Allen Iverson, new point guard for Besiktas of Istanbul in the Turkish League.

Certainly, the former MVP would prefer to be in the NBA. But after a couple of rocky seasons filled with a lot of off-the-court issues, he was not offered a job in The League, and it’s not as if he had a lot of options domestically; the NBA doesn’t have rivals.

So he is taking his talents to the Bosphorus, signing a two-year contract for $2 million per season.

From the suburbs of Abu Dhabi, I give the guy (or his agent) credit for going where the work is. That’s what more and more Americans ought to be doing for as long as the job market in huge swaths of the States is just dead, dead, dead.

To be sure, AI looks less than enthusiastic in this AP video clip from a press conference in New York more than a week ago, when he was introduced as a member of Besiktas.

A chunk of his time seemed to be him marveling/bemoaning the reality of the NBA not coming after him. But he also seems grounded well enough to know … you have to move on. Can’t sit in your room waiting for the banks to foreclose.

What are the options?

He talks about how he will be homesick. He may well be. But if is getting paid well to do what he loves to do … well, he has a family and bills and commitments (and apparently gambling debts and a drinking problem), and it’s not as if he’s working part-time at a fast-food joint.

Well, not yet.

The president of the Turkish club clearly was excited about Iverson joining the team. Basketball is a fairly big deal in the country, and when Turkey finished second to the U.S. in the world championships over the summer, it only increased interest in the sport.

The latest on Iverson is that he has missed a plane that the Turkish club expected him to make, and his introductory press conference has been delayed a day or three.

The thing about working overseas … you have to show up and give the effort, just like anywhere else. Missing a plane? Not good. At all.

It would be nice if Iverson can get over here and show the basketball fans of Turkey how good he can be. (And his career stats are eye-popping, till the last couple of seasons.) He would be appreciated. He could start over, in a sense. Fans in Turkey don’t know about his personal problems, and would judge him on his effort and results.

And if he puts in a solid couple of seasons, he might be able to go back to the NBA for a final season or two as a backup.

I keep saying that Americans with bad jobs or no jobs should consider looking overseas for work.  I know it’s not for everyone.  Some people are homebodies. They just are. But those of you who are unhappy with what you are doing now and are willing to look further afield than the U.S. borders …well, get busy, because you speak the right language at this point in world history, and your skills might translate into employment overseas.

People from other countries have been doing this … forever. That’s why millions of Mexicans are in the U.S., and why two million Indians are in the UAE, and why every team in the UAE professional soccer league has at least one Brazilian playing for it. Because Brazilians love playing away from home? No. Because that is where the work is.

Actually, I had never heard of Besiktas, a sports club best known for its soccer team, until a few months ago, when an Argentine midfielder named Matias Delgado was pretty much asked to leave after a bad match … and signed with the Abu Dhabi club Al Jazira.

Delgado, however,  made the plane and was in the Jazira lineup within days of being bounced out of Istanbul, and was playing welll. The man is doing what needs to be done.

Allen Iverson almost certainly hasn’t thought of this, but he can set an example for Americans who might be able to get jobs outside of the States — if he shows up in Istanbul, tears up the Turkish league and earns his money.

If he is willing to give it a try, and his best effort … then, yes, welcome to Asia, AI.