The Sixth Man

I am a 77 year old white woman. I loved seeing how you look at. My race, I never thought that you would see us as so different.i loved seeing the process of breaking into the big leagues, I am a great lover of the warriors. Klay is my favorite. I like his sence of humor. When the Hampton 5 is on the floor there is no beating them. I have cheered for you and have been so grateful to you for opening g up your life to us in this book. You have made me understand your life from your angle. Loved it, will recomend it to all my basketball friends

I grew up in what you might naturally call white Springfield, IL. My address barely made it within the city limits, and I went to school K-12 in a neighboring bedroom community. The first time I can remember having an extended interaction with black people was when my 7th grade basketball team faced off against Franklin Middle School (Where Andre went to school and played basketball). My house was only 15 minutes away from Franklin.

Andre Iguodala and I both grew up in the same town. But we didn’t. Andre draws a vivid picture of what it meant to grow up as a young black man in a small midwestern city, and what it meant for him to transcend the life cycle of getting stuck where you grew up. His story is full of the lessons he learned, and how he grew into a professional who is confident with his place on the court and in the world.

In a media cycle that gobbles up stories and spits out hot takes, it’s clear that Andre words are marinated not microwaved. As a 15-year NBA veteran he has experienced the full gamut of life under the public microscope. The narratives we live by and use to interpret the stories of professional athletes may be popular, but that doesn’t necessarily make them true. In “The Sixth Man” you will hear a compelling example of why it’s important that the main characters in our narrative arcs deserve a chance to share their own perspectives.

You’ll be better for reading this book. My appreciation and interest in Andre has always been high because we grew up in the same midwestern city. Now that appreciation has only deepened, and I have a more complete picture of the city I grew up in.

The Sixth Man tells a compelling story. One by one, Andre Iguodala picks apart the stereotypes and gets at the reality of being a black man, a basketball player and an NBA star. But the book isnt a tell-all or a stab in the back to those whove made his success possible. Instead, it reads like an incredibly sincere account of what his life is really likebeyond all the hype.

Iguodalas childhood was anything but ideal. Raised by his grandma and mom, he had to deal with poverty, racism and the lack of his biological fathers presence. His mom comes across as quite a character. She both went without a car and coat so her kids could go to school appropriately dressed and punched a woman to the ground in front of Andre.

The focus of the book is not on his childhood, however, but on the game of basketball itself. Iguodalas insights are not as original as they are articulate: NCAA basketball is one of the biggest hypocrisies in America, many coaches only pretend to care about their players and the human body is not meant to run up and down a hard court eighty-two times a year.

Similarly, he depicts being black in contemporary America vividly. Iguodala justifiably felt fear when playing in the Utah Jazzs arena where some of the twenty thousand white fans were screaming curse words at him. The night before he had seen white nationalists marching on TV. Hes had NBA refs treat him when he complains about a call as if he didnt have the right since hes African-American. All of it is expressed without hatred but without rose colored glasses either.

The only negatives I found in the book arent really Iguodalas fault. First, there are a lot of cliche phrases that should have been edited out. But he employed an accomplished writer as co-author who should have caught these. And he doesnt really give you a behind the scenes look at the Warriors like he does for the rest of his life. But who can blame him? Should he really have jeopardized his relationships with his current teammates and the future of the Warriors success to sell a few more copies?

An incredibly sincere look at race, poverty and the modern athletic establishment in America. Worth reading by anybody interested in broadening their minds on these topics.

I have been a basketball fan since I was 13 and have taken real interest in Iguodalas career since I was a season ticket holder in Philadelphia and now live in the Bay Area and spend a lot of time at Oracle watching my beloved Warriors play. I pre-ordered Andres book and read it immediately after I received it. The writing is excellent. Iguodala takes us from his childhood in Springfield to the summer before this last season in Oakland. There is great insight into his development as a player, the AAU circuit, playing college ball, and his long and storied career in the NBA with the Sixers, Nuggets and Warriors. Andre is very controlled in the way he tells his story and it felt as if there was a lot he could have shared, yet didnt. Aside from his mother and brother, Iguodala tells little of his personal life. I think his wife is mentioned a couple of times, but he tells us nothing about her. This seems to stem from an inability to really discuss his feelings. The reader does gain an understanding of Andres frustration with the system of basketball and his resentment of how black men are treated in America and in the NBA. I appreciated his insight here. We also learn a lot about the toll the game has taken on his body. Iguodala talks a lot about earning a lot of money eye as a professional athlete and questions the value of that in terms of his joints. Still, I felt myself wanting to know a lot more and thats why I am only giving The Sixth Man four stars. It doesnt feel like a full memoir as Andre hasnt really opened up fully about his life.

As a fairly new follower of the NBA and in particular the Miami Heat, I learned of this book on a podcast that Andre Iguodala featured on with teammate Duncan Robinson.

I found it a terrific insight into what its like to make your way through the ranks and the pressures and dedication it takes to make the grade.

Iguodala himself comes across as extremely intelligent and the book is thought provoking and keeps the reader interested from start to finish.

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