Slam Dunk

Statistics Slam Dunk is an action-packed book that will help you build your skills in exploratory data analysis by digging into the fascinating world of NBA games and player stats using the R language. This textbook will upgrade your R data science skills by taking on practical analysis challenges based on NBA game and player data.

The Raptors are going co-ed, but Mason and his friends aren t sure how they feel about it.

In just a few decades, sport has undergone a radical gender transformation. However, Cheryl Cooky and Michael A. Messner suggest that the progress toward gender equity in sports is far from complete. The continuing barriers to full and equal participation for young people, the far lower pay for most elite-level women athletes, and the continuing dearth of fair and equal media coverage all underline how much still has yet to change before we see gender equality in sports. The chapters in No Slam Dunk show that is this not simply a story of an “unfinished revolution.” Rather, they contend, it is simplistic optimism to assume that we are currently nearing the conclusion of a story of linear progress that ends with a certain future of equality and justice. This book provides important theoretical and empirical insights into the contemporary world of sports to help explain the unevenness of social change and how, despite significant progress, gender equality in sports has been “No Slam Dunk.”

Sam “Slam-Dunk” Cherio is wounded on his last mission for the Army, so he heads to his friend's Montana ranch to recuperate through the Christmas season. The bliss of family life is hard to swallow, but when he meets Mika Slovinika, she intrigues him, and he wants to know more about her. Mika is struggling in this strange new place in America. Her boss is mean. She has nothing to call her own, and she might be sent home. Running into Slam-Dunk at the grocery store gives her hope. Slam-Dunk might be in love, but is Mika free to reciprocate? Something is holding her back. His military training might be needed again to fight a different battle. Maybe Christmas will involve the best gift of all—freedom.

A fast-paced, heartfelt story for basketball fans that proves being a good teammate remains the most important quality in basketball--and in life, from New York Times bestselling author Mike Lupica. Wes' father always told him that there was only one ball in basketball. That you had to know when to take it yourself and when to give it up, that finding the right balance was key. So at every practice and game, Wes tries his best to be a good basketball player and, above all, a good teammate. As the season kicks off, Wes finds that not everyone on his team has the same idea. All-star player and the Hawks' point guard, Danilo "Dinero" Rey seems determined to hold the spotlight and the ball, even if it means costing his team the game. If Wes is to lead the Hawks to the playoffs, he'll need to find new ways to dish out an assist--even if it means his most important one comes off the court. In No Slam Dunk, #1 New York Times bestseller Mike Lupica demonstrates once again that there is no children's sports novelist today who can match his ability to weave a story of vivid sports action and heartfelt emotion. A touching story about teamwork and family, of selfishness and generosity, No Slam Dunk shows that even in the face of adversity, giving your best is the surest way to victory. Praise for Mike Lupica: -"Lupica is the greatest sports writer for middle school readers."--VOYA on True Legend -"Lupica will win a Pulitzer for his sportswriting one day (he should have won it already)."--The New York Times on Heat

Grammar comes to life in this fun series, in which entertaining sports events reinforce language arts skills.

Great leadership begins with great understanding. No one knows that better than basketball legend Byron Scott and lifelong business executive Charlie Norris who, respectively, won NBA championships and resurrected multimillion-dollar corporations by being team players no matter their position. Whether it's on the basketball court, in the boardroom, or in everyday life, getting to the heads and hearts of people is paramount to getting the most out of them. In SLAM-DUNK SUCCESS, Scott and Norris share their parallel formulas for victory and prove that, with the right tools, winning can happen anywhere. As a player Scott won three championships with the Los Angeles Lakers, and as coach he twice took the New Jersey Nets to the NBA Finals and won Coach of the Year honors with the New Orleans Hornets. With every team his role changed, but his winning mentality never faltered. As CEO of McKesson Water, Charlie Norris turned a $200 million-dollar company into a company that sold ten years later for $1.1 billion dollars and, as chairman of the board of Freshpet, he helped lead the start-up from early stage testing to become a publicly traded company with a market value of over $350 million. In each job, he led with the same amount of conviction and care. Their book-which grew from their unlikely friendship and realization that two men from completely different backgrounds could have the same leadership ideals-breaks down their keys to motivating others, negotiating deals, and creating prosperity from scratch. Their blueprint includes lessons on listening, turning failure into learning opportunities, and delegating authority with extreme precision. Leadership is a full-time job and Byron Scott and Charlie Norris's story is a guidebook for leaders in all fields and in any position looking to better both their careers and lives. Champions are formed when people make those around them better and this book shows how you can be a winner every day.

Leah James, an assistant marketing director for a professional basketball team, is in love with Josh Kennedy, one of the team's star players. Unfortunately, she has no idea he has made a pact with the devil-and that she is about to suffer the consequences for it. After Leah's body is found lying among the washed-up trash of the river, detective Joe James wants nothing more than to catch the animals who took his daughter from him. Known as a legend on the Philadelphia police force, Joe sets out on a dangerous journey as he attempts to discover what or who caused her to be unwillingly tattooed, suffer sexual trauma, and subsequently drown. As he slowly begins to uncover a nest of illegal syndicates, game fixing, and deadly coercion in the world of professional basketball, Joe summons the help of a well-respected rookie player, a conflicted tattoo artist, and a quirky Las Vegas bookie to avenge Leah's murder. But what they find in the process will surprise all of them. "A Slam Dunk" shares the compelling tale of what happens when money, power, and brutality become intimately acquainted in a world where professional athletes want nothing more than to get away with murder.