Do you have what it takes to be a great basketball player? Does your game need that something extra? Show everyone your skills by mastering Just A Basketball!

A look at how Black players came to shine on the basketball court.

A young fan cheers on his hometown basketball team, and then returns home to snuggle into bed.

"In the decades before the 1972 passage of Title IX, premier women's basketball was played by the teams in the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) ... [this book] is the history of these all-but-forgotten players and coaches who, while playing for an exuberant love of the game, laid the groundwork for modern women's basketball."--Back cover.

Are top scorers really the most valuable players? Are games decided in the final few minutes? Does the team with the best player usually win?Thinking Basketball challenges a number of common beliefs about the game by taking a deep dive into the patterns and history of the NBA. Explore how certain myths arose while using our own cognition as a window into the game's popular narratives. New basketball concepts are introduced, such as power plays, portability and why the best player shouldn't always shoot. Discover how the box score can be misleading, why "closers" are overrated and how the outcome of a game fundamentally alters our memory. Behavioral economics, traffic paradoxes and other metaphors highlight this thought-provoking insight into the NBA and our own thinking. A must-read for any basketball fan -- you'll never view the sport, and maybe the world, the same again.

Discover the secrets to rapidly develop your skills and get the competitive edge. International author and highly respected basketball coach Mark Walker has dedicated his life to coaching and inspiring young players. Having coached over 6000 games in the last 28 years, Mark brings a wealth of knowledge and wisdom plus a unique accelerated system of play to help kids learn basketball strategies easily. More importantly, he ensures kids keep playing for a lifetime as well as enjoying it to the very best of their ability. You'll learn: - Breakthrough tools and strategies to help you develop your child's skills - A coaches secret 'key word' system that makes it so easy to communicate with young players - Essential basics taught in a simple sequence to help players rapidly build individual, then team skills and gain self-confidence - The differences in working with girls and boys and some simple psychological principles that work well for both genders - How to create simple play sets that turn beginner players into a functioning team in a very short time - The golden rules of playing winning team basketball and understanding that it's not just about winning games, but learning, having fun and developing with their teammates - Powerful positive mindset skills and concepts that will develop and enhance your child for a lifetime Helping kids dream big dreams.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Inspired by a major ESPN film series, this is an extraordinary oral history of basketball—its eye-opening untold history, its profound deeper meaning, its transformative influence on the world—as told through an unprecedented series of candid conversations with the game’s ultimate icons. This is the greatest love story never told. It has passion and heartbreak, triumph and betrayal. It is deeply intimate yet crosses oceans, upends lives and changes nations. This is the true story of basketball. It is the story of a Canadian invention that took over America, and the world. Of a supposed “white man’s sport” that became a way for people of color, women, and immigrants to claim a new place in society. Of a game that demands everything of those who love it, yet gives so much back in return. To tell this story, acclaimed journalists Jackie MacMullan, Rafe Bartholomew and Dan Klores embarked on a groundbreaking mission to interview a staggering lineup of basketball trailblazers. For the first time hundreds of legends, from Kobe, Lebron and Steph Curry to Magic Johnson, Dr. J and Jerry West, spoke movingly about their greatest passion. Former NBA commissioner David Stern and iconic coaches like Phil Jackson and Coach K opened up like never before. Those who shattered glass ceilings, from Bill Russell and Yao Ming to Cheryl Miller and Lisa Leslie, explained what it really took to lay claim to their place in the game. At once a definitive oral history and something far more revelatory and life affirming, Basketball: A Love Story is the defining untold oral history of how basketball came to be, and what it means to those who love it.