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Jul 07, 2015 Web Exclusive By Frank Valish

Former Philadelphia 76ers star Allen Iverson has always been a polarizing figure, from his alleged involvement in a bowling alley fracas in high school to the scuttled rap album that was deemed too offensive from the then face of the NBA. Many saw Iverson as a brazen, entitled star who never met a coach he couldn’t alienate. However, his hard-nosed, scrappy, and downright brilliant play on the court endeared him to fans in Philadelphia and across the country. Journalist Kent Babb’s Not a Game chronicles the life and career of the basketball star, and in doing so, opens a can of worms on Iverson’s personal life.

Allen Iverson grew up poor, having to endure struggles unimaginable for anyone lower-middle class and above. He was short by NBA standards, but the guy had pluck, fight, and desire to win that trumped all else. The bowling alley incident and his subsequent jailing for dubious and seemingly racist reasons, along with these other factors, made Iverson a sympathetic character. Babb’s book works to kill that, portraying Iverson as a troubled man, one who abused his wife, destroyed his body with alcohol, frittered away his NBA earnings, and horribly mistreated and neglected his children.

Babb’s portrait of Iverson is an engaging read, filled with anecdotes. The book claims extensive research and interviews with those close to Iverson (Iverson himself did not participate), but aside from some quotes and testimony from the divorce proceedings of Iverson and his then wife, not much of what the book alleges feels like it’s proven fact. The book reads like a story, which is beneficial to the narrative, but the reader is left feeling like he or she needs more hard data to substantiate the claims therein. One is left to place his or her trust in Babb. The push/pull of wanting to view Iverson as a sympathetic character, for the reasons maintained above, and being presented with such telling narrative otherwise leads to a cognitive dissonance that it seems should be backed up with more hard evidence, more quotes, more reference.

Perhaps the lesson in all of this is that Not a Game is just another piece of the puzzle, another item, along with the ESPN 30 for 30 story on his trial or the recent Showtime documentary, Iverson, that can help the reader decide how he or she wants to view Iverson. And unfortunately, until the man himself decides to weigh in, a crucial piece will always be missing. (www.simonandschuster.com)

Author rating: 6/10