'The Sixth Man': Warriors’ Iguodala releases memoir on class, race, hoops

MANILA, Philippines — Renowned Golden State Warrior Andre Iguodala has released a memoir titled “The Sixth Man”,Tuesday (Wednesday Manila time).

With a title inspired by Iguodala’s reputation of being Golden State’s "sixth man," the memoir talks about the Warrior’s life from his early years in Springfield, Illinois, to his home court in the San Francisco Bay Area in California.

Dropped on Reasonable Doubt day.... #TheSixthMan pic.twitter.com/Sadm4Jcob0

— andre (@andre) June 25, 2019

A "sixth man" is a team’s usual first pick off the bench who renders almost the same play time with starters and racks up on par statistics.

More than basketball, Iguodala also recounts in the book his early life with his single mother and his brother, his experiences with racial conflicts and tensions, and how these pushed him to become a defender early on in life.

For Iguodala, basketball has always been hand in hand with the challenges of being an African-American playing in the US.

In the book’s introduction Iguodala wrote this phrase: “to young fella, stay black!”

Iguodala ended up in 10th place in the run for NBA Sixth Man of the Year 2019 award, quite a few places away from Lou Williams of the Los Angeles Clippers, who came away with the award this year.

Iguodala and the Warriors were beaten by the Toronto Raptors in the recent NBA finals. — Gab Alicaya