Best professional basketball books according to redditors
We found 30 Reddit comments discussing the best professional basketball books. We ranked the 12 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 30 Reddit comments discussing the best professional basketball books. We ranked the 12 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
If you enjoy reading these, you can find a ton in the book Tall Tales by Terry Pluto. Great stories about Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, etc.
One of my favorite Wilt Chamberlain facts is that he played every minute of every game one season, so he ended up averaging over 48 minutes a game due to overtimes. Absolutely insane.
He also never fouled out of a single game.
I know a lot of here already know all about him but for those that don't, Jack McCloskey was the man behind those Bad Boys teams of the 1980's (and part of the 90's). If you're ever looking for an inside take on McCloskey and that first championship team in '89, check out Cameron Stauth's The Franchise. Great insight and highlights McCloskey's impact and imprint.
Rest in peace, Jack.
Unsolicited recommendations:
The Art of a Beautiful Game by Chris Ballard
FreeDarko Presents: The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac
My aunt probably played against her. She was a player for the New York Stars at the same time Meyers was in the WPBL (the first women's pro league).
> Weird how I never heard of her before.
It's no surprise. Women's basketball in the 1970's and 80's was a completely different sport. There was really no level of national recognition. The played in pretty crazy conditions, were paid almost nothing, and there was always a fear of their teams folding. There's a great book about the first women's pro league, Mad Seasons, that I highly recommend if you're interested in the topic.
The only female players of that era that ever became household names were those that made it big later.
Oh wow, that's a controversial conversation with the likes of Red Auerbach, Phil Jackson, Pat Riley having their own stake to the claim. All four of those guys have done revolutionary things for the game and will be remembered for a long, long, long time. Auerbach, especially today, doesn't get enough credit for the front office work he did. There's much more to him than just the X's and O's. Pat Riley has done a great job with his stints as President of Basketball Operations. Phil Jackson now gets a shot with the Knicks. And we know how Pop has done in San Antonio.
For those who don't know enough about Auerbach, I'd recommend reading "Let Me Tell You a Story" by Auerbach and Feinstein. I read it years ago, and I found it an incredibly interesting read. It encompasses everything: his philosophy, his thinking behind his personnel moves, his relationships with players. I'd recommend it too for the more recent fans of NBA basketball. It's a good read overall. Talks about Bias too. Considering you can get it as cheap as $0.01 ($4 with shipping), definitely pick it up. http://www.amazon.com/Let-Me-Tell-You-Story/dp/0316738239/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid=
This might not be what you're looking for, but I'm a new-ish (this is my 2nd year really following the nba) basketball fan and these are the things that have really helped me enjoy the game more.
Anyway I don't know if this is what you were looking for, but I wish someone would have told this to me when I first started watching bball.
A couple of quick housekeeping things to start:
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My suggestion would be to break the book up by the parts of the season instead of just numbers of chapters. Just by the chapter titles we could do:
The lengths aren't really even (section 2 is 40 pages, section 3 is 80) but it's at least logical for the season. We don't necessarily need to have the same amount of time for each section.
I think we should try to do the first reading before the season starts. What about discussing the first three chapters on the 20th or 21st? I'll be traveling that week and won't be able to participate but it gives everyone time to get started and there isn't exactly a ton of text on each page so I think once people start reading they'll clear through 50 pages pretty quickly. Is that enough time? Too much? I'm just throwing a date out there.
Thanks for kicking us off. I've already loaded it up on my Kindle and hope people stay involved in this and participate as I think it could be a fun thing for the sub that could grow as we go along.
Seven Seconds or Less - a look at the behind-the-scenes happenings of the run and gun Phoenix Suns (Nash, Shawn Marion, Raja Bell, Boris Diaw, etc.) and the stories during their surprising playoff run while Amare was injured most of the season. It's an amazing read for basketball fans.
I really enjoyed 7 Seconds or Less. Story of the 05-06 Phoenix Suns.
Just here to suggest some more books:
Drive: The Story of My Life by Larry Bird
The Last Banner by Peter May
Unfinished Business: On and Off the Court With the 1990-91 Boston Celtics by Jack McCallum (I haven't read this one but I am a fan of McCallum)
Rebound by K.C. Jones
Also, here is a list of Celtics related books that I found on the team website: http://www.nba.com/celtics/history/publications.html
Buy this book. Its the ultimate book for an NBA fan. He/she will not be disappointed. Here is the link.
I found that More than a game by Phil Jackson was an excellent book. It basically is a look into the life and coaching philosophy of one of the greatest coaches of all time as well as an inside look into the 2000 champion Lakers.
Also the Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons is an essential read for all NBA fans.
EDIT: I recently also read the Jordan Rules by Sam Smith. It isn't a particularly eye opening book, but basically it's about the 1990-1991 NBA championship season from the Chicago Bulls perspective, and also a look into MJ's transformation from a ball hogging douchebag to the greatest of all time. Good read.
Tall Tales by Terry Pluto i a pretty good and interesting book about the starting years of the nba, It is made up of only quotes from the players other than the occasional explanation.
here's the amazon link http://www.amazon.com/Tall-Tales-The-Glory-Years/dp/0803287666
I really enjoyed "Seven Seconds or Less" by Jack McCallum, which chronicles the 05-06 Phoenix Suns. It gives you a good look into how teams are run, how insecure NBA players can be (Shawn Marion), and how the players act in between games.
One interesting part of the book was reading about how much Nash disliked Kobe, which made him (one of my favorite players) coming to the Lakers really surprising.
I've also heard good things about "Breaks of the Game" by David Halberstrom, but I haven't had a chance to read it yet.
The Franchise by Cameron Stauth
In-depth detailed look at the 88-89 Bad Boy Pistons seasons with a writer who was with the team. It's a great insight into the NBA, the happenings in the locker room, what goes through the mind of a GM, and some Xs and O's from the coaches perspective. Great great read, especially of those nostalgic about the NBA of that time, or for those who want a more detailed NBA book.
This was an enjoyable read. The same author wrote the Seven Seconds or Less book about the Nash/Amare Suns, which is one of my favorite books.
The Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons - great history lesson on the NBA that is the perfect long read for people with short attention spans.
I really enjoyed this one a few years ago, "Top of the World". it's about the Celtics 2008 title run and has lots of cool stories and tidbits all throughout https://www.amazon.com/Top-World-One-Year-Turnaround-Champions/dp/0306818582/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1512794188&sr=1-1&keywords=top+of+the+world+celtics
i tried to pick things that you could easily find online and off.
Our Band Could be Your Life
The Last Tsar
The Book of Basketball
Thanks again Alex! I'll be sure to keep on checking out HOOPSWORLD in addition to the book you mentioned. Here's an Amazon link to the book for anyone interested.
Simmons is awesome, anyone that hasn't seen his book, Book of Basketball. its worth a read
So for the book club, I'll make a post tomorrow but this is the book we will read. any suggestions for chapters read by a certain date?
Its late and I'm bored. I'm also from the DC area, so I got curious and did some looking around.
This building is in DC's Chinatown, which is really just a part of downtown with a large Chinese inspired arch and a bunch of Chinese lettering on shops like Chipotle, Starbucks and most notably the Verizon Center. If you go to the google maps street view provided by /u/reffaelwallenberg and look to the left you can see the arch Link. It is called the Friendship Arch and was built in 1986.
Anyways, it looks like the Chinese Doll was a Gourmet Chinese Restaurant. It closed in 2006 when the owners sold it to a development company. It opened in 1969, I'm not sure what the building was between then and 1925 but the building next door was, at one point, the China Inn and later the Lei Garden Chinese Restaurant. I found several more pictures of the restaurant from the 80's and the facade is much more pleasing. I found an article from the Washington Post about the restaurant closing in 2006 after nearly half a century of business. It and the building next to it were razed in 2007 to make way for what looks like a 'micro-hotel' to be built there in the next few years. Although this blog from 2012 suggests a 10 story "Gallery Tower" retail building. As far as I can tell the company is still in the planning stage, though permits/hearings have begun as late as this past fall.
I also found a book featuring former NBA coach Red Auerbach, who apparently frequented the restaurant, that takes place mostly in the China Doll and Chinatown. There is an article about Red Auerbach and it talks about the China Doll, it even has a photo of him inside the restaurant from NPR.
Ever Green, by Dan Shaughnessy is a good read surveying the Celts' history from the franchise's beginning to the closing of the Bird/McHale/Parrish era.
It was published in 1991, and even though it's out of print, used paperbacks can be had for like $4.00.
While I'm not the biggest fan of Shaughnessy, I remember enjoying the book. Some good anecdotes are in there, like when the Lakers demanded air conditioning for the visiting locker room at the Boston Garden for the Finals, they arrived to find three brand new window AC units in the middle of the locker room floor, unopened and uninstalled.