Sports & Recreation : Basketball

There is only one writer on the planet who possesses enough basketball knowledge and passion to write the definitive book on the NBA.* Bill Simmons, the from-the-womb hoops addict known to millions as ESPN.com’s Sports Guy, is that writer. And The Book of Basketball is that book. more...

Price: $19.99

In The Art of a Beautiful Game , Chris Ballard, the award-winning Sports Illustrated writer who has covered the NBA for the past decade, goes behind the scenes to examine basketball in ways that will surprise even die-hard fans. An inveterate hoops junkie who played some college ball, Ballard sits down with the NBA's most passionate, cerebral players to find out their tricks of the trade and to learn what drives them, taking readers away from the usual sports talk radio fodder and deep into the heart of the game. more...

Price: $26.00

Superagent David Falk -- the man who called the shots for some of the greatest heroes in the history of basketball -- reveals the innovative business secrets that catapulted him to the top of his game. David Falk is the most successful agent in the game of basketball. He has represented more NBA first-round draft selections, lottery picks, Rookies-of-the-Year, and All-Stars than anyone else in the business. He changed the NBA's entire salary structure with a unique approach to negotiations that garnered some of the biggest contracts in league history, including Alonzo Mourning's $100-plus million contract with the Miami Heat -- the first ever in professional sports. His groundbreaking Nike deal for Michael Jordan, the most successful endorsement relationship in history, revolutionized basketball by creating the game's first commercial superstar. Basketball Digest called Falk one of the sport's most influential people, second only to NBA commissioner David Stern. In The Bald Truth, Falk, respected throughout the industry as an innovator, candidly unveils the business secrets that have fueled his extraordinary success. For the first time, he shares the fascinating insider details of how he negotiated lucrative contracts, learned from his mistakes, and branded and marketed not only the greatest basketball stars in history but also other elite athletes and coaches. Falk is blunt, he's fair, and he looks at the long run rather than the short-term gains. To make a great deal, he believes, both sides have to win. He adheres to steadfast principles, some of which he learned from the celebrated champion athletes and revered coaching legends -- like Georgetown's John Thompson and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski -- who have been long-standing clients and lifelongfriends. Since Falk began representing athletes more than thirty-five years ago, basketball has grown from a fledgling team sport to a multibilliondollar business with celebrity players, powerful end more...

Price: $27.00

The myth of the natural black athlete is widespread, though it’s usually only talked about when a sports commentator or celebrity embarrasses himself by bringing it up in public. Those gaffes are swiftly decried as racist, but apart from their link to the long history of ugly racial stereotypes about black people—especially men—they are also harmful because they obscure very real, hard-fought accomplishments. As Black Men Can’t Shoot demonstrates, such successes on the basketball court don’t just happen because of natural gifts—instead, they grow out of the long, tough, and unpredictable process of becoming a known player.Scott N. Brooks spent four years coaching summer league basketball in Philadelphia. And what he saw, heard, and felt working with the young black men on his team tells us much about how some kids are able to make the extraordinary journey from the ghetto to the NCAA. To show how good players make the transition to greatness, Brooks tells the story of two young men, Jermaine and Ray, following them through their high school years and chronicling their breakthroughs and frustrations on the court as well as their troubles at home. We witness them negotiating the pitfalls of forging a career and a path out of poverty, we see their triumphs and setbacks, and we hear from the network of people—their families, the neighborhood elders, and Coach Brooks himself—invested in their fates.Black Men Can’t Shoot has all the hallmarks of a classic sports book, with a climactic championship game and a suspenseful ending as we wait to find out if Jermaine and Ray will be recruited. Brooks’s moving coming-of-age story counters the belief that basketball only exploits kids and lures them into following empty dreams—and shows us that by playing ball, some of these young black men have already begun their education even before they get to college. more...

Price: $22.00

Pick up the pace with Coach Bobby Cremins' secrets for playing up-tempo ball. When Bobby Cremins became head coach of Appalachian State University, he was one of the youngest professionals to ever lead an NCAA Division I basketball team. Going to Georgia Tech at 33, he was among the youngest ever in the history of the ACC. Two decades later as Georgia Tech's all-time winningest coach, Cremins had compiled fourteen victorious seasons, six All-Americans, and two National Coach of the Year awards. How did he do it? The answers are here as Coach Cremins reveals the secrets of his powerful, high-pressure playbook for the first time ever. In this action-packed guide for coaches and players, Cremins shares more than 150 super-charged plays and strategies guaranteed to make you rethink your offensive system, along with how he recruited many of the top point guards who played for him, and what he learned from each. You'll learn how to: Implement a fast break that's right for you and your personnel, from missed shots to made baskets.; Attack full- and half-court pressure and get high percentage shots.; Go to your bread and butter plays for your half-court attack.; Develop an aggressive zone offense.; Beat the clock with great last-second shots and all kinds of special situations, including three-point shots, out-of-bounds plays, and much more. more...

Price: $18.95