Former NBA player Allen Iverson holds a jersey from his new team, the Turkish basketball team Besiktas, with the Besiktas club president, Yildirim Demiroren, during a press conference in New York October 29, 2010.
ISTANBUL, Nov. 8 -- Former NBA MVP Allen Iverson arrived in Istanbul on Monday to play for a prominent Turkish basketball team.
The NBA star arrived with 16 bags and was greeted by around 20 fans wearing the black-and-white team colors of Iverson's new team, Besiktas, reported private NTV channel.
Iverson signed a 2-year 4 million dollar contract with the Turkish team in New York last week, after no NBA team signed him for this season.
Besiktas won its first and only national basketball championship in the 1974-75 season.
Iverson told NTV Spor that he was very happy to arrive and had a very good feeling about this opportunity.
He added that his main goal was for the fans to watch him live, and to show them a much better Iverson than they had seen before.
Iverson won the an NBA All-star MVP in 2001 and 2005. His number 4 Besiktas uniform is already on sale at Besiktas sporting goods stores. He will be attending the Besiktas-Kasmpasa football game Monday evening, and be introduced to the fans with a public signing ceremony Tuesday night.
(Reuters)
