From its beginnings at the turn of the 20th century to its pervasive presence in 21st-century America, basketball has grown into an undeniably important sport. The 575 entries in this biographical dictionary present concise narratives on the lives and careers on the most important names in basketball history. Entries include both classic players such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bob Cousy as well as more recently established and up-and-coming stars such as Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Garnett, and LeBron James. Entries for coaches such as the Boston Celtics' Red Auerbach and Mike Krzyzewski from Duke University present the figures who have shaped the game from courtside, while the inclusion of female players and coaches such as Lisa Leslie, Diana Taurasi, and Pat Summitt show that basketball is not just a sport for men. From its beginnings at the turn of the 20th century to its pervasive presence in 21st-century America, basketball has grown into an undeniably important sport. The 575 entries in this biographical dictionary present concise narratives on the lives and careers on the most important names in basketball history. Entries include both classic players such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bob Cousy as well as more recently established and up-and-coming stars such as Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Garnett, and LeBron James. Entries for coaches such as the Boston Celtics' Red Auerbach and Mike Krzyzewski from Duke University present the figures who have shaped the game from courtside, while the inclusion of female players and coaches such as Lisa Leslie, Diana Taurasi, and Pat Summitt show that basketball is not just a sport for men. This volume is an ideal reference for students seeking easily accessed information on the greats of the game.

FORMER NBA STAR LUTHER WRIGHT SHARES HIS HARROWING AND UPLIFTING JOURNEY OF FINDING GOD--AND HIMSELF--WHEN HE HAD NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE.
Luther Wright had the life hoop dreams are made of. A first-round NBA draft pick for the Utah Jazz, he was a rookie on a team with basketball legends Karl Malone and John Stockton. He had money, women, cars, and a luxurious bachelor pad overlooking Salt Lake City. But within a year, ravaged by drugs and unable to cope with life as an NBA star, he was homeless, broke and addicted to crack cocaine.
Wright never wanted to play basketball, yet standing more than seven feet tall even as a boy, he thought he had no choice. In this heartrending memoir, he writes candidly about the self-destructive spiral he found himself on after neglecting his passions to pursue the dreams of others. After years of living on the streets, he finally found a gift greater than anything his millions could have bought him--God. Today, Wright offers a simple message: believe in yourself, follow your dreams, and only then will you find your "Perfect Fit."

Every year a new champion is crowned in the world of professional basketball. But few seasons feature a champion that has countless ups and downs, key coaching and player changes, dominating defensive play, and one player who is criticized heavily early in the season that later becomes a hero, making one of the greatest plays in team history.

Detroit experienced all these things during the 2003-2004 season and along with it, won the team's third ever championship. David Lawless was there, like he always is every year, following this team at the arena; on TV; even occasionally on the road. It's quite clear that he has "The Fever."

In "The Fever," Lawless chronicles what it's like to be a fan of a team that plays such an exciting style and ends up winning the game's ultimate prize. True fans of the team and true fans of the sport itself, will relate to his use of first names, always, when describing the players and the exclamations of emotion that come out during the middle of a big playoff game. Each game is discussed in the same language and expressions that fans use.

They're all here: each and every game analyzed like a coach would, but described with the passion of a true fan.

The economics of the NCAA Division I men's basketball league are peculiar because it fails to hire the best college-aged players and does little to enhance competitive balance within the league. The league's policy decisions and its ability to remain economically viable, despite its short-sighted governance decisions, are discussed.

In less than 120 years an activity invented by one man to alleviate winter boredom for a college gym class has evolved into a worldwide multi-billion dollar enterprise. It is impossible for Dr. James Naismith, basketball's inventor, to have envisioned the extent to which his simple game would reach. Without major changes to his original 13 rules, basketball is now played in more than 200 countries by people of all ages. Thanks to basketball, players like Michael Jordan, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Larry Bird, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O'Neal have become some of the most famous people in the world. The Historical Dictionary of Basketball is a comprehensive account of all forms of basketball amateur, professional, men's, women's, Olympic, domestic, and international from its invention in 1891 through the present day. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, an extensive bibliography, and over 600 cross-referenced dictionary entries on the people, places, teams, and terminology of the game."

Investing in College Basketball provides a comprehensive set of tools and techniques for successfully wagering on college basketball. It shows how the returns - winnings -- from investing in college basketball can be far greater than investing in stocks and bonds. These returns can be achieved by anyone with an interest in basketball, basic mathematical skills, and a computer with spreadsheet programs and Internet access. The power of the methodology is demonstrated by actual investing results for the 2003-2004 season of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The book includes an analysis of investment outcomes for the A-10 Conference, the working papers for assessing each team, and the analysis of each game for which an investment was made. There are extensive examples of how theory is applied in analyzing actual games and showing how good analysis consistently pays off.

No one had really heard of Chaminade University-a tiny NAIA Catholic school in Honolulu with fewer than eight hundred undergraduates-until its basketball game against the University of Virginia on December 23, 1982. The Chaminade Silverswords defeated the Cavaliers, then the Division I, No. 1-ranked team in the nation, in what the Washington Post later called "the biggest upset in the history of college basketball." Virginia was the most heralded team in the country, led by seven-foot-four-inch, three-time College Basketball Player of the Year Ralph Sampson. They had just been paid $50,000-more than double Chaminade's annual basketball budget-to play an early season tournament in Tokyo and were making a "stopover" game in Hawaii on their way back to the mainland. The Silverswords, led by forward Tony Randolph, came back in the second half and won the game 77-72. Chaminade's incredible victory became known as the "Miracle on Ward Avenue" or simply "The Upset" in Hawaii and was featured in the national news. Never before in the history of college basketball had a school moved so dramatically and irretrievably into the nation's consciousness. The Silverswords' victory was more than just an upset; it was something considered impossible. And the team's wins over major college programs continued in the ensuing years. Today Chaminade is still referred to as "The Giant Killers"-the school that beat Ralph Sampson and Virginia. The Greatest Upset Never Seen relives the 1982-83 season, when Chaminade put small-college basketball and Hawaii on the national sports map.

College student-athletes are often a study of failure--a failure in graduation, in setting priorities, in having dreams fulfilled. Over 65 percent of all college athletes might not graduate. Only a handful of NCAA schools combine excellent basketball with a consistent level of graduation. One aim of this book is to help current college athletes to graduate by documenting a success story--Indiana University. The volume does not focus on Indiana's basketball success but instead its academic success under the seventeen-year tenure of Coach Knight. The author first details the failure of present sports programs in low graduation levels, abuse and exploitation of athletes, and in spirit and philosophy. He then explores what is described as Coach Knight's hard-love, and the people and processes involved in the Indiana program. This volume addresses athletic administrators, educators, athlete-students, and their fans.

Written in a light and sensitive style, "Hoosier Honor" tells the success story of the Indiana University basketball team under Coach Bob Knight. The most winning coach in the Big Ten Conference, Knight's greatest success is his ability to graduate an extremely high percentage of his players. This volume documents that success: the success of a man who knows that defense wins games; a man with limitations who learned to compensate and trains his team to compensate; a teacher and a mentor. Voices of those around Coach Knight are finally heard and a psychological analysis of Knight and the Dostoyevsky-type double internal struggle is present in Knight's hard-love of the players. The IU program is a model one--philosophical approach to basketball.

During the civil rights era, Mississippi was caught in the hateful embrace of a white caste system that enforced segregation. Rather than troubling the Closed Society, state news media, on the whole, marched in lockstep or, worse, promoted the continued subservience of blacks. Surprisingly, challenges from Mississippi's college basketball courts questioned segregation's validity and its gentleman's agreement that prevented college teams in the Magnolia State from playing against integrated foes. Mississippi State University stood at the forefront of this battle for equality in the state with the school's successful college basketball program. From 1959 through 1963, the Maroons won four Southeastern Conference basketball championships and created a dynasty in the South's preeminent college athletic conference. However, in all four title-winning seasons, the press feverishly debated the merits of a National Collegiate Athletic Association appearance for the Maroons, culminating in Mississippi State University's participation in the integrated 1963 NCAA Championship. Full Court Press examines news articles, editorials, and columns published in Mississippi's newspapers during the eight-year existence of the gentleman's agreement that barred black participation, the challenges posed by Mississippi State University, and the subsequent integration of college basketball. While the majority of reporters opposed any effort to integrate, a segment of sports journalists, led by the charismatic Jimmie McDowell of the Jackson State Times, emerged as bold advocates for equality. Full Court Presshighlights an ideological metamorphosis within the press during the civil rights movement. The media, which had long minimized the struggle of blacks, slowly transformed into an industry that considered the plight of black Mississippians on equal footing with whites.

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aMayas commitment to these boys is clear, as he becomes convinced that even though their fantasies of living the American dream are for the most part a adirty trick, a it still remains about the best thing going in their sadly limited lives.a
--"Publishers Weekly"

aA powerful and sober analysis of the lives of poor young people and coaches who sustain themselves with meaningful relationships and impossible dreams. May is an outstanding participant observer and interviewer who takes his reader into a social world, unpacks its meaning, and shows off the power of a vivid sociological imagination.a
--Mitchell Duneier, author of "Sidewalk" and "Slimas Table"

aMoving and memorable, Living Through the Hoop offers an unflinching account of black male ballplayersa lives. Immersing himself in the lives of players on a high school basketball team, leading ethnographer May eloquently describes the impact of their ahoop dreams.a Mayas profound analysis shows basketball playing can often lead to success in not so flamboyant ways, as young men learn to avoid lures of mean streets, develop teamwork and fairness values, and counter omnipresent barriers of a racist society.a
--Joe R. Feagin, author of "Systemic Racism"

When high school basketball player LeBron James was selected as the top pick in the National Basketball Association draft of 2003, the hopes of a half-million high school basketball players soared. If LeBron could go straight from high school to the NBA, why couldnat they? Such is the allure of basketball for so many young African American men. Unfortunately, the reality is that their chances of ever playingbasketball at the professional, or even college, level are infinitesimal. In Living Through the Hoop, Reuben A. Buford May tells the absorbing story of the hopes and struggles of one high school basketball team.

With a clear passion for the game, May grabs readers with both hands and pulls them onto the hardwood, going under the hoop and inside the locker room. May spent seven seasons as an assistant coach of the Northeast High School Knights in aNortheast, a Georgia. We meet players like Larique and Pooty Cat, hard-working and energetic young men, willing to play and practice basketball seven days a week and banking on the unlimited promise of the game. And we meet Coach Benson, their unorthodox, out-spoken, and fierce leader, who regularly coached them to winning seasons, twice going to the state tournamentas Elite Eight championships.

Beyond the wins and losses, May provides a portrait of the playersa hopes and aspirations, their home lives, and the difficulties they face in living in a poor and urban area -- namely, the temptations of drugs and alcohol, violence in their communities, run-ins with the police, and unstable family lives. We learn what it means to become a man when you live in places that define manhood by how tough you can be, how many women you can have, and how much money you can hustle.

May shows the powerful role that the basketball team can play in keeping these kids astraight, a away from street-life, focused on completing high school, and possibly even attending college. Their stories, and the double-edged sword of ahoop dreams, a is at the heart of this compelling story about young African American menas struggle to find their way in an often grim world.

The bestselling author of Bo chronicles the amazing story of the first string Michigan basketball team--composed entirely of freshmen--that took the 1992 NCAA Tournament by storm and began the 1993 season burdened by more expectations than any team in collegiate history. 8 pages of photos.