Basketball Books

Book SynopsisThe nation's capital has been home to a rich basketball tradition that began more than 80 years ago with a start-up league in the 1920s and continues today with the Washington Wizards. Under Hall of Fame coach and general manager Red Auerbach, the Washington Capitols reached the finals of the Basketball Association of America in just their third year of existence, and such renowned players as Wes Unseld, Chris Webber, and Michael Jordan have all played for a Washington, DC, area team. In The Bullets, the Wizards, and Washington, DC, Basketball, Brett L. Abrams and Raphael Mazzone chronicle the area's history of professional basketball, from the sport's origins as a regional game up through the present day as a multi-billion dollar business. This book captures the highs and lows of the Bullets, the Wizards, and all the other basketball teams in Washington's history. The authors meticulously researched newspaper and magazine articles, as well as archival material from the Basketball HTable of ContentsIntroduction: An Understudied Subject 1. George Preston Marshall and the Palace Five 2. Red Auerbach and the Washington Capitols 3. Abe Saperstein, Harry Lynn, and the Washington Tapers 4. Earl Foreman, Arnold Heft, Abe Pollin, and the Baltimore Bullets 5. Earl Foreman and the Fourth Washington Capitols 6. Abe Pollin and the Baltimore Bullets 7. Abe Pollin and the Capital-Washington Bullets 8. Abe Pollin and the Washington Bullets 9. Abe Pollin, the Fab Five, and the Washington Bullets-Wizards 10. Abe Pollin, Ted Leonsis, Michael Jordan, and the Washington Wizards Conclusion: The Teams, the Fans, and the Current State of Basketball in DC Bibliography Index

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book Synopsis***THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER***'A master of plotting and pacing' - New York Times'With every new book I appreciate John Grisham a little more, for his compassion for the underdog, and his willingness to strike out in new directions' - Entertainment WeeklyONE MAN. ONE HOPE. ONCE CHANCE TO BECOME A LEGEND. ONE MAN Seventeen-year-old Samuel Sooleyman comes from a village in South Sudan, a war-torn country where one third of the population is a refugee. His great love is basketball: his prodigious leap and lightning speed make him an exceptional player. And it may also bring him his big chance: he has been noticed by a coach taking a youth team to the United States. ONE HOPE If he gets through the tournament, Samuel's life will change beyond recognition. But it's the longest of long shots. His talent is raw and uncoached. There are hundreds of better-known players ahead of him. And he must leave his family behind, at least at the beginning. ONE CHANCE As American success beckons, devastating news reaches Samuel from home. Caught between his dream and the nightmare unfolding thousands of miles away, 'Sooley', as he's nicknamed by his classmates, must make hard choices about his future. This quiet, dedicated boy must do what no other player has achieved in the history of his chosen game: become a legend in twelve short months. Global bestseller John Grisham takes you to a different kind of court in this gripping and incredibly moving novel that showcases his storytelling powers in an entirely new light.'Grisham's books are smart, imaginative, and funny, populated by complex interesting people' - The Washington Post'A superb, instinctive storyteller' - The Times350+ million copies, 45 languages, 9 blockbuster films:NO ONE WRITES DRAMA LIKE JOHN GRISHAMTrade ReviewRead it, you'll want to cry too * Bill Clinton for The Guardian *The joy of a Grisham novel is turning the pages as the plot propels you forward . . . Suffice it to say SOOLEY follows the familiar Grisham playbook - short chapters, plenty of foreshadowing, and a rapid-fire prose that's easy to read and hard to put down * Independent *

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Book SynopsisFollowing the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and the success and celebrity of the Dream Team, the NBA became a global sensation. Around the same time, and despite ardent warnings from his parents, Arthur Griffiths purchased an NBA team that would become the expansion Vancouver Grizzlies. Who better to restore the Dream City, he thought, than the NBA? Expansion franchises went to Vancouver and Toronto—the Canadian cities of choice as the NBA grew its international brand. But while Toronto thrived under the rising star of Vince Carter, Vancouver floundered under serial mismanagement. Six seasons wasted, the Grizzlies relocated to Memphis, where they clawed their way to victories both on the court and in the hearts of the city’s eager fanbase. More than two decades later, the Memphis Grizzlies continue to win, claiming NBA records for defeating, as an eight-seed club, the one-seed San Antonio Spurs in the 2011 playoffs (only the fourth franchise to have done so) and for defeating, in 2021, the Oklahoma City Thunder 152–73, the largest margin of victory in NBA history. So why did the NBA fail in Vancouver but thrive in Memphis? This is the question Łukasz Muniowski seeks to answer in The Grizzlies Migrate to Memphis: From Vancouver Failure to Southern Success. In his pursuit, he explores how the Vancouver Grizzlies came to be, the team’s evolution and eventual relocation to Memphis, the success the Grizzlies found there, and the differences between the two phases of this NBA franchise. Rooted strongly in media coverage of the Grizzlies franchise in both Vancouver and Memphis, The Grizzlies Migrate to Memphis offers a thoughtful blend of storytelling and analysis that will interest scholars and NBA enthusiasts alike.Trade ReviewLukasz Muniowski documents how an unsuccessful NBA team in Vancouver found success in the unlikely small market of Memphis. The history of the NBA’s expansion Grizzlies and the way the franchise made its way from western Canada to the mid-southern United States is one of importance for all true NBA fans as well as for historians of the game. This is way more than X’s and O’s; it’s a look at the economic, political, and social forces that make the NBA work and, by extension, the forces that make free enterprise itself work."—Rick Telander, senior sports columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and a member of the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame

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Book SynopsisDerrick Rose achieved an improbable childhood dream: being selected first overall in the NBA draft by his hometown Chicago Bulls. The point guard was a phenom, winning the Rookie of the Year award and electrifying fans around the world. In 2011, he became the youngest MVP in league history. Rarely had a bond between a player and fans been so strong, as the city wrapped its arms around the homegrown hero. Six years and four knee surgeries later, his career was seemingly on the brink of collapse. But Rose never believed his struggles on and off the court were anything other than temporary setbacks. I’ll Show You is an honest, intimate conversation with one of the world’s most popular athletes, a star whose on-court brilliance is matched only by his aversion to the spotlight. Rose opens himself up in a document that is as unflinching—and at times as uncomfortable—as a personal diary. Detailing his childhood spent in one of his city’s most dangerous neighborhoods; his relationships with both opponents and teammates; the pain and controversies surrounding his career-altering injuries; his complicated relationship to fame and fortune; and his rise, fall, and reemergence as the player LeBron James says is “still a superhero,” I’ll Show You is one of the most candid and surprising autobiographies of a modern-day superstar ever written.

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Book SynopsisA behind the scenes perspective on Boston Celtics history from two-time champion Cedric Maxwell Having won two NBA titles with the Celtics before joining the broadcasting team as a radio analyst, Cedric Maxwell knows what it means to live and breathe Celtics basketball. In If These Walls Could Talk: Boston Celtics, Maxwell opens up about his life and career and provides insight into the team's inner sanctum as only he can, from Larry Bird to the Big Three era and up to the current roster.Featuring conversations with players and coaches past and present as well as off-the-wall anecdotes only Maxwell can tell, this indispensable volume is your ticket to Celtics history.

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Book SynopsisINSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A SELECTION ON BARACK OBAMA'S SUMMER READING LIST The definitive history of the 1990s New York Knicks, illustrating how Pat Riley, Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Charles Oakley, and Anthony Mason resurrected the iconic franchise through oppressive physicality and unmatched grit.For nearly an entire generation, the New York Knicks have been a laughingstock franchise. Since 2001, they've spent more money, lost more games, and won fewer playoff series than any other NBA team. But during the preceding era, the Big Apple had a club it was madly in love withone that earned respect not only by winning, but through brute force. The Knicks were always looking for fights, often at the encouragement of Pat Riley. They fought opposing players. They fought each other. Hell, they even occasionally fought their own coaches. The NBA didn't take kindly to their fighting spirit. Within two years, league officials moved to alter several rules to stop New York from turning its basketball games into bloody mudwrestling matches. Nevertheless, as the 1990s progressed, the Knicks endeared themselves to millions of fans; not for how much they won, but for their colorful cast of characters and their hardworking mentality. Now, through his original reporting and interviews with more than two hundred people, author Chris Herring delves into the origin, evolution, and eventual demise of the iconic club. He takes us inside the locker room, executive boardrooms, and onto the court for the key moments that lifted the club to new heights, and the ones that threatened to send everything crashing down in spectacular fashion. Blood in the Garden is a portrait filled with eye-opening details that have never been shared before, revealing the full story of the franchise in the midst of the NBA's golden era. And rest assured, no punches will be pulled. Which is just how those rough-and-tumble Knicks would like it.

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Book SynopsisFrom award-winning Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy, an ';entertaining' (The Wall Street Journal) and nostalgia-filled retelling of the 1980s Boston Celtics' glory years, which featured the sublime play of NBA legend Larry Bird.Today the NBA is a vast global franchisea billion-dollar industry seen by millions of fans in the United States and abroad. But it wasn't always this successful. Before primetime ESPN coverage, lucrative branding deals like Air Jordans, and $40 million annual player salaries, there was the NBA of the 1970s and 1980swhen basketball was still an up-and-coming sport featuring old school beat reporters and players who wore Converse All-Stars. Enter Dan Shaughnessy, then the beat reporter for The Boston Globe who covered the Boston Celtics every day from 1982 to 1986. It was a time when reporters travelled with professional teamsflying the same commercial airlines, riding the same buses, and staying in the same hotels. Shaughnessy knew the athletes as real people, losing free throw bets to Larry Bird, being gifted cheap cigars by the iconic coach Red Auerbach, and having his one-year-old daughter Sarah passed from player to player on a flight from Logan to Detroit Metro. Drawing on unprecedented access and personal experiences that would not be possible for any reporter today, Shaughnessy takes us inside the legendary Larry Bird-led Celtics teams, capturing the camaraderie as they dominated the NBA. Fans can witness the cockiness of Larry Bird (who once walked into an All-Star Weekend locker room, announced that he was going to win the three-point contest, and did); the ageless athleticism of Robert Parish; the shooting skills of Kevin McHale; the fierce, self-sacrificing play of Bill Walton; and the playful humor of players like Danny Ainge, Cedric ';Cornbread' Maxwell, and M.L. Carr. For any fan who longs to returnfor just a few hoursto those magical years when the Boston Garden rocked and the winner's circle was mostly colored Boston Green, Wish It Lasted Forever is a masterful tribute to ';the Celtics from 19821986 [that] is so good even fervent Celtics haters will have trouble putting it down' (New York Post).

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