NBA Book Recommendations

I recently posted on the National Basketball Association and identified my selections for the greatest NBA players of all time. It was fun! To take a broader look at the history of the NBA, the impact of basketball on our society and whether the game provides us “learning “or “teaching” moments –I have compiled my favorite basketball books I generally avoid boring treatises by coaches on the “Lessons of Life”, so with all due respect, no cliché ridden treatises from John Wooden, Coach K, Bobby Knight or Dean Smith here. Instead, a diverse collection of authors, all providing fascinating, sometimes compelling, viewpoints on this wonderful game. Here goes!

1) The Breaks of the Game - by David Halberstam

2) The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to the Sports Guy - by Bill Simmons

3) The Jordan Rules - by Sam Smith

4) Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich - by Mark Kriegel

5) The City Game - by Matthew Goodman

6) Black Ball - by Theresa Rundstedler

7) My Losing Season - by Pat Conroy

8) Sacred Hoops - by Phil Jackson

9) A Season on the Brink: A Year With Bob Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers - by John Feinstein

10) When the Garden Was Eden - by Harvey Araton

11) Heaven is a Playground - by Rick Telander

12) Playing for Keeps - by David Halberstam

13) West by West - by Jerry West

14) The Legends Club - by John Feinstein

15) I Came As a Shadow - by John Thompson

16) Backroads to March - by John Feinstein