The Elite Eight Sweepstakes
A vital narrative history of 1970s pro basketball, and the Black players who shaped the NBA
Against a backdrop of ongoing resistance to racial desegregation and strident calls for Black Power, the NBA in the 1970s embodied the nation’s imagined descent into disorder. A new generation of Black players entered the league then, among them Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Spencer Haywood, and the press and public were quick to blame this cohort for the supposed decline of pro basketball, citing drugs, violence, and greed. Basketball became a symbol for post-civil rights America: the rules had changed, allowing more Black people onto the playing field, and now they were ruining everything.
Master this one-of-a-kind, miniature basketball game from the comfort of your own desk! Kit includes:
- Easy-to-assemble basketball hoop with backboard and suction cup base that attaches to a desk or tabletop surface. Measures approximately 5" high when assembled.
- Mini rubber basketball
- 32-page rule book on Desktop Basketball
The story of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s extraordinary rise from poverty in Athens, Greece, to superstardom in America with the Milwaukee Bucks—becoming one of the most transcendent players in history and an NBA Champion—from award-winning basketball reporter and feature writer at The Ringer Mirin Fader. Now in paperback with a new Epilogue.
As the face of the NBA’s new world order, Giannis Antetokounmpo has overcome unfathomable obstacles to become a symbol of hope for people all over the world; the personification of the American Dream. But his backstory remains largely untold. Fader unearths new information about the childhood that shaped “The Greek Freak”—from sleeping side by side with his brothers to selling trinkets on the street with his family to the racism he experienced. Antetokounmpo grew up in an era when Golden Dawn, Greece’s far-right, anti-immigrant party, patrolled his neighborhood, and his status as an illegal immigrant largely prevented him from playing for the country’s top clubs, making his NBA rise all the more improbable. Fader tells a deeply human story of how an unknown, skinny, Black Greek teen, who played in the country’s lowest pro division and was seen as a draft gamble, transformed his body and his game into MVP material.
Antetokounmpo’s story has been framed as a feel-good narrative in which everyone has embraced him—watching him grow up, sign a five-year supermax contract extension worth $228 million, and lead the underdog Bucks to the NBA Championship in 2021. Giannis reveals a more nuanced story: how lonely and isolated he felt, adjusting to America and the NBA early in his career; the complexity of grappling with his Black and Greek identities; how he is so hard on himself and his shortcomings—a drive that fuels him every day; and the responsibility he feels to be a nurturing role model for his younger brothers. Fader illustrates a more vulnerable star than most people know, a person who has evolved triumphantly into all of his roles: father, brother, son, teammate, and global icon.
**Instant New York Times Bestseller, Los Angeles Times Bestseller, Wall Street Journal Bestseller, USA Today Bestseller, Publishers Weekly Bestseller**
**Mirin Fader Selected as the 2021 Sports Media Author of the Year by The Big Lead**
**The Sports Librarian’s Best of 2022 – Sports Books**
“In vibrant color and style, Hoops Muses tells the vital stories that celebrate the history and tradition of our game.” —Sue Bird, WNBA legend
Hoops Muses is an homage to the game, bringing style and flair to all the details, moments, and people who have shaped the collective world of (women’s) hoops.
Hoops Muses will take us through time – literally. We begin in the future, in 2072, on the night of the WNBA’s 75th Anniversary, as New York Liberty phenom Jacklyn Jones is paid a visit by one of basketball’s long-ago (wink, wink) greats. This unlikely duo then goes on a sweeping, roundtrip adventure through basketball history, starting at the very beginning: Springfield, 1891. As the years pass, they learn the roots of the game (think: the first-ever collegiate game between Stanford and Cal, where men scaled the walls for a peek inside, or, the legend of Chicago’s Club Store Co-Eds, the all-Black barnstorming squad of the 1930s). AND as the early 20th century morphs into modern times, they see the game grow, the milestones reached. On their journey, they learn about the teams and the women (along with a few men) who helped build the foundation on which The Future will be built:
-Fort Shaw and the 1904 World Championship
-Pat Summitt and the early years of the Lady Vols
-Delta State, featuring Margaret Wade and Lusia Harris
-Cheryl Miller and Hollywood’s USC Trojans
-UConn-Tennessee and the “Sliding Doors” moment that sparked their rivalry
Plus, they have front-row seats to a whole lot of quirky, blissful fandom, including …
The Movies That Should Have Been
WNBA Jam
The Moments
The Shots
To be a (women’s) hooper is to be part of a long and proud tradition … but one not often celebrated in popular culture. Hoops Muses is here to change that.
Duke University's head basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski has proved himself a leader both on and off the court. He's led the Duke Blue Devils to five straight Final Four appearances, culminating in back-to-back championships in 1991 and '92. He has received five National Coach of the Year Awards — and many of the players he coached in college have gone on to NBA stardom! Now Coach K offers the insights he uses to coax peak performances from his team, relying on lessons he learned as a captain in the U.S. Army, sportsmanship, respect, and a genuine gift for leading with the heart.
What really happened when LeBron James stunned the NBA by leaving a potential dynasty in Miami to come home to play with the Cleveland Cavaliers? How did the Cavs use secret meetings to put together the deal to add star Kevin Love? Who really made the controversial decision to fire coach David Blatt when the team was in first place? Where did the greatest comeback in NBA history truly begin-and end?
Return of the King takes you onto the private planes, inside the locker-room conversations, and into the middle of the intense huddles where one of the greatest stories in basketball history took place, resulting in the Cavs winning the 2016 NBA title after trailing the Golden State Warriors three games to one.
You’ll hear from all the characters involved: the players, the executives, the agents, and the owners as they reveal stories never before told. Get the background on all the controversies, the rivalries, and the bad blood from two reporters who were there for every day, plot twist, and social media snafu as they take you through the fascinating ride that culminated in a heart-stopping Game Seven.
From the author of PEN/Faulkner finalist Disappear Doppelgänger Disappear and Craft in the Real World comes a "a smart, very meta take" (Kirkus Reviews) on the ways Asian Americans navigate the thorny worlds of sports and entertainment when everything is stacked against them.
An Asian American basketball star walks into a gym. No one recognizes him, but everyone stares anyway. It is the start of a joke but what is the punchline? When Won Lee, the first Asian American in the NBA, stuns the world in a seven-game winning streak, the global media audience dubs it “The Wonder”—much to Won’s chagrin. Meanwhile, Won struggles to get attention from his coach, his peers, his fans, and most importantly, his hero, Powerball!, who also happens to be Won’s teammate and the captain. Covering it all is sportswriter Robert Sung, who writes about Won's stardom while grappling with his own missed hoops opportunities as well as his place as an Asian American in media. And to witness it all is Carrie Kang, a big studio producer, who juggles a newfound relationship with Won while attempting to bring K-drama to an industry not known to embrace anything new or different.The Sense of Wonder follows Won and Carrie as they chronicle the human and professional tensions exacerbated by injustices and fight to be seen and heard on some of the world’s largest stages. An incredibly funny and heart-rending dive into race and our “collective imagination that lays bare our limitations before blasting joyfully past them” (Catherine Chung). This is the work of a gifted storyteller at the top of his game.
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Eighteen-time All-Star, scorer of 81 points in a single game, MVP, and one of the best shooting guards in NBA league history: Kobe Bryant is among basketball’s absolute greatest players, and his importance to the sport is undeniable. Third on the NBA career scoring list and owner of five championship rings, he is an undisputed all-time great, one deserving of this deep and definitive biography.
Even within the flashiest franchise in all of sports — the Los Angeles Lakers, where he played his entire career — Bryant always took center stage, and his final game captivated the basketball world, indeed the country. Roland Lazenby delves deep to look behind this public image, using classic basketball reporting and dozens of new interviews to reveal the whole picture, from Bryant’s childhood through his playing years.
Showboatis filled with large personalities and provocative stories, including details of Bryant’s complicated personal life and explosive relationships on the court, and is a riveting and essential read for every hoops fan.