Best basketball books

[zerophase]

i honestly don't see a reason for reading a basketball book, at least one by an actual player. the whole reason these books were written is because of the money making schemes of big publishers. its the same reason why that gave phelphs such a lofty amount for his book. to start, they don't even write half the stuff that's in the book. next, while i might consider reading a book written by say duncan with his high basketball iq, the reality is that a lot of these sports players are like gerald green when it comes to good witting. that's just my take on it.

While I won't comment one way or the other about the writing of players, it seems worth noting that a significant portion of the books mentioned on this particular thread were not iin fact written by players, if that's your main issue with basketball books.  Feinstein, McCallum, Telander - just to name a few who appear on this list - all well-established writing 'professionals', so to speak.  But that isn't to suggest that there isn't valuable insight to be gleaned from others simply because they've played the game as well (in fact, quite the opposite...), and I'd personally be wary of writing 'actual players' off on that account.

Out of curiosity have you read anything written by NBA players that left you particularly unimpressed?

-sw

yea i have no issue with books on the topic of basketball, written by perhaps a coach or a true sports writer. its not that i'm unimpressed, it's the fact that i read these books and i realize there is no possible way they could have written this. you could tell a lot of editing had gone into them because that is not at all how they speak or present themselves in public. and although i haven't read a full book, i've picked up a few in the store to check out. driven from within by micheal jordan just seems so cliche. of course these players are driven and competitive; yes, lots of hard work, i get the point. i don't need a book to tell me you worked hard at your profession to succeed.

[Overrated]

Last month I finished When The Game Was Ours, easily the best book about basketball I've ever read. Any Celtics fan would love reading this, so do it!

Also, you can check out my review for the book here:
http://www.amazon.com/review/R739WZSZU7AGW

Any helpful "yes" votes would be appreciated too 

[Donoghus]

Read Simmons' "Book of Basketball".  Was throughly impressed.

Say what you want about Simmons' current views on the Celtics and the NBA but the guy has a real appreciation of the game of basketball and its past.  You can debate his rankings all day long but he presents some very compelling cases and always shows some respect for players of that past that have sorta been forgotten in the current day. 

I also enjoyed his "what-ifs" section.  Some interesting stuff to consider. 

Its not a technical book on the NBA or basketball in general so if you want the Xs and Os of things, find another book but its an enjoyable read.

[chief3233]

Last month I finished When The Game Was Ours, easily the best book about basketball I've ever read. Any Celtics fan would love reading this, so do it!

Also, you can check out my review for the book here:
http://www.amazon.com/review/R739WZSZU7AGW

Any helpful "yes" votes would be appreciated too 

I just finished last night. Honestly, the best book I've ever read, period. There were some dry parts but overall, it revealed some incredible facts. It was very sad at parts, especially when Magic and Larry's careers were almost finished. As a Celtic's fan who was born in 1990, this book helped me realize the incredible rivalry that I and others of my generation missed.

[scoop]

I also liked Simmons' book. A bit tiring - it's his typical style from the articles for hundreds of pages, but very well-researched and written. The footnotes alone would make a good book.

Loose Balls (Terry Pluto) is an extraordinary book about the ABA. I'm a fan of books like "A season on the brink" that detail the incidences of an entire season, and within that genre, my favourite is probably The Breaks of the Game, about the Portland Trail Blazers '79 season. That or Wojnarowski's "The Miracle of St. Anthony". One of these two. From recent years, SSOL is probably the best one. It's a shame there's nothing of similar quality about the Celtics 07/08 season. In terms of biographies Foul! The Connie Hawkins Story is easily the best one I've ever read. Recently I've read a very interesting book, "Big Game, Small World". It's an exhaustive but very entertaining and passionate travel around the world of basketball - in more than one sense, as he goes from the origins of the game in Springfield to the playgrounds of Luanda, Angola these days.

[TerreHaute]

Loose Balls, Season on the Brink, and The Last Amateurs are my favorites that have already been mentioned.

The Punch is very good.

Rebound, KC Jones's biography is pretty good.

I am currently reading Bob Knight, My Story. It is a good read. I have found it hard to take Bobby's word on everything he tries to justify, but he is right when he claims his side of the story is seldom reported.

Anybody read Vitale's  book on the 50 greatest players/moments in college basketball? I just ordered it on Amazon.com

[dark_lord]

i got 3 favs:

1.  bad as a i wanna be- dennis rodman
2.  drive- larry bird
3.  outrageous- charles barkley

rodman's is the best imo.  ive always been fascinated by him, both as a person and player.  this book is one of those that it is difficult to put down.

[Redz]

I haven't read a ton of sports books but this one is excellent:

    
Swee'Pea and Other Playground Legends: Tales of Drugs, Violence and Basketball - John Valenti

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0935576398/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000RG1OR0&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0G8TRB7KP52A6VQET1SZ

[wiley]

I think I've only read one, and it was quite good and hasn't been mentioned.  It's called Crashing the Borders.  Can't remember the author but he's a NYT sports writer (I don't read his columns).

Just a few years old and it's about the expansion of basketball beyond U.S. borders...lots of good stories and description.

There's a KG quote in the book that doesn't exactly flatter him (I won't give it away). I read it pre-KG and the way the quote is presented doesn't exactly shed a nice light on him.  But it's nothing major, just a bit of trash talk (if I remember correctly) aimed at a foreign player that I'm sure doesn't encapsulate KG's whole relationship with that player...

I'm not a big fan of trash talk (overdone), but when I think about that quote now I sort of love it.  Big KG fan here...

[Redz]

just realized this was the reincarnation of a 2 year old thread, and that I'd already posted the same book!

[celticinorlando]

Drive by Larry Bird

[Overrated]

just realized this was the reincarnation of a 2 year old thread, and that I'd already posted the same book!

Yeah, I bumped it. I decided not to create a second thread about books since I'm a newbie and don't want to be flamed or something 

[Donoghus]

just realized this was the reincarnation of a 2 year old thread, and that I'd already posted the same book!

Yeah, I bumped it. I decided not to create a second thread about books since I'm a newbie and don't want to be flamed or something 

Don't worry about getting flamed if you want to start a new thread.  That's what us mods are here for.  And, by and large, this community is pretty accepting.

[RebusRankin]

To add one that I don't think has been mentioned,
When March Went Mad. It focuses on the 1979 NCAA and of course Magic and Bird.

Red and Me is also interesting.

[looseball]

Basketball: for the Player, the Fan, and the Coach
by Red Auerbach (1953)
best book to start with.