How was basketball born? Why is the area in the paint and around the free throw circle known as the key? When did the NBA begin play? What team was arguably the worst NBA squad ever? Who was the highest drafted college player who never played a single game in the NBA? This book provides over 100 questions and detailed answers concerning the traditions, rules, and history of basketball. Organized by the sport’s three eras—its birth through 1945, the NBA from 1946 through 1999, and the game today—it answers questions about the sport at all levels, from college games to the Olympics. A bonus chapter provides a who, what, when, where, why, and how of basketball—the perfect resource to settle arguments or to answer challenging trivia questions.

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.

In This Definitive Centennial History of the University of North Carolina men's basketball team, Adam Lucas chronicles the coaches, players, venues, rivalries, challenges, and triumphs that have defined the program through its first 100 years. Boasting six national championships and numerous Hall of Fame coaches and players, Carolina Basketball has come a long way from the first season---when the campus newspaper published a notice asking an unknown culprit to return the team's basketball. These pages are packed with little-known stories from the program's earliest days and new insights into its best-loved moments. All the greats are here, from Jack Cobb and the "Blind Bomber" George Glamack to Lennie Rosenbluth, Phil Ford, James Worthy, Michael Jordan, Antawn Jamison, and Tyler Hansbrough. Drawing on unparalleled interviews with those around the UNC program, Lucas reveals the meaning of the "Carolina Family" and the origins and evolution of Tar Heel traditions that have made North Carolina one of the premier men's basketball teams in college sports. The stories here are brought to life with more than 175 color and black-and-white photos; a foreword by Hall of Fame coach Dean Smith and an afterword by fellow Hall of Famer Roy Williams; and an appendix of records and statistics. Some 25 sidebars feature first-person recollections from prominent players, including Rosenbluth, Ford, and Jordan; opposing coaches like Lefty Driesell; and famous Carolina alumni like Peter Gammons and Alexander Julian. This is the must-have book for Tar Heel fans and college basketball lovers everywhere.

In less than 120 years an activity invented by one man to alleviate winter boredom for a college gym class has evolved into a worldwide multi-billion dollar enterprise. It is impossible for Dr. James Naismith, basketball's inventor, to have envisioned the extent to which his simple game would reach. Without major changes to his original 13 rules, basketball is now played in more than 200 countries by people of all ages. Thanks to basketball, players like Michael Jordan, Earvin 'Magic' Johnson, Larry Bird, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O'Neal have become some of the most famous people in the world. The Historical Dictionary of Basketball is a comprehensive account of all forms of basketball_amateur, professional, men's, women's, Olympic, domestic, and international_from its invention in 1891 through the present day. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, an extensive bibliography, and over 600 cross-referenced dictionary entries on the people, places, teams, and terminology of the game.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is widely recognized as an entertaining and innovative league whose teams play regular season and postseason games in packed arenas at home and away sites in the United States and Canada. This book discusses the development, growth, and success of the 61-year-old NBA from a business perspective. Covering the late 1940s to 2009, it focuses on the league's expansions and mergers, team territories and relocations, franchise organizations and operations, basketball arenas and markets, and NBA domestic and international affairs. Readers will gain an insight into when, how, and why the NBA emerged, reformed, and gradually matured to become one of the world's most dominant, prosperous, and popular professional sports organizations today.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is widely recognized as an entertaining and innovative league whose teams play regular season and postseason games in packed arenas at home and away sites in the United States and Canada. This book discusses the development, growth, and success of the 61-year-old NBA from a business perspective. Covering the late 1940s to 2009, it focuses on the league's expansions and mergers, team territories and relocations, franchise organizations and operations, basketball arenas and markets, and NBA domestic and international affairs. Readers will gain an insight into when, how, and why the NBA emerged, reformed, and gradually matured to become one of the world's most dominant, prosperous, and popular professional sports organizations today.

Journey "inside the numbers" for an exceptional set of statistical tools and rules that can help explain the winning, or losing, ways of a basketball team. Basketball on Paper doesn't diagram plays or explain how players get in shape, but instead demonstrates how to interpret player and team performance. Dean Oliver highlights general strategies for teams when they're winning or losing and what aspects should be the focus in either situation. He describes and quantifies the jobs of team leaders and role players, then discusses the interactions between players and how to achieve the best fit. Oliver conceptualizes the meaning of teamwork and how to quantify the value of different types of players working together. He examines historically successful NBA teams and identifies what made them so successful: individual talent, a system of putting players together, or good coaching. Oliver then uses these statistical tools and case studies to evaluate the best players in history, such as Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, and Charles Barkley and how they contributed to their teams' success. He does the same for some of the NBA's "oddball" players-Manute Bol, Muggsy Bogues, and Dennis Rodman and for the WNBA's top players. Basketball on Paper is unique in its incorporation of business and analytical concepts within the context of basketball to measure the value of players in a cooperative setting. Whether you're looking for strategies or new ideas to throw out while watching the ballgame at a sports bar, Dean Oliver'sBasketball on Paper will give you amazing new insights into teamwork, coaching, and success.