CelticsStrong
Other Discussions => Entertainment => Off Topic => Other Entertainment / Hobbies => Topic started by: Mon on August 29, 2008, 02:55:10 PM
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Saw the topic about basketball movies.
What about best basketball books?
I just got The Pistol from the library.
But what do you guys recommend?
Give me a book about the Celtics and a book that is non-Celtics related.
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I read this one ages ago, but it was a fantastic read
Swee'Pea and Other Playground Legends: Tales of Drugs, Violence and Basketball
Of course looking for it on Amazon I see it goes for $83 used! Better be a hell of a book for that.
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Just about finished with "let me tell you a story" It is a good read.
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I am mid way through Pistol and it is excellent. Let Me Tell You a Story by Red Auerbach is a must read if you are looking for a Celtics related book.
Another excellent book is The Last Banner by Peter May (I don't like May but this was a great book)
Unfinished Business by Jack McCallum was also a book I enjoyed.
Second Wind by Bill Russell is a good one.
If you are a Bird fan, Bird Watching, The Bird Era and Drive are also very good.
Reggie Lewis: Quiet Grace was also a good book.
These are all books I enjoyed a lot and recommend.
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Fall River Dreams, its about HS Basketball at Durfee when Chris Herren was there, terrific read
Paul Shirley's Can I keep my Jersey was also a great read, very funny and insightful
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why read when you can watch?
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My Losing Season by Pat Conroy
Just an awesome book, not about the NBA but basketball has a solid role in it.
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why read when you can watch?
Oh boy...how do we answer this?
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Not to upset the Bassy Haters but the "Through the Fire" book was really good too.
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Great thread, Mon....oh, too many...I'm definitely going to have to comeback with a few addendums later, but here's a start...
Miracle of St. Anthony - Adrian Wojnarowski - Incredible insider account of a season with Bob Hurley's team in Jersey City
Anything by John Feinstein, the master of the 'insider account' book - Season on the Brink; The Last Amateurs; I've yet to read his book from the '05 Final Four, but it's supposed to be great as well (and I think he was involved with the Red book, which I have but haven't gotten to yet)
07 Seconds or Less - Jack McCallum - Runnin' with the Suns in 2005-06...Eddie House won my heart over in that book long before he was a Celtic.
The Jordan Rules by Sam Smith and When Nothing Else Matters by Michael Leahy - the first is from MJ's first title season, the second from his comeback with Washington. In some regards, it really takes away a bit from the "MJ is a god" legend, but I think both books add a very interesting dimension to who he is.
Back for more later...
-sw
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Casa!
That is what they call him in the "7 second or less" very fun book. Another one that I enjoyed is Loose Balls by Terry Pluto, its about the ABA and different yet interesting sorties within the organization.
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"Drive" by Larry Bird changed my life
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someone mentioned it, but i'll second "can i keep my jersey?" by shirley, really give you insight into how, for guys not making millions guaranteed, basketball is kind of a brutal job.
and, its hilarious. kind of like ball four, the parts about kobe and baron davis are funny as hell.
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Books are just like music, there's the mainstream stuff everyone has heard of, but there is also tons of stuff alot of people have never heard of but are still great. Also the classics never die, a good book 20 years ago is still a good book today. There is a lot of good basketball books out there if you want to do a little digging.
Foul! : The Connie Hawkins Story - came out in '72 and really thick, but a very good read and a very interesting story, talks about Connie Hawkins growing up poor, in college, the point shaving scandal, playing for the Globetrotters, playing in the ABA, and finally making it to the NBA after being black balled for so many years, very good stuff I think. Also has a good historical perspective on the battles between the ABA and NBA for players and how the players decided to play in which league. On Amazon it has 14 reviews, and all 14 reviewers gave it 5 stars. Also contains some classic underground basketball references about guys like Jackie Jackson, Roger Brown, and Jack Molinas (in case you really want to impress your friends with your basketball knowledge ;)).
Spencer Haywood's Rise, Fall, Recovery- this book first came out in '92. Talks about Spencer's very poor upbringing, about him playing in the '68 Olympics (which most top tier players like Kareem boycotted), talks about him challenging the NBA's established rule of only drafting players who graduated from college (so if you don't like all the young players in the NBA you can blame Haywood cuz he started the whole thing), and also talks about choosing to play in the ABA, crossing over leagues to the NBA, and Haywood's battle with drugs and recovery. Good stuff again, and again a good historical perspective on the battles between the ABA and NBA for players and how the players decided to play in which league.
The Fab Five: Basketball Trash Talk the American Dream came out in '93. I love this book, and I think it realy captures the players and phenomenon that helped transformed the culture of the NCAA and NBA to what we see now. Basketball meets hip hop (although you have to wonder about its accuracy a little after Webber lied to a grand jury).
Sole Influence: Basketball, Corporate Greed, and the Corruption of America's Youth Came out in 2000, a great book especially if you were into mid 90's high school and college basketball and the behind the scenes recruiting of it all. Great for the hardcore basketball fan because there are a lot of references to now seldom heard of basketball stars of the mid to late '90's (Felipe Lopez, Korleone Young Jaron Rush, Marcus Taylor, etc.) , and also many current NBA stars and players (Carlos Boozer, Tracy McGrady, Gerald Wallace). Talks about college recruitment and why some players may have chosen the programs they chose. A lot of players mentioned here, enough noticable names to entice even the casual fan, but it mention tons of players that will really draw the hardcore fans in.
Shark Attack: Jerry Tarkanian and His Battle With the NCAA and UNLV Came out in '93. You have to be careful when you read this book because it obviously is biased and tells only one side of the story, but it's a great story of how Tark built a powerhouse at UNLV and had that great team in the early '90's with Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, and Greg Anthony. If you hate the NCAA read this book and you'll hate them even more. You'll be surprised at how hard and unfairly the NCAA went after Tark (it is only one side of the story though). Also UNLV got a new president during Tark's days and this guy was jealous of Tark so he went after Tark too and tried to get him to quit. What a witch hunt! You'll feel sorry for Tark after you read this book. And if you like Tark then Runnin' Rebel: Shark Tales of "Extra Benefits", Frank Sinatra and Winning It All came out in 2006 is also a very good book and tells Tark's perspective on everything and how he came up.
And the beautiful things about the older boooks is that you can get them used very cheap and build a very impressive library. The books I mentioned are currently listed on Amazon used at great prices: Sole Influence for $0.10, Spencer Haywood's Rise, Fall, Recovery for $3.02, Fab Five for $0.43, Foul! for $7.99, Shark Attack for $2.50.
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Drive by Larry Bird, Hoop Dreams (the book that goes along with the great documentary), or any of the books about Bobby Knight are interesting
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This thread made my day!
Happy to see three of my favorites on here: Miracle of St. Anthony, Let me Tell You a Story, and Fall River Dreams.
Right now I'm reading "The Assist", which details the 2005 State Championship Season on the Charlestown High Team.
For anyone who played or followed high school ball in the Greater Boston area, this book is a must read. It falls along the same lines of Miracle of St. Anthony but it hits closer to home. A pure depction about everything that's great about High School basketball.
Check out "The Assist", great read!!
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Lenny Wilkins - Unguarded-My 40 years surviving in the NBA If you're a dad or had a loving dad, the beginning and end of this book will touch your heart. What's in the middle tells a lot about a great NBA player but a better man.
Thanks to Iowa Plowboy for loaning me a great book.
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I have Let Me Tell You a Story and thought it was disappointing. A Season on the Brink and The Last Amateurs were much better efforts from Feinstein.
I'd recommend Go Up for Glory, Bill Russell's autobiography as told to Bill McSweeney.
Also, no basketball library is complete without Loose Balls by Terry Pluto.
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The only basketball book I've ever read was "The Last Shot" I had to read it last year for my Athletes, Fans, and Society class... It was a true story based on four high school basketball players from Coney Island (One of which was Stephon Marbury) It's pretty cool to see where Stephon came from and how people from Lincoln High were projected to be better than him but bad decisions made them fall off the charts. If you read the new version the author wrote an afterword ten years after he had finished the book and I won't give anything away but it was extremely sad to find out what happened to some of the characters knowing that it's a true story.
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The Breaks of the Game by David Halberstam is out of print but is an incredible look at the 1979 Trailblazers. It looks at a changing NBA where money was beginning to play a larger role and the modern league as we know was starting to come together. Great looks at Bill Walton, Dennis Johnson, Dr. Jack Ramsay and other NBA greats.
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Pistol--The Life of Pete Maravich. Well written bio. I also loved The City Game (about NYC basketball) and Foul, about Connie Hawkins. Go Up For Glory, by Bill Russell, was a very good book which I read as a youth. Did not like Conroy's My Losing Season. Wanted to, but did not.
Pete Maravich' life is an amazing story, and I still get chills when I see video of him playing in college and the NBA, especially when healthy. Have many memories of sitting in the upper balcony of the Garden (among not a few drunks) during the play-offs in the mid seventies, watching Maravich and Hudson vs. Jo Jo and Duck Chaney. When Pete got going, no one could stop him, not even the great defender Duck Chaney. Only other guys I saw take over a game like that against the Celtics were Andrew Toney in the early eighties and Michael Jordan in the late eighties and early nineties. No one else.
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I read "Go up for Glory" by Bill Russell a couple of weeks ago. Very nice book.
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Off the top of my head, some good ones not posted yet
The Punch - John Feinstein, suprisingly great book about Kermit Washington and Rudy T.
The City Game - Pete Axthelm
Double Dunk - Bruce Beckham (the actual story of Earl The Goat Manigault)
and
Heaven is a Playground - Rick Telander
As you can see, Im into the books about the city game, so any recommendations about street ball would be appreciated.
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Off the top of my head, some good ones not posted yet
The Punch - John Feinstein, suprisingly great book about Kermit Washington and Rudy T.
The City Game - Pete Axthelm
Double Dunk - Bruce Beckham (the actual story of Earl The Goat Manigault)
and
Heaven is a Playground - Rick Telander
As you can see, Im into the books about the city game, so any recommendations about street ball would be appreciated.
Man I thought City Game was ok at best, and Double Dunk was terrible. Double Dunk has some good info if you want to know the real story of Earl Maniguault (quite different from the Rebound movie version), but I think it was just terribly written, it had no flow.
If you like books about streetball, I think Asphalt Gods: An Oral History of the Rucker Tournament is a good book, one I would definitely recomend. It's written by Vincent Mallozzi who has contributed a few streetball pieces to SLAM Magazine, so if you've ever read an article in SLAM about Earl "The Goat" Manigault, Herman "Helicopter" Knowings, Joe "The Destroyer" Hammond, or Pee Wee Kirkland than Mallozzi probably wrote it, and his book is basically a larger, expanded collection of those stories. A great history on Rucker Park.
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Off the top of my head, some good ones not posted yet
The Punch - John Feinstein, suprisingly great book about Kermit Washington and Rudy T.
The City Game - Pete Axthelm
Double Dunk - Bruce Beckham (the actual story of Earl The Goat Manigault)
and
Heaven is a Playground - Rick Telander
As you can see, Im into the books about the city game, so any recommendations about street ball would be appreciated.
Wow, TP for mentioning the Punch, Truck - I'd generally consider myself a huge Feinstein fan, and I can't believe I mentioned Season on the Brink and Last Amateurs (two greats) and omitted that one - which might be the greatest of them all. Really an incredible read that went well in-depth on both men and the consequences of that night in the late '70s.
I've had several people tell me Heaven is a Playground is supposed to be a great one...I need to get myself a copy of that one sooner or later.
-sw
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Not to upset the Bassy Haters but the "Through the Fire" book was really good too.
That's the name of the movie, the book is called "The Jump". It's a pretty cool look into the business of high school basketball, with some insight into Sonny Vaccaro as well.
I'd also recommend 7 Seconds or Less, about the 2005 Phoenix Suns. It's a cool look inside the every day workings of an NBA team. And of course for this scouting report on our man Eddie House, found on the floor after a game against the Utah Jazz -
Eddie House: "won't shoot unless he has it in his hands"
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The Best Basketball Book is called "Big Game, Small World." By Thomas Wolff, an SI reporter who traveled around the world to look at basketball culture in some funny corners of the globe. An excellent look at the cultural and social side of basketball.
Dave Zirin's book, Welcome to the Terrodome is about different sports, but the pieces on basketball should be included in this conversation too.
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i honestly don't see a reason for reading a basketball book, at least one by an actual player. the whole reason these books were written is because of the money making schemes of big publishers. its the same reason why that gave phelphs such a lofty amount for his book. to start, they don't even write half the stuff that's in the book. next, while i might consider reading a book written by say duncan with his high basketball iq, the reality is that a lot of these sports players are like gerald green when it comes to good witting. that's just my take on it.
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i honestly don't see a reason for reading a basketball book, at least one by an actual player. the whole reason these books were written is because of the money making schemes of big publishers. its the same reason why that gave phelphs such a lofty amount for his book. to start, they don't even write half the stuff that's in the book. next, while i might consider reading a book written by say duncan with his high basketball iq, the reality is that a lot of these sports players are like gerald green when it comes to good witting. that's just my take on it.
While I won't comment one way or the other about the writing of players, it seems worth noting that a significant portion of the books mentioned on this particular thread were not iin fact written by players, if that's your main issue with basketball books. Feinstein, McCallum, Telander - just to name a few who appear on this list - all well-established writing 'professionals', so to speak. But that isn't to suggest that there isn't valuable insight to be gleaned from others simply because they've played the game as well (in fact, quite the opposite...), and I'd personally be wary of writing 'actual players' off on that account.
Out of curiosity have you read anything written by NBA players that left you particularly unimpressed?
-sw
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I picked up two new books this weekend and was curious if anyone here has read either and has any thoughts:
-Cousy by Bill Reynolds: I've always been fascinated by the Cooz and figured this would be the best resource and a good read. I love FRD, which was mentioned earlier, written by Reynolds.
-Last Shot by John Feinstein: This was mentioned earlier but I didn't see any specifics. I've always been a big Feinstein fan though.
Looking forward to any feedback...
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i honestly don't see a reason for reading a basketball book, at least one by an actual player. the whole reason these books were written is because of the money making schemes of big publishers. its the same reason why that gave phelphs such a lofty amount for his book. to start, they don't even write half the stuff that's in the book. next, while i might consider reading a book written by say duncan with his high basketball iq, the reality is that a lot of these sports players are like gerald green when it comes to good witting. that's just my take on it.
While I won't comment one way or the other about the writing of players, it seems worth noting that a significant portion of the books mentioned on this particular thread were not iin fact written by players, if that's your main issue with basketball books. Feinstein, McCallum, Telander - just to name a few who appear on this list - all well-established writing 'professionals', so to speak. But that isn't to suggest that there isn't valuable insight to be gleaned from others simply because they've played the game as well (in fact, quite the opposite...), and I'd personally be wary of writing 'actual players' off on that account.
Out of curiosity have you read anything written by NBA players that left you particularly unimpressed?
-sw
yea i have no issue with books on the topic of basketball, written by perhaps a coach or a true sports writer. its not that i'm unimpressed, it's the fact that i read these books and i realize there is no possible way they could have written this. you could tell a lot of editing had gone into them because that is not at all how they speak or present themselves in public. and although i haven't read a full book, i've picked up a few in the store to check out. driven from within by micheal jordan just seems so cliche. of course these players are driven and competitive; yes, lots of hard work, i get the point. i don't need a book to tell me you worked hard at your profession to succeed.
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Last month I finished When The Game Was Ours, easily the best book about basketball I've ever read. Any Celtics fan would love reading this, so do it!
Also, you can check out my review for the book here:
http://www.amazon.com/review/R739WZSZU7AGW
Any helpful "yes" votes would be appreciated too :)
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Read Simmons' "Book of Basketball". Was throughly impressed.
Say what you want about Simmons' current views on the Celtics and the NBA but the guy has a real appreciation of the game of basketball and its past. You can debate his rankings all day long but he presents some very compelling cases and always shows some respect for players of that past that have sorta been forgotten in the current day.
I also enjoyed his "what-ifs" section. Some interesting stuff to consider.
Its not a technical book on the NBA or basketball in general so if you want the Xs and Os of things, find another book but its an enjoyable read.
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Last month I finished When The Game Was Ours, easily the best book about basketball I've ever read. Any Celtics fan would love reading this, so do it!
Also, you can check out my review for the book here:
http://www.amazon.com/review/R739WZSZU7AGW
Any helpful "yes" votes would be appreciated too :)
I just finished last night. Honestly, the best book I've ever read, period. There were some dry parts but overall, it revealed some incredible facts. It was very sad at parts, especially when Magic and Larry's careers were almost finished. As a Celtic's fan who was born in 1990, this book helped me realize the incredible rivalry that I and others of my generation missed.
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I also liked Simmons' book. A bit tiring - it's his typical style from the articles for hundreds of pages, but very well-researched and written. The footnotes alone would make a good book.
Loose Balls (Terry Pluto) is an extraordinary book about the ABA. I'm a fan of books like "A season on the brink" that detail the incidences of an entire season, and within that genre, my favourite is probably The Breaks of the Game, about the Portland Trail Blazers '79 season. That or Wojnarowski's "The Miracle of St. Anthony". One of these two. From recent years, SSOL is probably the best one. It's a shame there's nothing of similar quality about the Celtics 07/08 season. In terms of biographies Foul! The Connie Hawkins Story is easily the best one I've ever read. Recently I've read a very interesting book, "Big Game, Small World". It's an exhaustive but very entertaining and passionate travel around the world of basketball - in more than one sense, as he goes from the origins of the game in Springfield to the playgrounds of Luanda, Angola these days.
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Loose Balls, Season on the Brink, and The Last Amateurs are my favorites that have already been mentioned.
The Punch is very good.
Rebound, KC Jones's biography is pretty good.
I am currently reading Bob Knight, My Story. It is a good read. I have found it hard to take Bobby's word on everything he tries to justify, but he is right when he claims his side of the story is seldom reported.
Anybody read Vitale's book on the 50 greatest players/moments in college basketball? I just ordered it on Amazon.com
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i got 3 favs:
1. bad as a i wanna be- dennis rodman
2. drive- larry bird
3. outrageous- charles barkley
rodman's is the best imo. ive always been fascinated by him, both as a person and player. this book is one of those that it is difficult to put down.
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0440222664.01.LZZZZZZZ.gif)
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I haven't read a ton of sports books but this one is excellent:
Swee'Pea and Other Playground Legends: Tales of Drugs, Violence and Basketball - John Valenti
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0935576398/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000RG1OR0&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0G8TRB7KP52A6VQET1SZ
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I think I've only read one, and it was quite good and hasn't been mentioned. It's called Crashing the Borders. Can't remember the author but he's a NYT sports writer (I don't read his columns).
Just a few years old and it's about the expansion of basketball beyond U.S. borders...lots of good stories and description.
There's a KG quote in the book that doesn't exactly flatter him (I won't give it away). I read it pre-KG and the way the quote is presented doesn't exactly shed a nice light on him. But it's nothing major, just a bit of trash talk (if I remember correctly) aimed at a foreign player that I'm sure doesn't encapsulate KG's whole relationship with that player...
I'm not a big fan of trash talk (overdone), but when I think about that quote now I sort of love it. Big KG fan here...
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just realized this was the reincarnation of a 2 year old thread, and that I'd already posted the same book!
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Drive by Larry Bird
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just realized this was the reincarnation of a 2 year old thread, and that I'd already posted the same book!
Yeah, I bumped it. I decided not to create a second thread about books since I'm a newbie and don't want to be flamed or something :-X
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just realized this was the reincarnation of a 2 year old thread, and that I'd already posted the same book!
Yeah, I bumped it. I decided not to create a second thread about books since I'm a newbie and don't want to be flamed or something :-X
Don't worry about getting flamed if you want to start a new thread. That's what us mods are here for. And, by and large, this community is pretty accepting.
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To add one that I don't think has been mentioned,
When March Went Mad. It focuses on the 1979 NCAA and of course Magic and Bird.
Red and Me is also interesting.
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Basketball: for the Player, the Fan, and the Coach
by Red Auerbach (1953)
best book to start with.