Basketball superstar faces tricky defence

ALLEN IVERSON surrendered to authorities at sunrise Tuesday on charges that he burst into his cousin's apartment with a handgun and threatened two men while searching for his wife after an argument.

The surrender came around 5:30am, about half an hour after a convoy of sports utility vehicles and a mini-van left the grounds of Iverson's $2.4m suburban mansion.

Basketball's tempestuous superstar had been ordered to stay at the house since prosecutors said last week they would charge him and his uncle with assault, terroristic threats and related offences.

Iverson, who had met with lawyers Monday night, also faces gun charges. The 27-year-old player and his uncle had been expected to turn themselves in Tuesday, and reporters and photographers had been camped out around his home throughout the night.

His attorney, Richard Sprague, said outside police headquarters that Iverson would plead innocent to the charges. He declined further comment.

As he arrived at headquarters, Iverson, who has had troubles on and off the court, could be seen wearing a white T-shirt and stretched across the back seat of a green mini-van.

Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson told reporters that Iverson would be in custody until at least late afternoon. Donna Sykes, a police inspector, said supervisors at the police detention unit would make sure that he did not get special attention.

Iverson's uncle Gregory Iverson also turned himself in around dawn.

As Iverson prepared to turn himself in, his mother defended him outside his home late Monday.

"He knows he's got to do what he's got to do," Ann Iverson said. "I'm going to stick by my son because I know the man he is. I tell him don't worry about it, everything happens for a reason."

Iverson is accused of throwing his wife, Tawanna, out of the mansion during a fight earlier this month, then barging into the cousin's Philadelphia apartment with a gun while searching for her the next night.

Iverson, who was told by police he would be arrested if he left the mansion grounds before turning himself in, had not been seen outside his house since 5am Sunday, after a get-together with friends and relatives. The last glimpse of his wife came Wednesday. Neither spoke with reporters.

About a dozen fans mingled on the sidewalks Tuesday morning outside police headquarters, where Iverson was awaiting a bail hearing. Among them was a group of children selling lemonade, while employees of a Philadelphia sports radio station walked about in circus garb.

The Iversons were married last August, two months after Iverson led the 76ers to the NBA Finals for the first time in 18 years to end a season in which he was chosen as the league's MVP.

Iverson and his uncle are accused of threatening two people inside the apartment 21-year-old Charles Jones and 17-year-old Hakim Carey. Tawanna Iverson wasn't at the apartment when Iverson came looking for her, authorities said.

Police have searched Iverson's house and vehicles, but are not believed to have found a weapon.

As a teenager, Iverson was arrested in a Virginia bowling alley brawl in 1993 and spent four months in prison before the governor granted clemency. The conviction was overturned on appeal in 1995.

In 1997, Iverson pleaded no contest to a gun charge after police near Richmond, Virginia, stopped a car in which he was a passenger and found a gun belonging to Iverson and two marijuana cigarettes. A marijuana-possession charge was dropped.

Since arriving in Philadelphia, Iverson has squabbled several times with 76ers coach Larry Brown and drew harsh criticism over an unreleased rap CD in which Iverson used derogatory terms for women and gays.