Allen Iverson to retire October 30 in Philadelphia

(UPI) -- Allen Iverson will retire from the NBA with the team that first drafted him.

Iverson, 38, will officially announce his retirement before the opener against the Philadephia 76ers on October 30 against the Miami Heat.

Allen Iverson to retire on October 30th in Philly vs the Heat. according to ESPN.

— Martin Brian Ansah (@DaAnsahonSports) October 17, 2013

He retires as Philly's all-time leader in scoring average and second all-time leader in total points scored, and No. 6 all-time in the league for points per game. His retirement comes overdue, as Iverson has not played in the NBA since February 2010, three seasons ago.

Iverson played his last professional basketball in Turkey in 2011.

The team will hold a halftime ceremony to honor the NBA veteran. Iverson was drafted first overall in 1996 out of Georgetown and later led the team to an NBA Finals game in 2001.

“He might be the greatest athlete I’ve ever seen,” Larry Brown, Iverson’s coach from 1997-2003 and the current coach at SMU, said.

“I’m sure we faced a lot of obstacles, maybe even on a daily basis, but when it came time to play, to try to win a game, he tried to play as hard as he could for his coach.”

The Sixers lost to the Lakers in the Finals, but Iverson walked away with the MVP award. Iverson was later traded to the Nuggets, then the Pistons, then the Grizzlies, before returning to his original team.

Now, he will return to retire in front of the current team and the Heat, with LeBron James -- who said Iverson was one of his idols -- standing by.

Iverson may not be entirely through with the Sixers, however.

Finally: Allen Iverson to officially retire in Philly Oct. 30 (ESPN first), may wind up with a post-playing job with the Sixers, per source.

— David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) October 17, 2013