DENVER -- With allegations of heavy drinking and gambling swirling around Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony said he never observed such behavior when the two were teammates for two years on the Denver Nuggets.

"No, man. I haven't seen any of that,'' Anthony, Iverson's teammate on the Nuggets from December 2006 to November 2008, said Tuesday after Denver's practice. "When I hear stuff like that, I just be wondering, 'Where is it coming from?' I want to hear it from him. So I'm pretty sure in a couple days I'll get him on the phone and talk to him.''

Anthony, who called Iverson "one of my close friends,'' has kept in touch regularly with Iverson since he was traded from the Nuggets 1 1/2 years ago, beginning an odyssey that has taken him through disappointing stints in Detroit, Memphis and Philadelphia. But Anthony said he hasn't talked with Iverson for a few weeks, wanting to give him some space as he left the 76ers due to his 4-year-old daughter, Messiah, battling an undetermined illness.

The 76ers announced last week Iverson wouldn't play again this season. Since then, his wife, Tawanna, has filed for divorce and the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Iverson's life is spiraling out of control due to drinking and gambling, a contention Iverson vaguely touched upon in a Twitter message in which he said people are saying "things about me that aren't true.''

"I don't want to see nobody ... go through what he's going through,'' said Anthony, who last spoke to Iverson when his family issues first surfaced last month. "I know he's had his issues out there in Philly whether he was playing, whether he was hurt or whether he had to deal with family issues. Having to deal with family issues is one thing, but having to deal with all the other stuff that is going on ... Nobody wants to deal with that stuff ... I wish he could just deal with his family issues, and then that would be it.''

While many figure Iverson, 34, has played his final NBA game, Anthony believes he still has the ability to help a team.

"I hope so,'' said Anthony about Iverson again playing in the NBA. "I don't think as far as his game he's done. But I really don't know. I really don't know where his mind is right now. I'm pretty sure he's not thinking about basketball right now.''

Meanwhile, Anthony now must worry about helping keep the Nuggets (42-21) afloat after having lost starting power forward Kenyon Martin for an undetermined amount of time as he undergoes platelet-rich plasma treatment on his ailing left knee. There has been some hope in the Nuggets camp that, if all goes well, Martin could be back by the end of March. But Anthony said "we really don't know how long Kenyon is going to be out.''

Martin did travel with the team for Denver's upcoming four-game trip that begins Wednesday at Minnesota.

"If it comes down to it, I might play a little bit of [power forward],'' said Anthony, the team's starting small forward. "I don't want to, but I might have to. ... Guys have got to step up.''

Anthony then changed his tune a bit about sliding some to power forward.

"I don't have a problem playing [power forward], but it just depends on how the game is going and what's going on out there and the flow of the game,'' Anthony said.

The Nuggets have fallen a game behind Dallas (44-21) for the No. 2 seed in the West. They entered Tuesday just 1 1/2 games ahead of Utah (40-32) in the Northwest Division.

The Nuggets have other obstacles. Nuggets coach George Karl, battling a form of throat cancer, will be replaced by assistant Adrian Dantley for Wednesday's game due to his treatment, and he might also be out Friday at New Orleans. And Dantley said Tuesday that backup point guard Ty Lawson, who had hoped to return Wednesday after missing four games because of a left shoulder contusion, "is out for another week.''

But Karl and Lawson will be back before Martin.

"Of course, that's one of our anchors,'' guard Chauncey Billups said of Martin. "It's bad news for us but the good news is there is light at the end of the tunnel for us (with Martin's treatment) and we can live with it. We just want him to get healthy. ... There's not one person that can come in and make up for everything he does. Collectively, we've just got to band together.''

Anthony expressed similar sentiments during this trying time about the Nuggets. He also wants to reach out to his friend Iverson.

Source: Chris Tomasson, FanHouse