In Young, Black, Rich, and Famous, Todd Boyd chronicles how basketball and hip hop have gone from being reviled by the American mainstream in the 1970s to being embraced and imitated globally today. For young black men, he argues, they represent a new version of the American dream, one embodying the hopes and desires of those excluded from the original version.  Shedding light on both perception and reality, Boyd shows that the NBA has been at the forefront of recognizing and incorporating cultural shifts—from the initial image of 1970s basketball players as overpaid black drug addicts, to Michael Jordan’s spectacular rise as a universally admired icon, to the 1990s, when the hip hop aesthetic (for example, Allen Iverson’s cornrows, multiple tattoos, and defiant, in-your-face attitude) appeared on the basketball court. Hip hop lyrics, with their emphasis on “keepin’ it real� and marked by a colossal indifference to mainstream taste, became an equally powerful influence on young black men. These two influences have created a brand-new, brand-name generation that refuses to assimilate but is nonetheless an important part of mainstream American culture. This Bison Books edition includes a new introduction by the author.

Economic globalisation refers to the notion of mobility. In basketball, just as in other team sports, competitions are associated with a specific territorial space. Through a comparison between United States and Europe, this compilation explores the issue of the perimeter of the competition area in the new economic environment. The authors discuss the different pedagogical models that basketball coaches can apply to promote the development of an all-around player during practice sessions. The "sport education", "teaching games for understanding", "cooperative learning", and "teaching personal and social responsibility" models are discussed and analyzed from a basketball coaching perspective. The relationship between rookie players' physical abilities on the Pre-Draft Combine and basketball performance in offense and defense in the first NBA season is assessed. The results highlight the importance of basic speed, speed strength and strength endurance. The concluding study tests the basic and specific indicators, in terms of differences, in estimating the isometric rate of force development for leg extensors in the context of a playing position in basketball. Sixty-eight basketball players performed a standardized "isometric leg press" test to assess the characteristics of isometric force from their leg extensors.

From the former "New York Times" Beijing bureau chief comes a closely observed story of a struggling Chinese basketball team and its quixotic, often comical attempt to make the playoffs by copying the American stars of the NBA.
When the worst professional basketball team in China, the Shanxi Brave Dragons, hired former NBA coach Bob Weiss to improve its fortunes, the team's owner, Boss Wang, promised that Weiss would be allowed to Americanize his players by teaching them "advanced basketball culture." That promise would be broken from the moment Weiss landed in China. As we follow this team of colorful oddballs on a fascinating road trip through modern China, we see Weiss learn firsthand what so many other foreigners there have discovered: that changing China happens only when and how China wants to be changed.

Great news for the millions of young hoopsters dreaming of someday running with the pros: two-time Olympian and professional star Teresa Weatherspoon is sharing all of her basketball secrets! In this fun and informative book, not only will you get the inside scoop on passing, dribbling, defending, shooting, and all the rules of the game, you'll also learn why Spoon believes that unselfishness, hard work, and a positive attitude are as valuable as technical skill.

With tons of instructional photos and heaping "Spoon"-fuls of inspiration, personal history, and inside tips, Teresa Weatherspoon's Basketball for Girls delivers all the goods. In no time, you'll be tearing up the courts, burning up the nets, and showing how it's really done!

The first definitive biography of basketball legend LeBron James, by the acclaimed author of Tiger Woods. LeBron is unquestionably the greatest basketball player of the 21st century. Off the court, LeBron's political activism, outspoken stance on racism and social injustice have helped build a social media presence that includes 117 million followers on Instagram and 51 million followers on Twitter. He is an international brand worth billions of dollars. He doesn't just have huge endorsement deals with some of the biggest corporations in the world; LeBron sits on boards of directors and has an equity stake in the companies he sponsors. He has forged a close friendship with President Barack Obama and clashed publicly with President Donald Trump. As a child, LeBron was a lost little boy living in a public housing project in Akron, Ohio. His mother, who had LeBron when she was just sixteen, would disappear for days at a time. Scared and alone, LeBron rarely attended school. He was dirt poor and fatherless. And he had never played organised basketball. Yet he would become the most successful and most popular athlete that the United States has produced this century, bringing success to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers. To tell this epic story, Benedict has done exhaustive research, digging through thousands of pages of primary source documents, articles, books and hundreds of hours of video footage. He's also conducted hundreds of interviews with the people who were intimately involved with LeBron from the beginning of his life to the present. He shows the initial slow rise of a star that suddenly transformed into a speeding comet during his senior year of high school. It is a unique and unmissable insight into one of the world's greatest athletes.

An unvarnished look at the economic and political choices that reshaped contemporary Chicago--arguably for the worse. The 1990s were a glorious time for the Chicago Bulls, an age of historic championships and all-time basketball greats like Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan. It seemed only fitting that city, county, and state officials would assist the team owners in constructing a sparkling new venue to house this incredible team that was identified worldwide with Chicago. That arena, the United Center, is the focus of Bulls Markets, an unvarnished look at the economic and political choices that forever reshaped one of America's largest cities--arguably for the worse. Sean Dinces shows how the construction of the United Center reveals the fundamental problems with neoliberal urban development. The pitch for building the arena was fueled by promises of private funding and equitable revitalization in a long-blighted neighborhood. However, the effort was funded in large part by municipal tax breaks that few ordinary Chicagoans knew about, and that wound up exacerbating the rising problems of gentrification and wealth stratification. In this portrait of the construction of the United Center and the urban life that developed around it, Dinces starkly depicts a pattern of inequity that has become emblematic of contemporary American cities: governments and sports franchises collude to provide amenities for the wealthy at the expense of poorer citizens, diminishing their experiences as fans and--far worse--creating an urban environment that is regulated and surveilled for the comfort and protection of that same moneyed elite.

The Ivy League is a place where basketball is neither a pastime nor a profession. Instead, it is a true passion among players, coaches, and committed sports enthusiasts who share in its every success and setback. Outside the Limelight is the first book to look inside Ivy League basketball and at the boundless enthusiasm that defines it. With painstaking reportage, Kathy Orton vividly captures the internal fervor of the personalities who champion their gameuall the triumphs and disappointments of an Ivy hoop season. Scholarships for student athletes? None, and this is the only Division I conference that does not offer them. The TV spotlight? It barely shines, despite the passion, talent, and commitment of the players. Megadollar contracts from the NBA? Rarely does a player receive an offer. These age-old institutions are better known for turning out presidents, not point guards, and CEOs and captains of industry, not centers on the court. Orton weaves together the stories of coaches and players as they move from fall practice through an entire season and ahead to the NCAA tournament. From Harvard to Penn, Princeton to Cornell and beyond, playersuperhaps more accustomed to pomp and circumstanceuface leaky gyms, endure long bus rides, rigorous courseloads, and unbearable exam schedules. Why? Just to prove they can hang with the big boys despite juggling multiple non-athletic responsibilities? Maybe. But more importantly, for the sincere love of the game. Outside the Limelight provides frontcourt vision for college basketball fans everywhere to achieve an appreciation of this captivating conference and for diehard enthusiasts to gain greater insight into what brings Ivy League basketball to center circle.

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".