Larry Platt is the editor in chief of Philadelphia magazine and the author of Keepin' It Real: A Turbulent Season at the Crossroads with the NBA. His work has appeared in GQ, The New York Times Magazine, Playboy, and Details. He lives in Philadelphia.
"Makes all previous writing on Allen Iverson seem superficial."
Allen Iverson, Philadelphia 76ers' enigmatic and brilliant point guard, has attracted a lot of attention from authors and sportswriters alike. Many of the books are for young adults (e.g., Mark Stewart's Allen Iverson: Motion and Emotion) and do not address the more interesting and important aspects of the Iverson phenomenon. Here is one of the first basketball books available to deal with race in a straightforward manner. Not only does Platt (New Jack Jocks: Rebels, Race, and the American Athlete) examine the various ways white players and National Basketball Association brass have reacted to Iverson's controversial style but he considers the reactions of older black players as well. The author's discussion of race and culture in the modern NBA is just as interesting as the nuanced and detailed story of Iverson's dramatic life and career. (With his father in prison for manslaughter, Iverson spent his childhood in such terrible poverty that he lived in a house without adequate running water until his late teens.) Platt had remarkable access to the most important people in Iverson's life as well as to the elusive man himself. Written in a lively style and with something meaty for anyone who reads it, this book is recommended for all sports collections.-James Miller, Springfield Coll., MA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
"Makes all previous writing on Allen Iverson seem superficial."
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