YA historical fiction · Based on a true friendship

Before he became a symbol, he was a friend.

Before the world looked in, two boys were just trying to make it out.

Paperback $17.00Kindle $9.99
★★★★★5.0 on AmazonBy Heather N. Wilde with Adarryl HunterForeword by Mayor Jacob Frey
Cover of Floyd's Baller: two young men leap for a basketball between towering project buildings under a dawn sky. By Heather N. Wilde with Adarryl Hunter.
Praise for Floyd's Baller

Endorsed by the people who know this story best.

Pulitzer Prize winners

Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa, the Washington Post reporters behind His Name Is George Floyd, won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. Both endorse Floyd's Baller.

A heartfelt story of friendship in tough circumstances.Robert SamuelsThe Washington Post · Pulitzer Prize–winning coauthor of His Name Is George Floyd
A powerful and deeply human novel.Toluse OlorunnipaPulitzer Prize–winning coauthor of His Name Is George Floyd
This is Adarryl's story—but it is also a reflection of a city still learning, still healing, and still working to live up to its highest values.Jacob FreyMayor of Minneapolis · from the Foreword
This book will resonate with many and will be a tool to start much-needed conversations.Dr. Shareeduh McGeePresident of The 929 Foundation · first cousin of George Floyd Jr.
About the book

The friendship the headlines never showed you.

Told through the imagined voice of George Floyd, Floyd's Baller follows his lifelong best friend, Adarryl Hunter, long before the world knew Floyd's name.

A coming-of-age story about loyalty, ambition, temptation, and the choices that decide who we become. Written for high school readers, and for anyone willing to listen closely.

The authors

A friend who lived it. A writer who listened.

Co-author · the real “Baller”

Adarryl Hunter

Adarryl grew up between New Orleans and Houston. He is a pharmacist by training and one of George Floyd's closest friends.

Author

Heather N. Wilde

Heather is an author, artist, former English educator, and founder of Hezzie Mae, a creative studio devoted to honoring untold stories.

Foreword by Jacob Frey, Mayor of Minneapolis · Cover design by Chani Becker

Get your copy

Read it. Then pass it on.

Buying for a class, team, or program? Amazon's “Buy for a team or group” option on the paperback page handles multiple copies.

Paperback$17.00Kindle eBook$9.99
© 2026 Heather N. Wilde & Adarryl Hunter · Floyd's BallerPublished by Hezzie Mae