When you are a passionate fan of something – be that something a boy, a girl, an object or a sport – chances are you love that something unconditionally and think it perfect. So, get ready to visit his well-crafted make-believe museum of basketball and climb up its five levels of merit all the way to the “Pantheon of the 12” – to find out which are the 96 best basketball players in history. Because of this, to our deepest regret, we didn’t have a choice but to focus our attention on the central part of the book only: Simmons’ imagined reconstruction of the Basketball Hall of Fame. Wilt debate (“Russel, then Wilt”) to a “Most Valuable Chapter” that reconsiders the worthiness of historical MVP winners, The Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons – former editor-in-chief of ESPN’s Grantland and founder and CEO of The Ringer – can be loosely described as a dedicated and researched (but lighthearted nevertheless) attempt to evaluate “why certain players and teams mattered more than others.”Īt 800 immensely entertaining but loosely structured and footnote-filled pages, it is not only the longest book Malcolm Gladwell has ever read since college (his words, from the Foreword), but it is also one that defies summarization. I never saw a greater or more electrifying basketball player and the ‘Pistol’s’ is one of the saddest stories ever told.Featuring everything from a brief history of the game to “what-if” scenarios of the “let’s say Len Bias hadn’t overdosed” type, from a once-and-for-all solution to the Russell vs. This great book by Mark Kriegel will explain why he was not. His game was lordly, inimitable and he should have been the greatest player to ever play the game. He could light up a crowd like a match set to gasoline. Yet none of them could touch the magical, otherworldly qualities he brought to the court, the genius and wizardry and breathtaking creativity. “I’ve marveled at the supernatural skills of Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Jerry West, Kobe Bryant - all of them were greater basketball players than the ‘Pistol’. Kriegel provides a tell-all history of Maravich’s family, from his father’s obsessive coaching and Pistol Pete’s experience as a child prodigy to the latter’s later years as a great pro with a thrilling style of play who suffered devastating injuries and a tragic death on the court at age 40.īest-selling author Pat Conroy was captivated by Kriegel’s finished product. Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich (Mark Kriegel 2008)

The book of basketball