Dimensions
155 x 229 x 16mm
The first full-length biography of iconic basketball superstar and 2001 NBA MVP Alien Iverson.
In 1996, Alien Iverson burst into the NBA league, the first overall pick for the Philadelphia 76ers. Looking more like a rambunctious ballboy than the MVP he would become, this corn- rowed, tattooed menace was immediately vilified by a sports press still fawning over Michael Jordan's non-threatening, clean-cut visage. Iverson, with his history of run-ins with the law and time spent in jail, couldn't be further from the well-scrubbed image that the league wanted to project. And in succeeding so dramatically despite maintaining his ghettocentric roots, Iverson has literally ushered in a new era of NBA stars.
Raised in poverty, with his biological father in prison for manslaughter, his de facto father in and out of jail for drug dealing, his mother turning tricks to pay the bills, and many of his friends meeting an all-too-familiar inner city demise (in one summer alone, eight were killed in shootings), Iverson found his escape on the playground. There, his prodigious talent had its roots.
This book combines a detailed and compelling narrative of Iverson's life, along with analysis that places the Iverson phenomenon - and, by extension, the entire commercial hip-hop phenomenon - in its proper pop culture context. Filled with information culled from exclusive interview sources and unprecedented access to Iverson himself, the book provides an in-depth look at the truth behind this newly-minted legend.
In this gritty, compelling tale readers find a story that is both inspiring and tragic: the story of a prodigy born into hell, who makes it out bloodied, but unbowed.
