Now in paperback! More than half a century after the Boston Celtics' legendary first championship, here is a riveting inside account of one of sports' greatest franchises-between 1957 and 1969, winners of eleven titles, including a record eight in a row starting in 1959. Lew Freedman, who grew up attending Celtics games and eventually befriended the players and team management, chronicles the team's glory years under coach Red Auerbach, star player Bill Russell, and a legendary lineup of other talents. Revealing how he was swept up in dramatic moments both on and off the court, Dynasty is a great book about a vibrant sports town, the greatest players in basketball, and an unprecedented run of championships rarely challenged before or since in team sports.

Pat Summitt was only 21 when she became head coach of the Tennessee Vols women's basketball team. For 38 years, she has broken records, winning more games than any NCAA team in basketball history. She has coached an undefeated season, co-captained the first women's Olympic team, was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, and has been named Sports Illustrated 'Sportswoman of the Year. This book tells her remarkable story of victory and resilience as well as facing down her greatest challenge: early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

Pete Marvich might not have been the greatest basketball player of his generation, but he was unquestionably the most exciting and entertaining. A magician at handling or shooting the ball and the most prolific scorer in college basketball history, Pistol Pete"" was as recognizable as he was flashy. If the mop of brown hair and floppy gray socks didn't give him away, the behind-the-back dribbling and between the-legs passes did. Maravich first captured the nation's attention while playing basketball for his father at Louisiana State University, averaging an incredible 44.2 points per game over three years and earning college player-of-the-year honors in 1970. He went on to play for ten years in the NBA for the Atlanta Hawks, New, Orleans Jazz, and Boston Celtics, garnering NBA First Team honors twice and Second Team honors two other times. In 1976-77 he led the league in scoring with an average of 31.1 points, including a 68-point outburst in a game against the New York Knicks. ""Pistol Pete"" was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1987. Less than a year later, at the age of 40, he collapsed while playing basketball with friends and died an hour later. While he has been gone for more than fifteen years, his on-court showmanship and of-court charisma endure for millions of basketball fans who fondly remember him. In ""Pete Maravich: Magician of the Hardwood, players, coaches, friends, fans, and relatives recall the soft-spoken man who turned away from heavy drinking and turned toward God. Maravich's life is an inspiration for all who love the game of basketball and appreciate the contributions made by one of the best ever to play it.""

***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 Weekly ONE 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 Times 350+ million copies, 45 languages, 9 blockbuster films: NO ONE WRITES DRAMA LIKE JOHN GRISHAM

For fans of Netflix's The Last Dance, this is the definitive account of Michael Jordan's spectacular and disastrous return to basketball. As one of the greatest, most celebrated athletes in history, Michael Jordan conquered professional basketball as no one before. Powered by a potent mix of charisma, near superhuman abilities and a ferocious drive to dominate the game, he achieved every award and accolade conceivable before retiring from the Chicago Bulls and taking an executive post with the Washington Wizards. But retirement didn't suit the man who was once king, and at the advanced age of thirty-eight Michael Jordan decided it was time to reclaim the court that was once his. Having closely followed Jordan's final two seasons, Michael Leahy draws a fascinating portrait of an intensely complex man hampered by injuries and assaulted by younger players eager to usurp his throne. In this enthralling book Jordan emerges as an ambitious, at times deeply unattractive character with, unsurprisingly, a monstrous ego. WHEN NOTHING ELSE MATTERS is an absorbing portrait not only of one athlete's overriding ambition, but also of a society so in thrall to its sports stars that it is blind to all their faults.

A native son of Akron, Ohio, LeBron James seemed like a miracle heaven-sent by God to transform Cleveland's losing ways when he was drafted by the Cavaliers in 2003. But after seven years--and still no parade down Euclid Avenue--he left, announcing his move to South Beach on a nationally televised ESPN production with a sly title that echoed fifty years of misery. The Catch, The Drive, The Shot . . . The Decision.

Out of James's treachery grew a monster. Scott Raab, a fifty-nine-year-old, 350-pound Jewish Santa Claus with a Chief Wahoo tattoo, would bear witness to LeBron's every move, and in so doing would act as the eyes and ears of Cleveland itself. Crude but warmhearted, poetic but raving, hilarious, profane (and profound), The Whore of Akron is both a rabid fan's indictment of a traitorous athlete and the story of Raab's obsessive quest to reveal the "wee jewel-box" of LeBron James's soul.

In 1943, at the North Carolina College for Negroes, Coach John McLendon was on the verge of changing basketball forever. His team was the highest-scoring team in America, and yet they faced danger whenever they traveled backcountry roads. Across town, the best squad on Duke University's campus wasn't the Blue Devils, but an all-white team from the medical school. They were prepared to take on anyone -- until an audacious invitation arrived. THE SECRET GAME is the story of a long-buried moment in the nation's sporting past. A riveting account of a barrier-shattering game, the evolution of modern basketball - and the coming of a new America.

Eight years of unfettered access, a keen sense of a story's deepest truths, and a genuine compassion for his subject allow Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist George Dohrmann to take readers inside the machine that produces America's basketball stars.
Hoop dreams aren't just for players. The fever that grips college basketball prospects hoping to strike big-time NBA gold afflicts coaches, parents, and sneaker executives as well. Every one of them has a stake in keeping America's wildly dysfunctional, incredibly lucrative youth basketball machine up and running--no matter the consequences.
In" Play Their Hearts Out," George Dohrmann offers an up-close and unforgettable look inside the maw of that machine. He shares what he learned from his years spent embedded with a group of talented young recruits from Southern California as they traveled the country playing in elite Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) events. It's a cutthroat world where boys as young as eight or nine are subjected to a dizzying torrent of scrutiny and exploitation. Coaches vie to have them on their teams. Sneaker companies ply them with free shoes and gear. "All-star camps" are glorified cattle auctions, providing make-or-break opportunities to secure the promise of an elusive college scholarship.
At the book's heart are the personal stories of two compelling figures: Joe Keller, an ambitious AAU coach with a master plan to find and promote "the next LeBron"--thereby paving his own path to power and riches; and Demetrius Walker, a fatherless latchkey kid who falls under Keller's sway and struggles to live up to the unrealistic expectations his supposed benefactor has set for him. As their fortunes take shape and the pressure mounts--Demetrius finds himself profiled in Sports Illustrated at age fourteen, while Keller cultivates his business empire--Dohrmann weaves in the stories of numerous other parents, coaches, and players. Some of them see their prospects evaporate as a result of poor decisions and worse luck. Others learn how to thrive in a corrupt system by playing the right angles.
Written with incomparable detail and insight, "Play Their Hearts Out" is a thoroughly unique narrative that reveals the inner workings of an American game, exposing the gritty reality that lies beneath so many dreams of fame and glory.

"From the Hardcover edition."

This book examines the development and organization of the NBA and its clubs, how each club has performed in seasons and postseasons, and to what extent each has prospered and succeeded as a business enterprise despite competition for market share from other types of entertainment. Each chapter contains two core themes-Team Performance and Franchise Business. The former highlights how teams won division and conference titles and NBA championships while the latter analyzes and compares financial data including revenue, gate receipts, and operating income. The book also explores such things as when each franchise organized and why it joined the NBA, a brief profile of its current majority owner or ownership group, records of teams' special coaches and players, attendances at home games, and how their arenas rank as venues for fans. This book explains why particular teams located in very large, large, midsized, or small markets win more games and titles than others and when and how frequently this occurs. In addition, it provides ways to individually-and by division or conference-compare basketball franchises from a financial perspective.

Outstanding. Unbelievable. Mindblowing.
These are just a few of the words used to describe the talents of LeBron James. He was a sensation in his early days playing AAU ball in Akron, Ohio-and continued to amaze through his four years as a high school phenomenon. Now going into his fifth year as a star of the Cleveland Cavaliers, he is touted as the best player in basketball today. And for good reason: his dunks are monstrous, his no-look passes are things of beauty, his three-pointers seem effortless. But even more importantly, he is that one-of-a-kind superstar whose main goal isn't to rack up the stats-it's to make his team better.

So you're thinking about volunteering to coach youth basketball? Great You're in for a fun, rewarding experience. Whether you're new to the sport and looking for some guidance or you're a seasoned coach hunting for some fresh tips, "Coaching Basketball For Dummies" will help you command the court with confidence.

Each friendly chapter is packed with expert advice on teaching the basics of basketball--from dribbling and shooting to rebounding and defending--and guiding your kids to a fun-filled, stress-free season. You get a crash course in the rules and regulations of the game, as well as clear explanations of what all those lines, circles, and half-circle markings mean on the court. You'll assign team positions, run great practices, and work with both beginning and intermediate players of different age groups. You'll also see how to ramp up your players' skills and lead your team effectively during a game. This book will also help you discover how to: Develop your coaching philosophyUnderstand your league's rulesConduct a preseason parents' meeting--crucial for opening the lines of communicationTeach offensive and defensive strategiesKeep your kids healthy and injury-freeEncourage good sportsmanshipMake critical half-time adjustments during a gameHelp struggling playersAddress discipline problems and handle difficult parentsCoach an All-Star or Travel team

Complete with numerous offensive and defensive drills and tips for helping your kids relax before a game, "Coaching Basketball For Dummies" is the fun and easy way to get the score on this worthwhile endeavor

A young man's journey through the Philippines' most unlikely obsession: basketball.
In "Pacific Rims," Rafe Bartholemew, journalist, New Yorker, and veteran baller, ventures through the Philippines to investigate the country's love of basketball.
From street corners where diehards fashion hoops out of old car parts to the professional league where politicians exploit team loyalties to win elections, "Pacific Rims" gets the story-and gets in the game.

Today, it is nearly impossible to talk about the best basketball players in America without acknowledging the accomplishments of incredibly talented black athletes like Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant. A little more than a century ago, however, the game was completely dominated by white players playing on segregated courts and teams. In Breaking Barriers: A History of Integration in Professional Basketball, Douglas Stark details the major moments that led to the sport opening its doors to black players. He charts the progress of integration from Bucky Lew-the first black professional basketball player in 1902-to the modern game played by athletes like Stephen Curry and LeBron James. Although Stark focuses on the official integration of basketball in the late 1940s, the story does not end there. Over the past 60-plus years, black athletes have continued to change the game of basketball in terms of style, social progress, and marketability. Spanning the early 1900s to the present day, no other book features such a comprehensive examination of the key events and figures that led to the integration of professional basketball. In Breaking Barriers, these crucial steps in the history of the sport are placed within the larger context of American history, making this book an essential addition to the literature on sports and race in America.

College basketball and its annual March Madness extravaganza have emerged over the last three decades as one of the most popular sporting phenomena in America. Perhaps no one personifies the excitement of this tournament better than Jim Valvano, whose heavily underdog North Carolina State Wolfpack achieved the pinnacle of success in college basketball in 1983 with an unlikely run through the NCAA Tournament, culminating in an incredible one-point victory over Houston's heavily favored Phi Slamma Jamma squad in the championship game.

While that Cinderella story was Valvano's only national championship, he quickly came to symbolize the exuberance and excellence of the exciting world of college basketball. Valvano transcended his sport, touching millions as he emerged as one of the most charismatic and, ultimately, courageous figures in American life who touched millions.

Diagnosed with bone cancer, he joined ESPN to comment on college basketball games. Later he received the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at ESPN's first ESPY Awards, where he announced that he was starting the V Foundation for Cancer Research. Shortly after receiving the award, he died at the age of forty-seven. In I Remember Jim Valvano, he is remembered by former players, fellow coaches, a variety of other basketball experts, close associates, and many others as one of college basketball's great movers and shakers, a man with a heart as big as his popularity. Valvano's life is the classic story of courage and determination as borne out in his memorable line: "Don't give up. Don't ever give up".

Jack O'Brien is a high school basketball coach extreme in both his demands and his devotion. With monastic discipline, he has built a powerhouse program that wins state championships year after year while helping propel players to college. He does this as a white suburban guy working exclusively with black city boys who make the daily trek across Boston to attend Charlestown High School, where the last battles of the city's school desegregation wars were fought a generation ago. The Assist is a gripping, surprising story about fathers, sons, and surrogates, all confronting the narrow margins of urban life. The book follows the players on their hunt for a state title. But it also stays with them, to see how young men who seldom get second chances survive without their coach hovering over them,and how he survives without them.

When John Beilein arrived at University of Michigan in 2007, the once-proud men's basketball program was adrift after failing to reach the NCAA Tournament for nine straight seasons. Over the next twelve years, he became the program's all-time winningest coach, reached two national championship games, won four Big Ten championships and produced eight NBA first-round draft picks. In an age of ethical lapses throughout college basketball, Beilein succeeded without a hint of impropriety. As much a teacher as a coach, he consistently identified undervalued recruits, taught them his innovative offensive system and carefully developed them into better players--an approach to the game that drove his unprecedented rise from high school junior varsity coach to head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. This book examines his tenure at Michigan in detail for the first time.

The most iconic moments and stories of the NBA. In NBA 75, sports writer and basketball super fan Dave Zarum tells the story of the NBA, all 75 years - from its early barnstorming days to the multi-billion-dollar sports league it is today. Readers are treated to all the biggest moments and greatest superstars, with over 75 stories ranging from Jerry West's 33-win streak Lakers, through Jordan's repeat three-peat Bulls, to Steph Curry and the 73-win Warriors and beyond. But this retrospective doesn't shy away from the league's controversies, covering its struggles with racial bigotry, Magic Jonson's HIV diagnosis, Len Bias's tragic draft-night death, and the league's cocaine-fuelled late seventies when the Finals were broadcast tape-delayed. Each story is fully illustrated with iconic photos and accompanied by stat boxes and side stories of some of the Association's more curious and overlooked moments. Some of the events covered in NBA 75: 1946: The first professional basketball game between the New York Knicks and the Toronto Huskies; 1969: The legendary duels between Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell; 1976: The merger of the ABA and NBA; 1980: The arrival of Larry Bird and Magic Jonson; 1993: Air Jordan and his Bulls dynasty; 2006: Kobe Bryant scores 81 points; 2010: Lebron James makes his Miami decision; 2016: Steph Curry and the Warriors blow a 3-1 lead; 2020: The COVID-19 stoppage in place and the Bubble. NBA 75 is the definitive guide to the history of the NBA - perfect for anyone who wants to learn more about the league they love or simply catch up on what they've been missing.

Team Sports Training: The Complexity Model presents a novel approach to team sports training, examining football (soccer), rugby union, field hockey, basketball, handball and futsal through the paradigm of complexity. Under a traditional prism, these sports have been analysed using a deterministic perspective, where the constituent dimensions of the sportsmen were independently examined and treated in isolation. It was expected that the body worked as a perfect machine and, once all the components were maximised, the sportsmen improved their performance. If the same closed recipe was applied to all of the players who formed part of the squad, the global team performance was expected to be enhanced. As much as these reductionist models seem coherent, when contrasted in practice we see that the reality of team sports is far more different from the closed conditions in which they were idealised. Team sports contain variable, heterogeneous and non-linear constraints which require the development of a different logic to organise their training. During the last few years, ecological psychology, the dynamical systems theory or the constraints-led approach have opened interesting fields of research from which many conceptual foundations can be applied to team sports. Based on this contemporary framework, the current book presents the study of the players and the teams as complex systems, using coordination dynamics to explain the emergence of the self-organisation episodes that characterise them. In addition, this thinking line provides the reader with the ability to apply all of these innovative concepts to their practical training scenarios. Altogether, it is intended to challenge the reader to re-think their training strategy and to develop an original theory and practice of training specific to team sports.

For three decades, Al McGuire was the heart and soul of college basketball, first as the street-smart head coach at Marquette University and later as the hoops-savvy television analyst whose unique mix of humor, candor, and uncanny insights brought a whole new dimension to sports broadcasting. McGuire was the consummate professional at whatever he did. Possessing an impeccable insider's knowledge of the game, he was able to communicate to viewers in ways that were as entertaining as they were informative. He made people laugh, he could laugh at himself, and his joy for the game and people in it made him one of sports' most enduring icons.

McGuire passed away at the age of seventy-two in early 2001 after a long illness, leaving behind a basketball-rich legacy that had its poetic qualities as well. Never was that more evident than in the 1976-77 season, when McGuire announced to his team in midseason that it would be his last year in coaching. The season ended with McGuire overcome by emotion, sitting on the Marquette bench with tears streaming down his face as the Warriors gave their beloved coach the ultimate going-away present, a national championship. Thus ended a twenty-year coaching career in which McGuire completed a 405-143 record, including a 295-80 mark at Marquette.

In I Remember Al McGuire, the legendary basketball coach and announcer is remembered by dozens of associates, who offer their favorite anecdotes, insights, assessments, and other assorted memories of a basketball junkie as quick with a quip as he was with a word of encouragement. Among those contributing to this book are his former players and assistant coaches as well as other head coaches, media personalities,friends, and associates who knew him well at one time or another in his life.

A vibrant, unconventional, highly opinionated guide to the triumphs, joys, struggles, and heartbreaks of the modern era of the game, for every obsessive basketball fan who loves to hate hot takes The Joy of Basketball celebrates the meteoric rise of basketball over the last quarter century by ignoring the bland, traditionalist binary of wins or losses. Instead, the book's focus is on everything else. Using text, charts, and illustrations that upend conventional jock wisdom, the book details the most incredible players in history, draft flops, long-limbed oddballs, superteams, the international talent wave, brawls, scandals, the rapid evolution of contemporary gameplay, coaching, fashion, crime, positional erosion, tragic tales, memes, and the sacred Kardashian Blessing. Bouncing between witty graphics and keen sociopolitical observations, The Joy of Basketball is a subversive sports manifesto camouflaged as a colorful reference book for your coffee table.

The first of "The Big Three" was Paul Pierce. As Boston Celtics fans watched the team retire Pierce's jersey in a ceremony on February 11, 2018, they remembered again the incredible performances Pierce put on in the city for fifteen years, helping the Celtics escape the bottom of their conference to become champions and perennial championship contenders. But Pierce's time in the city wasn't always so smooth. In 2000, he was stabbed in a downtown nightclub eleven times in a seemingly random attack. Six years later, remaining the sole star on a struggling team, he asked to be traded and briefly became a lightning rod among fans. Then, in 2007, the Boston Celtics General Manager made two monumental trades, bringing Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett to Boston. A press conference on July 31, 2007 was a sight to behold: Pierce, KG, and Ray Allen holding up Celtics jerseys for the flood of media. Coach Doc Rivers made sure the team bonded over the thought of winning a title and living by a Bantu term called Ubuntu, which translates as "I am because we are." Rivers wanted to make it clear that togetherness and brotherhood would help them maximize their talent and win. What came next-the synthesis of the Celtics' "Big Three" and their dominant championship run-cemented their standing as one of great teams in NBA history, a rival to Kobe Bryant's Lakers and LeBron James's Cavaliers. This is the team that brought excitement back to the Garden, and therefore to one of the most storied franchises in all of sports. They met their historic rivals, the Lakers, in the 2008 NBA Finals, winning the series in Game 6, in a rout on their home court with a raucous, concert like atmosphere. Along the victory parade route, Paul Pierce smoked a cigar-as a tribute to legendary former Celtics Coach Red Auerbach. In a city now defined by a wealth of championships, "The Big Three" joined the club. Michael Holley, the premier chronicler of Boston sports, brings their story to life with countless untold stories and behind-the-scenes details in another bestselling tome for New England and sports fans across the country.

In MIRACLES ON THE HARDWOOD, author John Gasaway traces the rise of Catholic college basketball - from its early days (Villanova made an appearance in the Final Four in the first NCAA tournament in 1939) to the dominance of the San Franciso Dons in the 1950s and the ascendance of powerhouses Georgetown, Villanova, and Gonzaga-through their decades-long rivalries and championship games. Featuring interviews with notable coaches, players, alums, and fans -- including Loyola Chicago's most famous and dedicated fan, 99-year-old Sister Jean -- to get at the heart of what makes these universities excel at this sport. Small in number but devout in the game's spirit, these teams have made the miraculous a matter of ritual, and their greatest works may be yet to come.