Inevitably, if you've been around the game of basketball long enough, you've heard some cynical adult ask this question. It seems fair; getting paid millions to play basketball every night in front of adoring fans does sound like one of the easiest gigs in the world. But there's a lot more to it than that.

No one has an easy journey to reap the rewards waiting for them at the highest level of basketball. Only 3 percent of high school athletes earn scholarships to play in college, and only 0.03 percent turn pro. Of those 0.03 percent, there are only so many who have successful careers, make the millions players dream of, and don't go broke almost immediately after retiring. There's plenty of elite hoopers, but to make it to the highest level of basketball, you have to be the best in the world.

One thing all the elite players have in common are insane work ethics (and sometimes some luck in genetics). Inside this book, you'll find stories of the relentless work and hours that these stars have put in when all the lights are shut off, no one's watching, and it's just them and the basketball. Because, when basketball is someone's only ticket out of a rough life, gang wars, drugs, and violence, you won't believe how good at the game they'll become.