
Not a Game
The Incredible Rise and Unthinkable Fall of Allen Iverson
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $21.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Michael Butler Murray
-
By:
-
Kent Babb
About this listen
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 BooksListeners also enjoyed...
-
KG: A to Z
- An Uncensored Encyclopedia of Life, Basketball, and Everything in Between
- By: Kevin Garnett, David Ritz
- Narrated by: Guy Lockard, Kevin Garnett - introduction
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kevin Garnett was one of the most dominant players the game of basketball has ever seen. He was also one of its most outspoken. Over the course of his illustrious 21-year NBA career, he elevated trash talk to an art form and never shied away from sharing his thoughts on controversial subjects. In KG: A to Z, published ahead of Garnett’s induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame, he looks back on his life and career with the same raw candor.
-
-
K G is one of the great.
- By Anonymous User on 06-29-21
By: Kevin Garnett, and others
-
Giannis
- The Improbable Rise of an NBA MVP
- By: Mirin Fader
- Narrated by: Mirin Fader
- Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the face of the NBA's new world order, Giannis Antetokounmpo has overcome unfathomable obstacles to become a symbol of hope for people all over the world, the personification of the American Dream. But his backstory remains largely untold, and Fader unearths new information about the childhood that shaped "The Greek Freak"—from sleeping side by side with his brothers to selling trinkets on the side of the street with his family to the racism he experienced in Greece.
-
-
Fantastic Well Narrated Book
- By B on 08-13-21
By: Mirin Fader
-
Shaq Uncut
- My Story
- By: Shaquille O'Neal, Jackie MacMullan
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Superman. Diesel. The Big Aristotle. Shaq Fu. The Big Daddy. The Big Shaqtus. Wilt Chamberneezy. The Real Deal. The Big Shamrock. Shaq....From growing up in difficult circumstances and getting cut from his high-school basketball team to his larger-than-life basketball career, Shaquille O'Neal lays it all out in Shaq Uncut: My Story.
-
-
ENJOYED IT FROM BEGINNING TO END
- By Crystal on 12-21-12
By: Shaquille O'Neal, and others
-
Barkley
- A Biography
- By: Timothy Bella
- Narrated by: Korey Jackson
- Length: 16 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He's one of the most interesting American athletes in the past fifty years. Passionate, candid, iconoclastic, and gifted both on and off the court, Charles Barkley has made a lasting impact on not only the world of basketball but pop culture at large. Yet few people know the real Charles. Informed by over 370 original interviews and painstaking research, Timothy Bella's Barkley is the most comprehensive biography to date of one of the most talked about icons in the world of sports.
-
-
Great insight to the big man’s life.
- By marci rodee on 07-03-23
By: Timothy Bella
-
Game
- An Autobiography
- By: Grant Hill
- Narrated by: Grant Hill
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Grant Hill always had game. His choice of college was a subject of national interest, and his arrival at Duke University cemented the program’s arrival at the top. In his freshman year, he led the team to its first NCAA championship, and three championship appearances in four years. His Duke career produced some of the most iconic moments in college basketball history, and Coach K proved to be a lifelong mentor.
-
-
Ok
- By Dani Brown on 07-16-22
By: Grant Hill
-
The Last Enforcer
- Outrageous Stories from the Life and Times of One of the NBA's Fiercest Competitors
- By: Charles Oakley, Frank Isola
- Narrated by: Adam Lazarre-White
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you ask a New York Knicks fan about Charles Oakley, you better prepare to hear the love and a favorite story or two. But his individual stats weren’t remarkable, and while he helped power the Knicks to 10 consecutive playoffs, he never won a championship. So why does he hold such a special place in the minds, hearts, and memories of NBA players and fans?
-
-
All about a bully
- By Shoeless Joe on 02-20-23
By: Charles Oakley, and others
-
KG: A to Z
- An Uncensored Encyclopedia of Life, Basketball, and Everything in Between
- By: Kevin Garnett, David Ritz
- Narrated by: Guy Lockard, Kevin Garnett - introduction
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kevin Garnett was one of the most dominant players the game of basketball has ever seen. He was also one of its most outspoken. Over the course of his illustrious 21-year NBA career, he elevated trash talk to an art form and never shied away from sharing his thoughts on controversial subjects. In KG: A to Z, published ahead of Garnett’s induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame, he looks back on his life and career with the same raw candor.
-
-
K G is one of the great.
- By Anonymous User on 06-29-21
By: Kevin Garnett, and others
-
Giannis
- The Improbable Rise of an NBA MVP
- By: Mirin Fader
- Narrated by: Mirin Fader
- Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the face of the NBA's new world order, Giannis Antetokounmpo has overcome unfathomable obstacles to become a symbol of hope for people all over the world, the personification of the American Dream. But his backstory remains largely untold, and Fader unearths new information about the childhood that shaped "The Greek Freak"—from sleeping side by side with his brothers to selling trinkets on the side of the street with his family to the racism he experienced in Greece.
-
-
Fantastic Well Narrated Book
- By B on 08-13-21
By: Mirin Fader
-
Shaq Uncut
- My Story
- By: Shaquille O'Neal, Jackie MacMullan
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Superman. Diesel. The Big Aristotle. Shaq Fu. The Big Daddy. The Big Shaqtus. Wilt Chamberneezy. The Real Deal. The Big Shamrock. Shaq....From growing up in difficult circumstances and getting cut from his high-school basketball team to his larger-than-life basketball career, Shaquille O'Neal lays it all out in Shaq Uncut: My Story.
-
-
ENJOYED IT FROM BEGINNING TO END
- By Crystal on 12-21-12
By: Shaquille O'Neal, and others
-
Barkley
- A Biography
- By: Timothy Bella
- Narrated by: Korey Jackson
- Length: 16 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He's one of the most interesting American athletes in the past fifty years. Passionate, candid, iconoclastic, and gifted both on and off the court, Charles Barkley has made a lasting impact on not only the world of basketball but pop culture at large. Yet few people know the real Charles. Informed by over 370 original interviews and painstaking research, Timothy Bella's Barkley is the most comprehensive biography to date of one of the most talked about icons in the world of sports.
-
-
Great insight to the big man’s life.
- By marci rodee on 07-03-23
By: Timothy Bella
-
Game
- An Autobiography
- By: Grant Hill
- Narrated by: Grant Hill
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Grant Hill always had game. His choice of college was a subject of national interest, and his arrival at Duke University cemented the program’s arrival at the top. In his freshman year, he led the team to its first NCAA championship, and three championship appearances in four years. His Duke career produced some of the most iconic moments in college basketball history, and Coach K proved to be a lifelong mentor.
-
-
Ok
- By Dani Brown on 07-16-22
By: Grant Hill
-
The Last Enforcer
- Outrageous Stories from the Life and Times of One of the NBA's Fiercest Competitors
- By: Charles Oakley, Frank Isola
- Narrated by: Adam Lazarre-White
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you ask a New York Knicks fan about Charles Oakley, you better prepare to hear the love and a favorite story or two. But his individual stats weren’t remarkable, and while he helped power the Knicks to 10 consecutive playoffs, he never won a championship. So why does he hold such a special place in the minds, hearts, and memories of NBA players and fans?
-
-
All about a bully
- By Shoeless Joe on 02-20-23
By: Charles Oakley, and others
-
Across the River
- Life, Death, and Football in an American City
- By: Kent Babb
- Narrated by: Ryan Vincent Anderson, Kent Babb
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the west bank of the Mississippi lies the New Orleans neighborhood of Algiers. Short on hope but big on dreams, its mostly poor and marginalized residents find joy on Friday nights when the Cougars of Edna Karr High School take the field. For years, this football program has brought glory to Algiers, winning three consecutive state championships and sending dozens of young men to college on football scholarships. Although he is preparing for a fourth title, Head Coach Brice Brown is focused on something else: keeping his players alive.
-
-
One man can make a difference…and does!!
- By Willike7 on 01-30-24
By: Kent Babb
-
Michael Jordan
- The Life
- By: Roland Lazenby
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 21 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The definitive biography of a legendary athlete. The Shrug. The Shot. The Flu Game. When most people think of him, they think of his beautiful shots with the game on the line, his body totally in sync with the ball - hitting nothing but net. But for all his greatness, this scion of a complex family from North Carolina's Coastal Plain has a darker side: He's a ruthless competitor and a lover of high stakes. There's never been a biography that encompassed the dual nature of his character and looked so deeply at Jordan on and off the court - until now.
-
-
horrible naration
- By Hiro on 03-27-18
By: Roland Lazenby
-
Blood in the Garden
- The Flagrant History of the 1990s New York Knicks
- By: Chris Herring
- Narrated by: Brian Hutchison
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The definitive history of the 1990s New York Knicks, illustrating how Pat Riley, Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Charles Oakley, and Anthony Mason resurrected the iconic franchise through oppressive physicality and unmatched grit. Blood in the Garden is a portrait filled with eye-opening details that have never been shared before, revealing the full story of the franchise in the midst of the NBA’s golden era. And rest assured, no punches will be pulled. Which is just how those rough-and-tumble Knicks would like it.
-
-
Great book, horrible performance.
- By Sean Conway on 07-21-22
By: Chris Herring
-
The Rise: Kobe Bryant and the Pursuit of Immortality
- By: Mike Sielski
- Narrated by: Landon Woodson, Mike Sielski
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kobe Bryant’s death in January 2020 did more than rattle the worlds of sports and celebrity. The tragedy of that helicopter crash, which also took the life of his daughter Gianna, unveiled the full breadth and depth of his influence on our culture, and by tracing and telling the oft-forgotten and lesser-known story of his early life, The Rise promises to provide an insight into Kobe that no other analysis has.
-
-
I didn’t think I would learn a life lesson…
- By TE on 01-25-22
By: Mike Sielski
-
Straight Shooter
- A Memoir of Second Chances and First Takes
- By: Stephen A. Smith
- Narrated by: Stephen A. Smith
- Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stephen A. Smith has never been handed anything, nor was he an overnight success. Growing up poor in Queens, the son of Caribbean immigrants and the youngest of six children, he was a sports-obsessed kid who faced struggles, from undiagnosed dyslexia to getting enough cereal to fill his bowl. As a basketball player at Winston-Salem State University, he got a glimmer of his true calling when he wrote a newspaper column arguing for the retirement of his own Hall of Fame coach, Clarence Gaines.
-
-
Trash🗑
- By Maurice Davis on 01-25-23
By: Stephen A. Smith
-
Showtime
- Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s
- By: Jeff Pearlman
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 18 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling sportswriter Jeff Pearlman draws from almost 300 interviews to take the first full measure of the Lakers’ epic Showtime era. A dazzling account of one of America’s greatest sports sagas, Showtime is packed with indelible characters, vicious rivalries, and jaw-dropping, behind-the-scenes stories of the players’ decadent Hollywood lifestyles. From the Showtime era’s remarkable rise to its tragic end - marked by Magic Johnson’s 1991 announcement that he had contracted HIV - Showtime is a gripping narrative of sports, celebrity, and 1980s-style excess.
-
-
Offended at the style used to voice black characters.
- By NP on 01-15-22
By: Jeff Pearlman
-
LeBron
- By: Jeff Benedict
- Narrated by: Chris Jackson
- Length: 17 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
LeBron James is the greatest basketball player of the twenty-first century, and he’s in the conversation with Michael Jordan as the greatest of all time. The reigning king of the game and the first active NBA player to become a billionaire, LeBron wears the crown like he was born with it. Yet his ascent has been anything but effortless and predetermined—the truth is vastly more interesting than that. LeBron tells the full, riveting saga of how a child adrift found the will to become a titan. Jeff Benedict paints a vivid picture of LeBron’s epic origin story, showing the gradual rise of a star.
-
-
Anyone could have written this book
- By Kevin Crane on 05-01-23
By: Jeff Benedict
-
Unguarded
- By: Scottie Pippen, Michael Arkush
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Scottie Pippen has been called one of the greatest NBA players for good reason. Simply put, without Pippen, there are no championship banners - let alone six - hanging from the United Center rafters. There’s no Last Dance documentary. There’s no “Michael Jordan” as we know him. The 1990s Chicago Bulls teams would not exist as we know them. So how did the youngest of 12 go from growing up poor in the small town of Hamburg, Arkansas, enduring two family tragedies along the way, to become a revered NBA legend?
-
-
Unfortunate
- By Lisa A Bartruff on 11-22-21
By: Scottie Pippen, and others
-
Showboat
- The Life of Kobe Bryant
- By: Roland Lazenby
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 21 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The definitive portrait of Kobe Bryant, from the author of Michael Jordan. Eighteen-time All-Star, scorer of 81 points in a single game, MVP, and one of the best shooting guards in NBA league history: Kobe Bryant is among basketball's absolute greatest players, and his importance to the sport is undeniable. Third on the NBA career scoring list and owner of five championship rings, he is an undisputed all-time great, one deserving of this deep and definitive biography.
-
-
KOBE BEAN BRYANT
- By Allaeldien Abdelrahman on 12-14-18
By: Roland Lazenby
-
Tiger Woods
- By: Jeff Benedict, Armen Keteyian
- Narrated by: Roger Casey
- Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2009, Tiger Woods was the most famous athlete on the planet, a transcendent star of almost unfathomable fame and fortune living what appeared to be the perfect life - married to a Swedish beauty and the father of two young children. Winner of 14 major golf championships and 79 PGA Tour events, Woods was the first billion-dollar athlete, earning more than $100 million a year in endorsements from the likes of Nike, Gillette, AT&T, and Gatorade. But it was all a carefully crafted illusion. As it turned out, Woods had been living a double life for years.
-
-
Schadenfreude For Non-Fans
- By Dubi on 02-16-19
By: Jeff Benedict, and others
-
Where Tomorrows Aren't Promised
- By: Carmelo Anthony
- Narrated by: Carmelo Anthony
- Length: 4 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For a long time, Carmelo Anthony’s world wasn’t any larger than the view of the hoopers and hustlers he watched from the side window of his family’s first-floor project apartment in Red Hook, Brooklyn. He couldn’t dream any bigger than emulating his older brothers and cousin, much less going on to become a basketball champion on the world stage.
-
-
When "Curly" Becomes Carmelo Anthony
- By Passionate Book Reader on 09-19-21
By: Carmelo Anthony
-
Three Ring Circus
- Kobe, Shaq, Phil and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty
- By: Jeff Pearlman
- Narrated by: Brian Hutchison
- Length: 16 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the history of modern sport, there have never been two high-level teammates who loathed each other the way Shaquille O’Neal loathed Kobe Bryant and Kobe Bryant loathed Shaquille O’Neal. From public sniping and sparring, to physical altercations and the repeated threats of trade, it was warfare. And yet, despite eight years of infighting and hostility, by turns mediated and encouraged by coach Phil Jackson, the Shaq-Kobe duo resulted in one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history.
-
-
Ok I've finished it and have more thoughts
- By Bobby S on 09-24-20
By: Jeff Pearlman
Jumps around different time periods a lot
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
⠀
I like AIlen Iverson. I enjoyed watching him play for the Sixers. Back in the Micheal Jordan era, I was a Chicago Bulls fans. But when the Bulls came to Philly, and I went to see them play at the Spectrum Sports Complex, I always elected to proudly wear my Iverson #3 black, red & white jersey. That’s how much I enjoyed him as a player.
⠀
Unfortunately, I have mixed emotions about this audiobook. Although it’s technically a good audiobook, I didn’t want to hear the worse of Allen. The author paints him as an alcoholic, bankrupt, wife abuser, that has very little respect for anyone other than his mother. I found the stories disheartening. Some of them pissed me off. But at the same time, I know there is some validity to what the author shares. As a former Atlantic City casino dealer, I remember the days when Allen used to gamble in AC. On a few occasions he got so drunk that he urinated right on the casino floor. There were also times when Allen and his crew got into altercations with other gamblers. The entire crew was belligerent.
⠀
The audiobook is narrated by Michael Butler Murray. What’s interesting is that Murray sounds like a sports commentator. There’s a certain awkwardness in his delivery. Similar to the way it would sound if Dick Vitale narrated 𝘉𝘰𝘺𝘻 𝘕 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘰𝘥. Some may say his voice is not a good fit to share Allen Iverson’s hardcore life story. However, I found it oddly satisfying.
⠀
Overall, as much as I hate to say it, this is a good audiobook.
It’s Like Listening to a Train Wreck That You Can’t Turn Off
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Awesome book!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Well researched, not a fan of time jumps
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Not A Game
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
When you fall down You must get back up again!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A great but critical biography
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Not bad
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Excellent story of the rise and fall of AI
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Good
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.