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These books from former NBA players (some with the help of writers) are a great way to truly understand the game through their eyes. Alyssa Powell/Business Insider

As the 2019 NBA playoffs continue, the excitement from the incredibly passionate fanbase has only elevated the hype around the league.

Thanks to social media, we know much more about player's like Lebron James, Kevin Durant, and Kyrie Irving, but die-hard fans like myself must work harder to learn about the best players from past eras, like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

The best way to learn about NBA icons is to read books actually written by them. Here are 10 of our favorite first-hand accounts of the NBA written by the players themselves.

As a full-throttle NBA mega-fan, I started reading books about the game as a child with the hope of picking up a few pointers that could one day propel me to similar athletic feats.

That didn't turn out the way I planned — I got cut from my middle school basketball team.

But my passion for learning more about the game's players and how the league has evolved didn't stop after I accepted that my hoop dreams wouldn't pan out like my basketball heroes. In fact, in the 12 years since that middle school trauma, I've learned just how far the game and players have come with these 10 books.

To truly understand just how much of an impact today's biggest players like Lebron James, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving have on the game, their respective franchises, and the general culture, it's important to look at icons like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Kareem Abdul-Jabar. They inspired a huge boom in the popularity of the league, and more importantly, players as the centerpiece of fandom rather than the franchises themselves. The game wouldn't be what it is now and the current crop of NBA stars wouldn't have these incredible opportunities without players from past eras paving the way.

Here are 10 of the best books written by NBA players (with the help of some of the best sports writers and journalists) that any basketball fan should read to get a better understanding of the game and its iconic athletes.