The Official Nba Encyclopedia

Thoroughly revised and updated, this definitive guide to professional basketball provides complete stats for every player, a history of the sport, anecdotes about key events, essays, and information on coaches, rules, officials, and more. 50,000 first printing.

The first official NBA encyclopedia to come out in nine years contains every stat for every player for every ABA and NBA game.ly Cunningham is to be the spokesperson for the book, with ads in Sports Illustrated and TV spots during NBA games. 50 photos.

On December 12, 1891, 13 rules of a new game were posted in a YMCA gym in Springfield, Massachusetts. At each end of the floor, Dr. James A. Naismith, who had invented the game, had peach baskets nailed below a walkway that happened to be 10-feet high. Within a few days, one of Naismith's students would christen the new game "Basket Ball." Over a century ago, no one could possibly have envisioned the extraordinary changes that were going to transform Dr. Naismith's game. Who could have imagined a 6-10 George Mikan swatting shots away from the basket? Julius Erving in flight, soaring in from the free throw line for a heart-stopping stuff? Or Bob Cousy throwing a mind-boggling no-look, behind-the-back pass; Jerry West hitting a 60-foot shot with no time left in a crucial playoff game; Larry Bird's three-point prowess and Michael Jordan rising to heights - literally and figuratively - never before seen by any athlete? Who could have foreseen more than 62,000 fans crowded into the Georgia Dome to see a game between the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks? Or the titanic battles between Wilt and Russell? Or the Dream Team? The longevity of Stockton and Malone? Red Auerbach's victory cigars? Phil Jackson's Zen coaching? Or Shaquille O'Neal's powerful dunks? Who could have ever predicted talent like Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, Walt Frazier, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Grant Hill, Vince Carter, Jason Kidd, Allen Iverson, and Kobe Bryant? With an Introduction by NBA Commissioner David J. Stern and a Foreword by Michael Jordan, this third edition of The Official NBA Encyclopedia captures it all: The past and the present. The complete stats and the complex personalities. Dynasties, rivalries, coaches, referees, all the pre-NBA leagues, vignettes and features by the top basketball writers in the world. Every NBA season is reviewed and individual statistics are provided for every player who has ever played in the league. An extraordinary 32-page color photo essay that captures the spirit of the game since Naismith conceived it opens this encyclopedia in an unprecedented and spectacular manner. From the peach basket to the slam dunk championship - it's all here in The Official NBA Encyclopedia, a book that's almost as exciting as a triple overtime seventh game of the NBA Finals.

A vibrant, unconventional, highly opinionated guide to the triumphs, joys, struggles, and heartbreaks of the modern era of the game, for every obsessive basketball fan who loves to hate hot takes The Joy of Basketball celebrates the meteoric rise of basketball over the last quarter century by ignoring the bland, traditionalist binary of wins or losses. Instead, the book's focus is on everything else. Using text, charts, and illustrations that upend conventional jock wisdom, the book details the most incredible players in history, draft flops, long-limbed oddballs, superteams, the international talent wave, brawls, scandals, the rapid evolution of contemporary gameplay, coaching, fashion, crime, positional erosion, tragic tales, memes, and the sacred Kardashian Blessing. Bouncing between witty graphics and keen sociopolitical observations, The Joy of Basketball is a subversive sports manifesto camouflaged as a colorful reference book for your coffee table.

The most iconic moments and stories of the NBA. In NBA 75, sportswriter and basketball super fan Dave Zarum tells the story of the NBA, all 75 years -- from its early barnstorming days to the multibillion-dollar sports league it is today. Readers are treated to all the biggest moments and greatest superstars, with over 75 stories ranging from Jerry West's 33-win streak Lakers, through Jordan's repeat three-peat Bulls, to Steph Curry and the 73-win Warriors and beyond. But this retrospective doesn't shy away from the league's controversies, covering its struggles with racial bigotry, Magic Johnson's HIV diagnosis, Len Bias' tragic draft-night death and the cocaine-fuelled late seventies when the Finals were broadcast on tape delay. Each story is fully illustrated with iconic photos and accompanied by stat boxes and side stories of some of the Association's more curious and overlooked moments. Some of the events covered in NBA 75: 1946: The first professional basketball game between the New York Knicks and the Toronto Huskies 1969: The legendary duels between Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell 1976: The merger of the ABA and NBA 1980: The rivalry of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson 1993: Air Jordan and his Bulls dynasty 2006: Kobe Bryant scores 81 points 2010: LeBron James makes his Miami decision 2016: Steph Curry and the Warriors blow a 3-1 lead to lose the NBA Finals. NBA 75 is the definitive guide to the history of the NBA -- perfect for anyone who wants to learn more about the league they love or simply catch up on what they've been missing. With the 75th anniversary of the NBA in 2021, now is the perfect time to add it to your collection.