Life in the G

Alex Squadron is a sports journalist who has worked as an associate editor for SLAM, producing cover stories on NBA stars and reporting on marquee events such as the NBA Finals, NBA All-Star Weekend, and FIBA World Cup in China. Andre Ingram is a professional basketball player who has spent fourteen years in the G League. He also serves as president of the G League's union.

Foreword by Andre Ingram Author's Note Introduction 1. What's the G League? 2. It's Nice to Have You in Birmingham 3. Tryouts 4. Draft Day 5. Training Camp 6. Winning Matters 7. The Marshmallow Experiment 8. November 17, 2021 9. The Panic Button 10. The Price of a Dream 11. Basketball in the Magic City 12. Omicron 13. Showcase 14. Going Up 15. Centimeter of Chance 16. Can You Pass This Test? 17. A Ruthless Business 18. Keep Going 19. Malcolm Hill's Here 20. At Peace 21. Thinking about Life 22. For the Love 23. We All We Got 24. Win or Go Home 25. Never Ending Acknowledgments Notes

"A fascinating and well-reported look at the ups and downs of life in the G League and the everyday struggles of players reaching for their dream. Highly recommended!"-Paul Fichtenbaum, chief content officer of The Athletic "Life in the G is an oft-gritty, oft-surprising, always engrossing love letter not simply to basketball but to those scratching and clawing to make the League. Alex Squadron has written his dream book, and the passion drips from every page. Bravo."-Jeff Pearlman, New York Times best-selling author of The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson "Squadron's book is filled with colorful, interesting characters, the most captivating being head coach Ryan Pannone. A basketball mastermind with unparalleled knowledge of the game who cares so much, the reader has no other option but to feel for him."-Lukasz Muniowski, Sport in American History "This is an unforgettable view of an aspect of the NBA that most of us don't see, in which the glitz and glamour we're used to are replaced by the true, day-to-day grind of the $37,000-a-year-earning NBA hopeful. Squadron's detailed narrative impeccably captures the pursuit of an elusive dream."-Philip Zozzaro, Booklist "Finally, a book that captures the struggle, the yearning, the grind of pursuing an NBA dream. It might take luck to make the big leagues, but there's nothing lucky about Alex Squadron's soulful, deeply reported book. He has taken us to the gym, to the heartbreak, and to the very core of what it means to dream."-Mirin Fader, New York Times best-selling author of Giannis: The Improbable Rise of an NBA MVP "Squadron provides a necessary deep dive beneath the glitz and glam of major professional sports to reveal the pure human pursuit of happiness and dream-chasing that underscores the modern NBA."-Jake Fischer, author of Built to Lose: How the NBA's Tanking Era Changed the League Forever "Unlike the oft-romanticized world of Minor League Baseball, the professional basketball played below the NBA in this country is undercovered and totally misunderstood. With deft reporting and a humane approach that makes you care about the characters, Alex Squadron's Life in the G brings you inside the NBA G League and teaches what it really takes for many NBA players to make it to the 'Association.'"-Ben Osborne, author of The Brooklyn Cyclones: Hardball Dreams and the New Coney Island "I can't recommend Life in the G enough. It's an instant classic on the level of 'Hoop Dreams' and 'Friday Night Lights.' For sports fans, it's essential reading. Any fan of basketball will absolutely cherish every single word, but Life in the G is so much more than a book about basketball. . . . Squadron is a first-class reporter and a brilliant writer. Life in the G is American basketball canon."-Joe Goodman, al.com