Basketball Books

This book is for any diehard Lakers fan. It contains colorful photos of the Lakers players and important moments of this year's finals. The articles are good reads as well. Its time to get excited Laker fans!

There is probably no greater man in American history than Bill Walton. His incisive NBC/ABC/ESPN commentary over the years has served as a kind of chorus for the complexities of contemporary life; and his pre-game analysis transcends usual sports babble to become biting satire and social commentary. All of this on top of the fact that he was the most gifted athlete of his generation, tragically hampered by knee injuries. This book deals very little with Walton's modern exodus through the world of Grateful Dead shows and volleyball, into the hallowed halls of sports journalism; but it does provide a good introduction to the post-moves and fundamentals that were, in essence, the early education of a genius. If Naismith is his Hegel; then John Wooden was his Marx; and Walton has become the most subversive philosopher of our generation. Just listen to him the next time he comments on a pair of free throws during the NBA finals. It isn't just mindless chatter. It's a call to arms for every thinking man watching the Nets v. the Spurs. All four of us.

I think that this book is good for those who are fans of the Boston Celtics and that of the NBA. This book is a biography; it has a little bit of everything. With a foreword by Pat Riley (Head Coach of the Miami Heat) the book could not more complete.

This book begins in a small town in Indiana. Larry Bird was a star basketball player for his high school and the rest of the state. Larry left high school to go to Indiana University on a full basketball scholarship and play for the one and only Bobby Knight. Larry was not on the campus very long before he became overwhelmed by the great amount of students. Larry would then leave the school and transfer to Indiana State University. After college Larry entered himself in to the NBA draft and was selected 6th overall by the Boston Celtics.

An excellently researched and written book. One would think that there isn't much new to be said about Jackie Robinson, who is among the two or three most written-about men in the history of baseball, but Lamb tells a story that has previously received little attention, mainly because the mainstream news media didn't think it was worth covering.

Lamb points out that black newspapers covered Robinson from the moment he began spring training with the Montreal Royals in 1946, and he uses many of those papers as his sources. In retelling the story of Branch Rickey's historic decision to sign Robinson and break baseball's color line, he refuses to treat Rickey as a lone, saintly hero; he points out that, for decades before Rickey joined the fray, black newspapers, socialists, and Communists had been agitating for the inclusion of blacks in organized baseball. Lamb shows that Lester Rodney, sportswriter for The Daily Worker, was also instrumental in the struggle to bring integration to the game. His is a name that seems to have been dropped from the record when other authors retell Robinson's story.

The most powerful aspect of the book is the way Lamb portrays the gagging outrageousness of the racial prejudice and discrimination Robinson faced in the Jim Crow-era American south. The vicious, buck-naked bigotry he and other blacks encountered ought to make every white American ashamed.

From Phog Allen to John Wooden, Abdul-Jabbar to Michael Jordan, Bobby Knight to Pat Summit-it's all here compiled and well organized and reasonably priced. Coaches, players, past and present, offer great quotes in 13 different area. As a coach, I've used it when looking for the right quote for the right situation or pregame speech. As an educator, the sections on "character", "success" and "hard work" have come in handy. This is really a terrific little book that I own and have given as a gift. In fact, I'm buying 4 more to give to my graduating seniors.

If you're at all interested in sports or coaching, you must read this book. It is a game-by-game account of the 1987-88 New York Knicks, with Rick Pitino as their rookie head coach. There is also discussion of Pitino's college career at Providence, where he led the team to the Final Four. Pitino turns around the mediocre Knicks and leads them into the playoffs. I cannot recommend this book too highly. The last chapter talks about his departure from the Knicks back into the college ranks, where he leads the Kentucky Wildcats to the championship in 1996 (well after the book's publication).

I recently visited my public library. Being a Boston Celtics fan, I searched the sports book shelf and found this book. I flipped through it, and it looked interesting, so I checked it out. I arrived home and I started reading it. This book is filled with player profiles for every Celtic on the 1988-'89 offseason roster, including The Big Three: Larry Bird, Robert Parish, and Kevin McHale. It has an in depth articles about the Celtics legendary announcer, the late Johnny Most. It has an interview with then Celtics GM Jan Volk. It has a closeup on timeless former Celtics coach Red Auerbach. It has everything a Celtics fan could dream of. I would suggest purchasing this book to all NBA fans.

This is a good book if you are considering doing a report about Sheryl Swoopes. She always wanted to be a cheerleader, but her family didn't have the money. She learned to play basketball by watching her brother play in the yard and at basketball games. At 7 she played for the Little Dribblers. She played through high school and college and eventually for the Olympics. They won the gold medal in 1996. Sheryl's high school career average was 26 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals.

I recently bought the book, and love it. The Book is about the boys of the 1929 basketball team in Joes, Colorado. My Great, Great Aunt Eula Browning(90 years old now) is featured in the book as well as her husband(deceased) Creed Browning. It's exciting to read a little piece from the beginning of basketball, and to read that someone in my family was a part of it.

Excellent. Story is interesting and fun for various age levels and includes multiple worthwhile messages.