The history of basketball is chock-full of famous buzzer-beating shots, amazing game-saving plays, and thrilling maneuvers that defy gravity. All fans have their favorite memory, just as they have their favorite team and their favorite player. Now here's a book that offers a look back at more than fifteen of the sport's best moments. The Block, The Steal, The Shot. Chamberlain, Abdul-Jabbar, Bird, Jordan, and James. Each entry captures the nail-biting tension of the minutes leading up to the play, as well as information about the superstar players that made them and the teams that they played for. Packed with facts and action, this is a book young basketball fans will reach for again and again -- and because it comes from Matt Christopher, young readers know they're getting the best sports writing on the shelf.

From Ward 'Piggy' Lambert to Gene Keady, John Wooden to Glenn Robinson, the glorious history of Purdue Boilermaker basketball is documented in Most Memorable Moments in Purdue Basketball through Lafayette Journal and Courier game stories, news reports, features and columns. Enhancing the collection of stories and photos are 10 new features, filling in the gaps of some of the greatest players' and coaches' careers.

Wilt's 100-point game...The Celtics/Suns triple-overtime finals game...Dr. J's unforgettable shot from under the basket...Michael Jordan's incredible hanging-in-the-air-switching-hands-to-score shot in the 1991 battle for the championship... Basketball's legendary players, record-setting games, buzzer-beating baskets, stunning upsets, and much more come to life as never before in this extraordinary book-and-CD package. Packed with photographs, including many published for the first time, the book chronicles the high points and low points of professional basketball from the early days of the NBA to the Russell/Robertson/Chamberlain era, through the Bird/Magic/Jordan years to the 2000 season. Covering topics ranging from great individual games to the greatest team victories, it sets every memorable moment into the context of the season and the individual game. Fascinating sidebars-including quotations and anecdotes from winners and losers alike-provide a rare insider's perspective. Narrated by Bill Walton with his inimitable flair, the accompanying CDs capture the real-life reactions of some of the best sportscasters and commentators in the business. And dozens of players step up to the mike with personal memories of what really happened, both on the court and behind-the-scenes. A dazzling, comprehensive, and beautifully produced tribute to the game, its players and coaches, "At the Buzzer! gives fans a courtside seat as basketball history unfolds before them.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The NBA according to The Sports Guy—now updated with fresh takes on LeBron, the Celtics, and more! Foreword by Malcom Gladwell • “The work of a true fan . . . it might just represent the next phase of sports commentary.”—The Atlantic Bill Simmons, the wildly opinionated and thoroughly entertaining basketball addict known to millions as ESPN’s The Sports Guy, has written the definitive book on the past, present, and future of the NBA. From the age-old question of who actually won the rivalry between Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain to the one about which team was truly the best of all time, Simmons opens—and then closes, once and for all—every major pro basketball debate. Then he takes it further by completely reevaluating not only how NBA Hall of Fame inductees should be chosen but how the institution must be reshaped from the ground up, the result being the Pyramid: Simmons’s one-of-a-kind five-level shrine to the ninety-six greatest players in the history of pro basketball. And ultimately he takes fans to the heart of it all, as he uses a conversation with one NBA great to uncover that coveted thing: The Secret of Basketball. Comprehensive, authoritative, controversial, hilarious, and impossible to put down (even for Celtic-haters), The Book of Basketball offers every hardwood fan a courtside seat beside the game’s finest, funniest, and fiercest chronicler.

A century of Pittsburgh’s rich sports history is celebrated through 50 greatest moments in this volume, culled from the coverage by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Among the storied past of athletics in the Pennsylvanian city, this collection highlights such events as the Pirates at the World Series; Steelers' Super Bowls; the Penguins with their back-to-back Stanley Cups; the era when Carnegie “Tech,” Duquesne, and Pitt were all playing college bowls; and boxing title bouts fought by Harry Greb, Teddy Yaroz, and Billy Conn. These moments and others from the wide spectrum of franchises and Hall of Fame athletes in Pittsburgh’s history are celebrated in a commemorative format that illustrates why Pittsburgh has earned the title of the “Best Sports City” more than once and why “City of Champions” has come to describe the town time and time again.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Acclaimed sports journalist Jack McCallum delivers the untold story of the greatest team ever assembled: the 1992 U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team. As a writer for Sports Illustrated, McCallum enjoyed a courtside seat for the most exciting basketball spectacle on earth, covering the Dream Team from its inception to the gold medal ceremony in Barcelona. Drawing on fresh interviews with the players, McCallum provides the definitive account of the Dream Team phenomenon. He offers a behind-the-scenes look at the controversial selection process. He takes us inside the team’s Olympic suites for late-night card games and bull sessions where superstars like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird debated the finer points of basketball. And he narrates a riveting account of the legendary intrasquad scrimmage that pitted the Dream Teamers against one another in what may have been the greatest pickup game in history. In the twenty years since the Dream Team first captivated the world, its mystique has only grown. Dream Team vividly re-creates the moment when a once-in-a-millennium group of athletes came together and changed the future of sports—one perfectly executed fast break at a time. With a new Afterword by the author. “The absolute definitive work on the subject, a perfectly wonderful once-you-pick-it-up-you-won’t-be-able-to-put-it-down book.”—The Boston Globe “An Olympic hoops dream.”—Newsday “What makes this volume a must-read for nostalgic hoopsters are the robust portraits of the outsize personalities of the participants, all of whom were remarkably open with McCallum, both then and now.”—Booklist (starred review)

What are greatest teams in college basketball and what made them stand out? Learn statistics about players and the records of unstoppable teams. Discover how players came together to beat their opponents. Read about changes that were constantly being made to keep up with the growing sport. From talented players to dynamic coaches, this book spans 40 years to find the best in college basketball history.