Not a Game

The Incredible Rise and Unthinkable Fall of Allen Iverson

By: Kent Babb

Narrated by: Michael Butler Murray

Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's Summary

Through extensive research and interviews with those closest to Iverson, acclaimed Washington Post sportswriter Kent Babb gets behind the familiar, sanitized, and heroic version of the hard-changing, hard-partying athlete who played every game as if it were his last.

Former NBA superstar Allen Iverson was once one of America's most famous athletes: a trendsetter who transcended race, celebrity, and pop culture and emerged from a troubled past to become one of the most successful and highly compensated athletes in the world. Now, his life and career come vividly to light in this “searingly honest” (Baxter Holmes) biography.

Babb brings to life a private, loyal, and often generous Allen Iverson who rarely made the headlines, revealing the backstory behind some of Iverson's most memorable moments, such as his infamous "Practice" rant, delving even deeper to discover where Iverson's demons lurked. He drank too much, stayed out too late, spent more money than most people could spend in a dozen lifetimes - blowing more than $150 million of his NBA earnings alone. His then-wife Tawanna, seen often as the mild-mannered woman who tamed the bad boy, tried to keep her husband and family on the rails. But, as so many others learned on basketball courts, she was no match for the force of nature that was Iverson.

©2015 Kent Babb (P)2020 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

So sad.

Its amazing somebody who overcame a POS mother and idiot friends bleeding him dry has yet to learn. There are times during the book I was thinking okay this is when he'll turn it around. Sadly I was thinking that until I heard "Audible hopes you have enjoyed this presentation" very well read. Great research but so frustrating. Not the book. The person.

Excellent story of the rise and fall of AI

This book was very informative about Iversons' life and his ups and downs. Any fan of his would enjoy it.

A great but critical biography

Not a Game is definitely the best book out there about the enigmatic basketball legend, Allen Iverson. But it’s also a book that doesn’t shy away from Iverson’s turbulent off court behavior. It doesn’t disparage him though, he’s just a complicated guy who had a tough life and through the book you see all sides of Iverson. He could be loving to old mentors and friends but also cruel to others. Nobody’s perfect and that’s okay. Anyone who loves Iverson should read this book. Enjoy!

Deja Vu

Due to the non linear story telling there was a lot of repetition. I would estimate 25% of the time audio book runtime was spent repeating things that had already been said with maybe slightly more detail this time. A lot of interesting insights overall though and I felt like I learned a lot I didn't already know. Well performed with few mispronunciations, which is rare for a basketball book

Awesome book!

Great story and I actually didn't mind the narrator since the story was so fascinating. well researched biography.

Jumps around different time periods a lot

If the story stayed and finished a certain timeframe instead of jumping around in years, points in his life/career to a different time and then back again it would've be a lot better