by Clayton Duncan

Created on: March 08, 2007   Last Updated: April 27, 2007

Allen Iverson grew up a poor child in the streets of Hampton and Newport News, Virginia. Although this was a place of many hardships for him, it was also the place where his talent that would eventually make him rich started. The young Iverson loved to play football, often going against much bigger kids as if it was nothing. He possessed a great toughness that allowed him to be hit over and over again and still come back as if nothing had happened. However, one day coming back from playing football, Allen's mother told him to get ready for basketball practice. He seemed outraged; "Basketball is for sissy's" he told Ann, but she forced him to go anyway. Allen cried the whole way to practice; little did he know it was the greatest thing that could have ever happened to him.

Allen Iverson was a great athlete as a kid and still is today. His talent in sports is definitely his claim to fame. Without it he might still be on poor on the streets now like he was as a kid. His life changed completely the day after he decided to enter the NBA Draft and leave Georgetown University behind. Taken as the first pick of the 76ers in 1996, Iverson instantly became one of the top players in the league. However, even though he was one of the most respected players on the court, he was the least off it. Many people disapproved of his gangster looks and the way he carried himself outside the gym. Nevertheless, fans of the NBA eventually fell in love with not only Iverson's play, but also the person himself. Although he is an incredible player, Iverson has yet to win a championship; his closest chance came in the NBA Finals of 2001 when the 76ers lost to the Lakers in 5 games of a best-of-7 series. He's still playing strong in the NBA today and living a wealthy and happy life.
This book was very elaborate. The author used a lot of memories as examples from Iverson's life as if they were his own. He also used various statistics from Iverson sports career to describe the way he played, telling you that he really did his research. In addition, the book was very dramatic seeing as Iverson had a very dramatic life story. The only thing that brought down the overall enjoyment of reading the book was the author repeatedly playing the race card. It seemed like almost every time Iverson had some sort of problem Platt would write something like, "they were against him because of the color of his skin", or something similar. Nonetheless, Only the Strong Survive should still be an interesting

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