his or her high school sweetheart. However, the Iversons – although a family prior to AI’s NBA stardom – were not married until five years after he was drafted and after he was named league MVP. It is quite possible that a prenuptial agreement was signed prior to their marriage.

Regardless of the existence of a prenup, Iverson will be required to pay child support for all five children – as a prenup may not limit or set an amount of child support.

Library Topics: custody, child support, alimony, prenuptial agreement

Paternity Suits and Pro Athletes: The List

K. McKinney — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 22:03:17 +0000

On draft day in any professional sport, the highlight reels show young athletes celebrating the beginning of their pro careers, putting on a team jersey or cap, and smiling with the league commissioner for photo ops. Often, though, the next rite of passage for a young professional athlete in America is not exactly a photo opportunity – it’s a paternity suit.

For whatever social, psychological or sexual reason, pro athletes are having children out-of-wedlock at an epidemic rate. No sport is exempt – baseball, football, basketball, boxing, hockey and more. Child support payments are some athletes’ single biggest expense. Since Father’s Day is coming up soon, we thought we’d take a look at some of the more notable professional players (pun intended) who have been parties to paternity suits.

As you might expect, the list of athletes with one or two illegitimate children is extremely long. Much too long to list here in its entirety. Highlights from that list include:

Mark Messier (NHL Hall of Famer)
Brian Urlacher (NFL)
Stephon Marbury (NBA)
Jason Kidd (NBA)
Allen Iverson (NBA)
Latrell Sprewell (NBA)
Juwan Howard (NBA)
Scottie Pippen (NBA)
Hakeem Olajuwon (NBA)
Patrick Ewing (NBA)
Randy Johnson (MLB)
Matt Leinart (NFL)
Tom Brady (NFL)
Darren McFadden (NFL rookie)
Dwight Howard (NBA) [one child with an Orlando Magic dancer]
Warren Sapp (NFL)
Larry Fitzgerald (NFL) [one child with a Los Angeles Raider cheerleader]
Lance Briggs (NFL)
Tracy McGrady (NBA)
Chipper Jones (MLB) [one child with an Atlanta area Hooters waitress]
Boris Becker (Tennis)

But it doesn’t stop there! The numbers get CRAZY – read below!

Then there are the guys who haven’t figured it out yet or just don’t care. The list includes these athletes with three to five illegitimate children each:

Larry Johnson (NBA) – 5 kids by 4 women; 3 are illegitimate
Charles Rogers (NBA)- Reportedly has 5 illegitimate kids
Greg Minor (NBA) – 3 illegitimate kids
Ricky Williams (NFL) – 3 illegitimate kids
Priest Holmes (NFL) – 3 illegitimate kids
Karl Malone (NBA) – 3 illegitimate kids – all born while he was in college; 2 of the 3 are now professional athletes
Oscar de la Hoya (Boxing) – 5 kids by 4 women; 3 are illegitimate
Elijah Dukes (MLB) – 5 illegitimate kids by 4 women (possibly 6 kids by 5 women now – the most recent one hasn’t been publicly confirmed)
Willis McGahee (NFL) – 3 illegitimate kids in 2 years
Michael Vick (NFL/current federal inmate) – 3 illegitimate children

These athletes take the cake with six or more illegitimate children a piece:

Ray Lewis (NFL) – Rumored to have 6 children by 4 women
Marshall Faulk (NFL) – Also rumored to have 6 children, but by 3 women
Antonio Cromartie (NFL) – 7 illegitimate kids by 6 women by age 25
Shawn Kemp (NBA) – 7 illegitimate kids by 6 women (some rumors put these numbers MUCH higher)
Derrick Thomas (NFL) – 7 illegitimate kids by 5 women at the time of his death at age 33
Jason Caffey (NBA) – 8 illegitimate children by 7 women
Travis Henry (NFL) – 9 kids by 9 women by age 28
Willie Anderson (NBA) – 9 illegitimate kids
Evander Holyfield (Boxing) – 9 illegitimate kids
Calvin Murphy (NBA) – 14 illegitimate kids by 9 women

And this paternity suit epidemic? Not exactly new territory for the big leagues. These guys were having illegitimate kids way back in the day:

Steve Garvey (MLB) – 2 illegitimate kids by 2 women
Julius Erving/Dr. J (NBA) – 2 illegitimate kids by 2 women
Isiah Thomas (NBA) – 3 children; 1 is illegitimate
Jim Palmer (MLB) – 1 illegitimate child
Darryl Strawberry (MLB) – 6 children; 1 is illegitimate
Pete Rose (MLB) – 5 children; 1 is illegitimate
Tug McGraw (MLB) – 3 children; 1 is illegitimate (and happens to be country singer Tim McGraw)
Bjorn Borg (Tennis) – 1 illegitimate child

As long as there are professional athletes, it seems that the folks who do paternity testing will always have jobs!

Legal Topics: paternity, child support, paternity testing

Celebrity Divorce Blog | MyFamilyLaw » allen iverson

Allen Iverson’s Wife Files for Divorce

Paternity Suits and Pro Athletes: The List