{"product_id":"life-in-the-g-9781496235855","title":"Life in the G","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWelcome to the G League, the official minor league of the National Basketball Association. Life in the G is about the arduous quest to achieve an improbable goal: making it to the NBA. Zeroing in on the Birmingham Squadron and four of its players-Jared Harper, Joe Young, Zylan Cheatham, and Malcolm Hill-Alex Squadron details the pursuit of a dream in what turned out to be the most remarkable season in the history of minor league sports.    Life in the G League is far from glamorous. Players make enormous sacrifices in the hope that someone in the NBA will give them a chance. To this day, very few fans-even the most passionate followers of the NBA-know much about the G League. Beginning in the fall of 2021, the Birmingham Squadron granted author Alex Squadron complete access to the team to capture the experience of playing in the league. That season, with hundreds of NBA players sidelined by the highly contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19, the G League saw a record number of call-ups. Sports Illustrated labeled it the year of the NBA replacement player. Many of those players stayed in the NBA, earning life-changing contracts and taking on significant roles for their new teams. In addition to recounting the organization's inaugural season, Squadron's access to the Birmingham Squadron enabled him to document the incredible journeys of G League players and to tell the larger story of life in the G.    \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"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, \u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"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, \u003ci\u003eSport in American History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I can’t recommend \u003ci\u003eLife in the G\u003c\/i\u003e 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 \u003ci\u003eLife in the G\u003c\/i\u003e is so much more than a book about basketball. . . . Squadron is a first-class reporter and a brilliant writer. \u003ci\u003eLife in the G\u003c\/i\u003e is American basketball canon.\"—Joe Goodman, al.com\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eLife in the G\u003c\/i\u003e 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, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e best-selling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“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 \u003ci\u003eThe Athletic\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“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, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e best-selling author of \u003ci\u003eGiannis: The Improbable Rise of an NBA MVP\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“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 \u003ci\u003eBuilt to Lose: How the NBA’s Tanking Era Changed the League Forever\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“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 \u003ci\u003eThe Brooklyn Cyclones: Hardball Dreams and the New Coney Island\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eForeword by Andre Ingram\u003cbr\u003e Author’s Note\u003cbr\u003e Introduction\u003cbr\u003e 1. What’s the G League?\u003cbr\u003e 2. It’s Nice to Have You in Birmingham\u003cbr\u003e 3. Tryouts\u003cbr\u003e 4. Draft Day\u003cbr\u003e 5. Training Camp\u003cbr\u003e 6. Winning Matters\u003cbr\u003e 7. The Marshmallow Experiment\u003cbr\u003e 8. November 17, 2021\u003cbr\u003e 9. The Panic Button\u003cbr\u003e 10. The Price of a Dream\u003cbr\u003e 11. Basketball in the Magic City\u003cbr\u003e 12. Omicron\u003cbr\u003e 13. Showcase\u003cbr\u003e 14. Going Up\u003cbr\u003e 15. Centimeter of Chance\u003cbr\u003e 16. Can You Pass This Test?\u003cbr\u003e 17. A Ruthless Business\u003cbr\u003e 18. Keep Going\u003cbr\u003e 19. Malcolm Hill’s Here\u003cbr\u003e 20. At Peace\u003cbr\u003e 21. Thinking about Life\u003cbr\u003e 22. For the Love\u003cbr\u003e 23. We All We Got\u003cbr\u003e 24. Win or Go Home\u003cbr\u003e 25. Never Ending\u003cbr\u003e Acknowledgments\u003cbr\u003e Notes","brand":"University of Nebraska Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49409245053271,"sku":"9781496235855","price":25.19,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781496235855.jpg?v=1730506121","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/life-in-the-g-9781496235855","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}