David Halberstam, best-selling author of "The Fifties" and "The Best and the Brightest," turns his keen reporter's eye on the sport of basketball -- the players and the coaches, the long road trips, what happens on court, in front of television cameras, and off-court, where no eyes have followed -- until now. -- "Among the best books ever written on professional basketball." "The Philadelphia Inquirer"

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The riveting inside story of college basketball's fiercest rivalry among three coaching legends—University of North Carolina's Dean Smith, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, and North Carolina State's Jim Valvano—by the king of college basketball writers. "One of Feinstein’s best."— Chicago Tribune On March 18, 1980, the Duke basketball program announced the hiring of Mike Krzyzewski, the man who would restore glory to the team. The only problem: no one knew who Krzyzewski was. Nine days later, Jim Valvano was hired by North Carolina State to be their new head coach. The hiring didn't raise as many eyebrows, but the two new coaches had a similar goal: to unseat North Carolina's Dean Smith as the king of college basketball. And just like that, the most sensational competitive decade in history was about to unfold. In the skillful hands of John Feinstein, The Legends Club captures an era in American sport and culture, documenting the inside view of a decade of absolutely incredible competition. Feinstein pulls back the curtain on the recruiting wars, the intensely personal competition that wasn't always friendly, the enormous pressure and national stakes, and the battle for the very soul of college basketball.

Decades after it spent weeks at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, A Season on the Brink remains the most celebrated basketball book ever written—an unforgettable chronicle of his year spent following the Indiana Hoosiers and their fiery coach Bob Knight. Granted unprecedented access to legendary coach Bob Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers during the 1985–86 season, John Feinstein saw and heard it all—practices, team meetings, strategy sessions, and midgame huddles—as the team worked to return to championship form. The result is an unforgettable chronicle that not only captures the drama and pressure of big-time college basketball but also paints a vivid portrait of a complex, brilliant coach as he walks the fine line between genius and madness. This anniversary edition features an updated Introduction by Feinstein.

"A must-read for anybody who considers themselves a basketball fan."—Michael Wilbon, The Washington Post On March 26, 1979, basketball as we know it was born. The NCAA championship game played that day launched an epic rivalry between two exceptional players: Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Larry Bird. Though they played each other only once as college athletes, that game transformed the NCAA tournament into a multibillion-dollar enterprise and laid the foundation for the resurgence of the NBA. To this day it remains the highest-rated basketball game, college or pro, in the history of television. In the national bestseller When March Went Mad , Seth Davis recounts the dramatic story of the season leading up to that game, as Johnson's Michigan State Spartans and Bird's Indiana State Sycamores overcame long odds and great doubts to reach the game's grandest stage. Davis also tells the stories of their remarkable coaches, Jud Heathcote and Bill Hodges, and he shows how tensions over race and class heightened the drama of the competition. Davis combed through several years' worth of newspaper and magazine coverage, interviewed nearly one hundred people, and watched dozens of games to reconstruct the colorful, historic, and improbable narrative of how Larry Bird and Magic Johnson burst on the scene—a coming-of-age story that continues to resonate. The Final Four, the NBA, and the game of basketball have never been the same.

For millions of basketball fans in the 1970s, Walt “Clyde” Frazier defined the word cool . An iconic piece of basketball history and sports journalism, this meticulously documented account tells the story of one of the greatest point guards in NBA history and how he led the Knicks to their only two championships with a style and flair that was wholly his own. Now, three decades later, Rockin’ Steady is back with an all-new introduction, afterword, and everything that made it one of the most unusual sports books of all time.

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. Basketball Digest called superagent David Falk one of basketball’s most influential people, second only to NBA commissioner David Stern. Falk has represented more NBA first-round draft selections, lottery picks, Rookies-of-the-Year, and All-Stars than anyone else in the business. Now, he shares the fascinating insider details of how he negotiated lucrative contracts for superstars like Michael Jordan and Alonzo Mourning (changing the NBA’s entire salary structure in the process), learned from his mistakes, and branded and marketed some of the greatest basketball players in history as the fledgling team sport grew into a multibilliondollar business.

From Jeff Pearlman--the New York Times best-selling author of Three Ring Circus--comes the rollicking, outrageous story of the USFL, full of larger-than-life characters and you-can't-make-this-up stories featuring some of the biggest celebrities and buffoons in the game. The United States Football League--known fondly to millions of sports fans as the USFL--did not merely challenge the NFL, but cause its owners and executives to collectively shudder. In its three seasons from 1983-85, it secured multiple television deals, drew millions of fans and launched the careers of legends such as Steve Young, Jim Kelly, Herschel Walker, and Reggie White. But then it died beneath the weight of a particularly egotistical and bombastic team owner--a New York businessman named Donald J. Trump. In Football for a Buck, Jeff Pearlman draws on more than four hundred interviews to unearth all the salty, untold stories of one of the craziest sports entities to have ever captivated America. From 1980s drug excess to airplane brawls and player-coach punch outs, to backroom business deals and some of the most enthralling and revolutionary football ever seen, Pearlman transports readers back in time to this crazy, boozy, audacious, unforgettable era of the game. He shows how fortunes were made and lost on the backs of professional athletes and how, forty years ago, Trump was already a scoundrel and a spoiler. For fans of Terry Pluto's Loose Balls or Jim Bouton's Ball Four and of course Pearlman's own stranger-than-fiction narratives, Football for a Buck is sports as high entertainment--and a cautionary tale of the dangers of ego and excess.

Christmas, 1977 and an on-court fight breaks out between the Houston Rockets and the LA Lakers. Rudy Tomjanovitch races to break it up and is met by Kermit Washington's fist, delivering one of the worst punches ever seen in sport. Basketball was changed for ever. Tomjanovitch was a Rockets all-star, 6'7 and white. The punch dislodged his skull from his head, leaving him needing years of surgery and therapy. Washington was an average player for the Lakers, 6'8 and one of six athletes in the history of the NCAA to be both an academic all-American and a basketball all-American. By all accounts an exemplary man - until the split-second in which he threw his arm forward and devastated his reputation. The fact that Washington is black hasn't helped his treatment in the press or public opinion and no team in the NBA will hire him as a coach. Meanwhile, Tomjanovitch is head coach of the Rockets and the US Olympic team. drastic response by the NBA, the conspiracy theories about the fight's origins and a story of how one man's mistake has haunted two good men for their entire adult lives.

"A wonderful book—not just for basketball fans, but for everyone." —Earvin "Magic" Johnson Ira Berkow steps out from behind his New York Times reporter's notebook to spin the wonderful and moving tale of his love—for the game of basketball, for his friends and family, and for life itself. His enduring passion for the hardwood began in his boyhood in Chicago in the 1940s and '50s, and has continued in pickup basketball with the same vigor and competitive fire of his youth, often against opponents half his age. To the Hoop tells the story of a year in his basketball life, as he resolves to enhance his game and stave off the ravages of time amidst a looming family tragedy. Here he runs the court with Oscar Robertson, talks strategy with Walt Frazier, and find fellowship and good humor across the country on playgrounds, in gyms, even in some of the world's most famous arenas. Ira Berkow's poignant book transcends the game and approaches a kind of wisdom usually unavailable in writing about sports.

The gritty, no-holds-barred account of the 1987 NBA season, a thrilling year of fierce battles and off-the-court drama between Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas, and Michael Jordan—from New York Times bestselling author Rich Cohen. “Plug in to a world where rivalries really mattered.”—Bob Ryan, sports columnist emeritus, The Boston Globe AN ESQUIRE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Four historic teams. Four legendary players. One unforgettable season. The 1980s were a transformative decade for the NBA. Since its founding in 1946, the league had evolved from a bruising, earthbound game of mostly nameless, underpaid players to one in which athletes became household names for their thrilling, physics-defying play. The 1987–88 season was the peak of that golden era, a year of incredible drama that featured a pantheon of superstars in their prime—the most future Hall of Famers competing at one time in any given season—battling for the title, and for their respective legacies. In When the Game Was War, bestselling author Rich Cohen tells the story of this incredible season through the four teams, and the four players, who dominated it: Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics, Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers, Isiah Thomas and the Detroit Pistons, and a young Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls. From rural Indiana to the South Side of Chicago, suburban North Carolina to rust-belt Michigan, Cohen explores the diverse journeys each of these iconic players took before arriving on the big stage. Drawing from dozens of interviews with NBA insiders, Cohen brings to vivid life some of the most colorful characters of the era—like Bill Laimbeer, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Danny Ainge, and Charles Oakley—who fought like hell to help these stars succeed. For anyone who longs to understand how the NBA came to be the cultural juggernaut it is today—and to relive the magic and turmoil of those pivotal years— When the Game Was War brilliantly recasts one unforgettable season and the four transcendent players who were at the center of it all.

Jeff Van Gundy. Brad Stevens. Frank Vogel. Mike Budenholzer. Tom Thibodeau. Sam Presti. Leon Rose. Before you knew his name, before he drafted your favorite player, before he guided your team to a championship, he had a playing career of his own at an NCAA Division III college. He didn't play for fortune - the NBA was out of reach, and his school didn't even give athletic scholarships. He didn't play for fame - his games weren't televised, and the stands were rarely full. Whatever the motivation, he simply couldn't give up the game of basketball. And that didn't change after graduation, when it was time to pick a career path. For the first time in league history, NBA coaches and general managers are just as likely to have played Division III basketball as they are to have played in the NBA. While the number of former D3 players working in the NBA is higher than ever, small college alums have served in leadership positions since the league's founding. They shaped the NBA into what it is today, playing integral roles in the Lakers' initial success in Los Angeles, the inception of several expansion franchises, the creation of the popular All-Star Weekend dunk contest, the globalization of the league, and more. Their improbable and inspiring journeys tell a bigger story - the history of small college athletics, the evolution of coaching and management in the NBA, and the hiring practices in the most competitive fields. Their alma maters were small, but their impact on the game, and the implications of their success, loom large.

The remarkable story of the season when the New York Jets, Mets, and Knicks all won championships, recounted by the players who made it happen and the fans who experienced it In 1969 three underdog New York sports teams won World Championships. It was an unprecedented feat in the history of sports, and it helped bring the nation's largest city---and much of the country---euphoria to balance the lingering political despair of 1969. And here, in The Magnificent Seasons , is that story---a re-creation of one of the most magical periods in sports history. In reflecting on these events, what they meant then and what they still mean today, Art Shamsky, a 1969 "Miracle Met," introduces the thoughts of members of every team. Highlights include comments from Joe Namath, Tom Seaver, Bill Bradley, Yogi Berra, Emerson Boozer, Jerry Koosman, and many more. But as important as these wins were to the players and coaches who made them happen, their victories meant just as much to the city and the people who celebrated them, and Shamsky includes their perspectives through such personalities as Bob Costas, David Halberstam, Rudy Giuliani, and many other fans of the city and its sports. Together, the words and pictures within make a wonderful keepsake---a book that lets fans relive three championship runs and gives a true sense of what these sports victories meant to a country suffering through a turbulent period in its history. The words and memories of the players, their fans, and their opponents carry a tremendous emotional charge, and The Magnificent Seasons takes readers back with all the heart-stopping thrill of the time when three teams captivated the country, and when New York City ruled the sporting world.

In the early 1980s, the National Basketball Association entered into an era of prominence that rivaled any in sports history. While the league had its share of stars, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Dr. J, it was the arrival of two fresh-faced, talented kids - Larry Bird and Earvin "Magic" Johnson - that infused new energy into the NBA at the beginning of the decade, sending the game into an upwards spiral that has made basketball the most exciting game in the world. The arrival of Bird and Johnson launched one of the greatest eras in the history of the sport, one that continues to this day. The game's popularity exploded, and its stars became household names throughout the world. Magic, Kareem, Larry, Dr. J and Michael became superstars, their images gracing the pages of magazines and the walls of adoring children. The game has everything: dynamic personalities, dramatic rivalries and the best athletes in the world. And its success is assured for years to come thanks to a new crop of superstars that includes Shaquille O'Neal, Grant Hill, Anfernee Hardaway and Chris Webber. NBA Hoop Shots captures this unprecedented era through the camera lens of NBA Senior Photographer Andrew D. Bernstein. From the efficiency of Kareem's skyhook, the precision of a Bird jumper and the jaw-dropping acrobatics of a Jordan slam, Bernstein's work will dazzle both the hard-core and casual fan with magical images of the game's greatest players. With a foreword by NBA Commissioner David Stern and an introduction by Magic Johnson, NBA Hoop Shots will take you to places of which you have only dreamed.

Witness the birth of women's basketball in this illustrated introduction from renowned nonfiction author Sue Macy. Raised on a cattle ranch, Agnes Morley was sent to Stanford University to learn to be a lady. But she soon exchanged her breeches and spurs for bloomers and a basketball—and in April 1896, she made history. In a heart-pounding game against the University of California at Berkeley, Agnes led her team to victory in the first-ever inter-collegiate women's basketball game, earning national attention and putting women's basketball on the map. This fast-paced story of perseverance and success digs deep into the history of one of America's most popular sports, and how it came to be so big. Realistic illustrations by Matt Collins put readers in the middle of the action, and you'll want cheer along with the crowd. With comprehensive backmatter including a timeline, author's note, select bibliography, and recommended places to visit for more information, Basketball Belles is a perfect introduction to an intriguing moment in sports and women's history. A Junior Library Guild Selection Booklist Top 10 Sports Books for Youth Booklist Editors' Choice, Books for Youth, Nonfiction, Middler Readers NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, History/Life & Culture in the Americas