Sports Basketball

Before primetime ESPN coverage, lucrative branding deals like Air Jordans, and $40 million annual player salaries, there was the NBA of the 1970s and 1980s. Enter Dan Shaughnessy, then the beat reporter for The Boston Globe who covered the Boston Celtics every day from 1982 to1986. It was a time when reporters travelled with professional teams—flying the same commercial airlines, riding the same buses, and staying in the same hotels. Drawing on unprecedented access and personal experiences, Shaughnessy takes us inside the legendary Larry Bird-led Celtics teams.

In 2018, the Dallas Mavericks landed the most hyped European teen prospect in basketball history—Luka Doncic, who has proven to be a generational NBA talent with a flair for sensational playmaking. But that’s only half the story. With The Wonder Boy, MacMahon takes us beyond the highlights to the madness that ensues as the Mavericks try to avoid blowing their golden opportunity.

Learn the inspiring story of the San Antonio Spurs' legendary coach Gregg Popovich! In Gregg Popovich: The Inspiring Life and Leadership Lessons of One of Basketball's Greatest Coaches, you will learn the inspirational story of one of basketball's premier coaches, Gregg Popovich. Popovich has steered the ship for the San Antonio Spurs franchise to multiple championships and perennial playoff contention.

In Larry Bird: The Inspiring Story of One of Basketball's Greatest Forwards, you will learn the inspirational story of one of basketball's premier forwards, Larry Bird. Larry Bird had a profound impact on the Boston Celtics' franchise throughout the 1980s, leading the franchise to three NBA Championships. With an extraordinary ability as a two-way player, Bird was gritty, full of heart, and the definition of a superstar.

Coaching youth basketball is one of the most rewarding experiences, but it’s not without its challenges. Especially when navigating the high expectations and emotions of parents. Sideline Strategies: Coaching Youth Sports Amid Parental Pressures is your practical guide to balancing the roles of coach, mentor, and communicator while keeping the joy and growth of young athletes at the forefront.

An irreverent, hilarious insider's look at big-time NCAA basketball, through the eyes of the nation's most famous benchwarmer and author of the popular blog ClubTrillion.com (3.6m visits!). Mark Titus holds the Ohio State record for career wins, and made it to the 2007 national championship game. You would think Titus would be all over the highlight reels. You'd be wrong.

When Kevin Garnett shocked the world by announcing that he would not be attending college - as young basketball prodigies were expected to do - but instead would enter the 1995 NBA draft directly from high school, he blazed a trail for a generation of teenage basketball players to head straight for the pros. That trend would continue until the NBA instituted an age limit in 2005, requiring all players to attend college or another developmental program for at least one year.

Cincinnati, Ohio, lives and dies by college basketball, with two elite Division I rivals separated by a mere three miles. Rory’s dad just secured a new coaching gig at the University of Cincinnati, so it means yet another school and move for her, only this time to her dad’s hometown. Rory’s life revolves around basketball; she’s never had a close friend outside of it. Could this be a chance for a fresh start?

In January of 1989, Cameron Stauth became a fly on the office wall of Pistons General Manager Jack McCloskey. He watched day by day, crisis by crisis, as McCloskey, Coach Chuck Daly, and a handful of immensely talented and ambitious basketball players—the Bad Boys of Detroit—won the NBA championship.

One. Two. Three. That’s as long as it took to sear the souls of a dozen young American men, thanks to the craziest, most controversial finish in the history of the Olympics - the 1972 gold-medal basketball contest between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the world’s two superpowers at the time. The U.S. team believed it had won the gold medal that September in Munich - not once, but twice. The American players became the only Olympic athletes in the history of the games to refuse their medals.

In Phil Jackson: The Inspiring Life and Leadership Lessons of One of Basketball's Greatest Coaches, you will learn the story of how Phil Jackson became one of the greatest coaches of all time. A two-time NBA champion as a player, and an 11-time NBA champion as a coach, Phil Jackson knows how to win and knows how to inspire players to play at the highest of levels.

As a youth basketball coach, I’ve witnessed firsthand how a strong foundation in fitness and health can transform young athletes, not just on the court, but in every aspect of their lives. In Building Champions, I share the strategies, conditioning exercises, and fitness routines that will help young players build strength, speed, and agility, setting them up for success in basketball and beyond.

At the height of the Great Depression, Sam Babb, the charismatic basketball coach of tiny Oklahoma Presbyterian College, began dreaming. Like so many others, he wanted a reason to have hope. Traveling from farm to farm, he recruited talented, hardworking young women and offered them a chance at a better life: a free college education if they would come play for his basketball team, the Cardinals. Despite their fears of leaving home and the sacrifices faced by their families, the women followed Babb and his dream.

In 2012, Derrick Rose was on top of the world. After growing up in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood, Rose achieved an improbable childhood dream: being selected first overall in the NBA draft by his hometown Chicago Bulls. The point guard was a phenom, winning the Rookie of the Year award and electrifying fans around the world. In 2011, he became the youngest MVP in league history. Rarely had a bond between a player and fans been so strong, as the city wrapped its arms around the homegrown hero.

Whether you’re a seasoned veteran of the game or have never set foot on a court, How Basketball Can Save the World will empower you to become more resilient, tolerant, and wise in your relationship with yourself, others, and the world around you.

James E. Rix, a Memphis native, shares a lifetime of experiences intertwining basketball, civil rights, and personal growth in his debut book, “A Life of Basketball, Civil Rights and Beyond.” This narrative is a testament to resilience and the pursuit of dreams against all odds.

Deep in the heart of Northern Arizona, in a small and isolated patch of the vast 17.5 million-acre Navajo reservation, sits Chinle High School. Here, basketball is passion, passed from grandparent to parent to child. Celebrated Times journalist Michael Powell brings us a narrative of triumph and hardship, a moving story about a basketball team on a Navajo reservation that shows how important sports can be to youths in struggling communities, and the transcendent magic and painful realities that confront Native Americans living on reservations.

In John Stockton: The Inspiring Story of One of Basketball's Greatest Point Guards, you will learn the inspirational story of one of basketball's greatest point guards of all time, John Stockton. Stockton ran the point for the Utah Jazz through the majority of the '80s and '90s. He holds the NBA record for the most assists and steals of all time. Playing for the majority of his career alongside Karl Malone, Stockton had a highly illustrious career. By the time he retired, he was a 10-time All-Star and had led the league in assists nine times.

As the crack epidemic swept across inner-city America in the early 1980s, the streets of Baltimore were crime ridden. For poor kids from the housing projects, the future looked bleak. But basketball could provide the quickest ticket out, an opportunity to earn a college scholarship and perhaps even play in the NBA. Dunbar High School had one of the most successful basketball programs, not only in Baltimore but in the entire country, and in the early 1980s, the Dunbar Poets were arguably the best high school team ever.

Do you want to know the best to do AAU basketball? This book holds the answers to all of your questions about the new world of AAU basketball. Inside its chapters are step-by-step directions on how to navigate the AAU basketball landscape successfully for you and your young player.