The Sixth Man by Andre Iguodala

I know I’ve mentioned my love of memoir before, but I’ve failed to mention that I particularly enjoy sports memoirs. Add Andre Iguodala’s book The Sixth Man to the list of ones I’ve read recently. I, of course, listened to the audiobook, as per usual these days.

Iguodala writes about growing up with a mother who taught him tough love in a town (Springfield, IL) haunted by its ugly, racist past. He goes on to play basketball professionally and becomes quite successful.

My favorite part? When he describes being heckled by a fan who says things like, and I’m paraphrasing here, “Why’s this guy shooting? He’s only averaging 30% from the field!” That line cracked me up. Not only was the fan astute enough to know the player’s stats, but obnoxious enough to scream them aloud. That section of the book also surprised me because I’d never stopped to think about how much heckling hurts a player’s feelings. I’ve seen pro women’s tennis players react to being heckled. (One cried a few years back.) But for whatever reason I never imagined pro male players could be sensitive to criticism. I guess I thought they were made of steel or something. Boy, was I wrong. Iguodala makes it known that the heckling and the criticism from the press did get to him. He channeled negativity into something positive by motivating himself to work harder and prove his worth.

Iguodala doesn’t shy away from politics and money. He talks about the frustrations of being traded. He even describes how pissed he was when he made the comment, “I do what mastah say,” after being asked about his plans before a big game. As Iguodala’s book shows us, even wealthy blacks face racism, and being an athlete gives you a platform to shed light on important issues in our country, such as racism and class privilege.