Performance Without Compromise


Book Description

"Accuracy is not debatable." This book is a "call for commitment" by Officials to a proper performance while making consistent, accurate rulings. My motivation for this book comes from the fact that I have an absolute genuine concern about THE GAME, and I have for a long time. My concern comes from my belief that officiating basketball is not as difficult as so many among us make it out to be. "Much of what I was taught" during the first half of my career had no rules support, was vague, came with poor advice, and were even philosophical. Those clinicians and trainers who trained me were terrific individuals with a noble effort to teach me the "right way." However, there sure seemed to be many "right ways." Their training was also filled with too much about the "tricks of the trade" and not enough about "the trade." I was never instructed to trust the rules. Over the last four decades, we have become conditioned to accept less and less in the name of style, philosophy, and appearance. We must get all Officials committed to enforcing the rules, and they can't do that if they don't know them. This book is "long overdue" because it is my attempt to let the basketball "world" hear the words of Peter Webb, my mentor and the most knowledgeable person on the planet on the topic of basketball officiating. We know you'll enjoy and benefit from reading this "officiating textbook."







The Black Fives


Book Description

The Black Fives is a groundbreaking, timely history of the largely unknown early days of Black basketball, bringing to life the trailblazing players, teams, and impresarios who pioneered the sport. “For a game that has meant so much to the world, Claude Johnson somehow presents a definitive account for a part of basketball’s history that for so long was kept away from us. Claude is a superhero storyteller, and this book is a bona fide superpower.” —Justin Tinsley, author of It Was All a Dream: Biggie and the World That Made Him From the introduction of the game of basketball to Black communities on a wide scale in 1904 to the racial integration of the NBA in 1950, dozens of African American teams were founded and flourished. This period, known as the Black Fives Era (teams at the time were often called “fives”), was a time of pioneering players and managers. They battled discrimination and marginalization and created culturally rich, socially meaningful events. But despite headline-making rivalries between big-city clubs, barnstorming tours across the country, innovative business models, and undeniably talented players, this period is almost entirely unknown to basketball fans. Claude Johnson has made it his mission to change that. An advocate fiercely committed to our history, for more than two decades Johnson has conducted interviews, mined archives, collected artifacts, and helped to preserve this historically important African American experience that otherwise would have been lost. This essential book is the result of his work, a landmark narrative history that braids together the stories of these forgotten pioneers and rewrites our understanding of the story of basketball.




The Book of Basketball


Book Description

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The wildly opinionated, thoroughly entertaining, and arguably definitive book on the past, present, and future of the NBA—from the founder of The Ringer and host of The Bill Simmons Podcast “Enough provocative arguments to fuel barstool arguments far into the future.”—The Wall Street Journal In The Book of Basketball, Bill Simmons opens—and then closes, once and for all—every major NBA debate, 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. 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.




Play Their Hearts Out


Book Description

“A tour de force of reporting” (The Washington Post) from a Pulitzer–prize winning journalist that examines the often-corrupt machine producing America’s basketball stars “Indispensable.”—The Wall Street Journal “Often heart-breaking, always riveting.”—The New York Times Book Review “Tremendous.”—The Plain Dealer Winner of the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sportswriting• Winner of the Award for Excellence in the Coverage of Youth Sports Using eight years of unfettered access and a keen sense of a story’s deepest truths, journalist George Dohrmann reveals a cutthroat world where boys as young as eight or nine are subjected to a dizzying torrent of scrutiny and exploitation. At the book’s heart are the personal stories of two compelling figures: Joe Keller, an ambitious coach with a master plan to find and promote “the next LeBron,” and Demetrius Walker, a fatherless latchkey kid who falls under Keller’s sway and struggles to live up to unrealistic expectations. Complete with a new “where-are-they-now” epilogue by the author, Play Their Hearts Out is a thoroughly compelling narrative exposing the gritty reality that lies beneath so many dreams of fame and glory. One of GQ’S 50 Best Books of Literary Journalism of the 21st Century • One of the Best Books of the Year: Los Angeles Times, The Christian Science Monitor, Kirkus Reviews This edition includes an exclusive conversation between George Dohrmann and bestselling author Seth Davis.




The Ultimate Basketball Trivia Book


Book Description

Test yourself and your friends! Fans of the Warriors Raptors, Lakers, Celtics, the UNC Tar Heels, Duke Blue Devils, UCLA Bruins, Kentucky Wildcats, and every other great pro or college team will be puzzled, challenged, and amused by these questions and answers about the NBA, NCAA, WNBA, and everything in between. In this collection of 600 questions, Sam Amico tests your level of expertise on all things basketball. Every era of basketball history is represented, from Bob Cousy to Chris Paul, Moses Malone to Joel Embiid, Michael Jordan to LeBron James, Wilt Chamberlain to Shaquille O’Neal ,and everyone in between. Some of the many questions that Amico poses include: Who was the inventor of the game of basketball (called “Basket Ball”) and how many original rules were written by the game’s founder? What player scored the most points in an NCAA Tournament Game? Who was the first international player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame? Can you name the four ABA teams that joined the NBA in 1976? From the Celtics dynasty to the most exciting Final Four games of all time, from Magic Johnson and Larry Bird to Stephen Curry and James Harden, here is the definitive test for knowledgeable basketball fans!







Official Souvenir Book


Book Description




Here Comes Duke: The Drive for Five


Book Description

The 2014–15 season will be etched in the memories of Duke fans forever. The Blue Devils won the program's fifth national championship and Coach Mike Krzyzewski collected his unprecedented 1,000th career win. Freshmen Jahlil Okafor, Tyus Jones, and Justise Winslow led Duke to a 28–3 regular season record, including seven wins over ranked teams. Here Comes Duke is the official championship book commemorating the Blue Devils' amazing journey. Featuring more than 100 exclusive photographs from Duke Athletics and expert analysis from the Herald-Sun, fans will relive this unforgettable season, from early wins over Michigan State and Wisconsin to midseason struggles against NC State, Miami, and Notre Dame to the final seconds in Indianapolis. This commemorative book also includes a foreword by senior Quinn Cook and feature stories on Krzyzewski, Cook, Okafor, Jones, Winslow, Grayson Allen, and more.




The Grandfather of Black Basketball


Book Description

The first contemporary biography of the man credited with introducing basketball to African Americans on a wide-scale, organized basis. Dr. Edwin Bancroft Henderson was the son of working-class parents born in slavery. A driven, intelligent, and charismatic young man, Henderson attended Harvard University’s Dudley Sargent School of Physical Training. There he met the leaders in the new field of physical education and recognized athletics—and basketball, especially—as a public health initiative and a way that young Blacks could gain college scholarships and debunk the idea of racial inferiority. In The Grandfather of Black Basketball: The Life and Times of Dr. E. B. Henderson, Edwin Bancroft Henderson II—Dr. Henderson’s grandson—provides unprecedented detail and fascinating insight into this influential figure in Black history. Henderson organized the first athletic league for Blacks, introduced basketball to Black people on a wide-scale, organized basis, and founded associations to train and organize Black officials and referees. He also wrote and co-edited the first Spalding publication that highlighted the exploits of African American participation in sports and authored The Negro in Sports. Outside of athletics, Henderson was instrumental in founding the first rural branch of the NAACP, advocated for school desegregation, and held executive board positions with multiple NAACP branches. Overlooked for decades, Henderson was finally enshrined in the National Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013 as a contributor. The Grandfather of Black Basketball gives long-overdue recognition to a sports pioneer, civil rights activist, author, educator, and pragmatic humanitarian who fought his entire life to improve opportunities for youth through athletics.