I have a secret past.
In another period of life, I was a huge sports fan, able to spout stats, debate the strengths and weaknesses of different teams and players, manage a fantasy roster to the top of the league, and shout and swear at a television screen with the best of them. I watched my beloved Utah Jazz come up short year after year, beaten by the Lakers, the Sonics, and ultimately that damned Michael Jordan in his prime. I’m not sure whether it was the breakthrough of my equally beloved Boston Red Sox or the continued futility of Stockton and a Mailman who couldn’t deliver that ultimately broke me, but in recent years, I’ve lost interest. But with The Book of Basketball, ESPN analyst Bill Simmons makes me want to pore over the sports page instead of ignoring it; to spend evenings griping at the television, the refs, the endless commercial breaks, and the bad announcers; to endure the cruel ups and downs of fandom again and pass my hours immersed in a game.
This is a whale of a book, more than 700 pages that encompass the roots of Simmons’s fandom (he’s a lifelong Celtics nut), the history of the NBA and ABA, the failures and strengths of the current league, a lengthy excursion into the world of what-if, an analysis of every MVP choice in the history of the league, and an exhaustively analyzed ranking of the pro game’s greatest players.
But you won’t enjoy (and as often, perhaps, despise) Simmons for his analysis alone. He’s crass but hilarious, that crude male friend who never grew up but who you tolerate, even secretly love to be around because he’s just plain funny. The book is full of pop culture analogies, ribald locker room anecdotes, cheap shots at the players he doesn’t like (Kareem, Wilt, Vince Carter), and hilarious footnotes. He drops new top player lists gleefully every few pages (All Time Bad Hair Team, Overrated and Underrated, Rumored to be the Best Endowed, etc.) and can be just as effective with wonky stats or philosophical musings about understanding “The Secret” of the game.
If you are a casual basketball fan, browse through this book and read the sections that provoke your interest. If you are a hoops junkie, dive in and plow through the whole tome. Either way, you’ll finish with a deeper knowledge and greater appreciation for the game. One warning though, if you’re offended by locker room language and smutty stories, this isn’t for you.
Check the WRL catalog for The Book of Basketball
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