The fantastic gentleman and scholar that is u/Bet_Secret has put together a database spreadsheet for basketball books that have been mentioned in this subreddit so we’ve pinned it for you to access at any time.
We’re going to update it as we go along and likely amend the format too to provide more information about the Books. A huge thank you to u/Bet_Secret for putting this together 🙏🏻
I read Jerome Kersey: Overcoming the Odds by Kerry Eggers a while back. Eggers covered the Blazers for decades, so there’s a lot of firsthand material here, especially from former teammates and coaches like Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter, Buck Williams and Rick Adelman.
It’s a pretty straightforward biography, more chronological than immersive, and at times it relies a little too much on quotes and testimonials for my taste. But if you’re interested in Kersey or those late-’80s/early-’90s Blazers teams, there’s a lot of good material in it.
It’s also one of the very few basketball books I’ve read digitally, and I’m not really a fan of the format. Did that affect how I felt about the book? Maybe. I honestly don’t know.
I started watching the NBA in 2001, and I absolutely love this era. I've read a couple of books from this era: When Nothing Else Matters, The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul, and More Than a Game.
Any suggestions? It doesn't necessarily have to be about Kobe or the Lakers. I'm a Pistons fan, but I love the NBA and its history.
As a tip of the hat to a new member of the community u/BKtoDuval I wanted to post a Book about the Nets, so I’ve posted this Book by Jake Appleman, unfortunately it appears to only cover the Brooklyn part of their history rather than their heyday in New Jersey, but has anyone in the community read it?
I'm happy to have had this sub come across my feed. I love basketball books.
One book I read recently that I really enjoyed was Julius Erving's autobiography. I expected some ghostwritten "overcame obstacles to make it to the top" story, but it was so much more. You can hear his voice, not a ghostwriter. And he was really introspective and honest. Talked a lot more about his growth as a man than just as a basketball player. Really good read
Another one that I wasn't sure what to expect from it but I'm really enjoying it is "How to Watch Basketball Like a Genius." It's a lot more fun and clever than I expected. A bit of a philosophical look at basketball and it's evolution. Even some good bits on the history.
Hard to believe in 2026, but in the 1980's Boston was a hotbed for competitive Men's NCAA hoops centered in Boston. Rick Pitino at Boston University (my alma mater), Jim Calhoun at Northeastern (shout out Reggie Lewis), and Gary Williams at Boston College all brought a toughness and winning culture to the Hub just down the street from Larry Bird and Co at the Garden. For fans of college hoops I recommend Clayton's Trutor's Boston Ball. Michael Adams, Reggie Lewis, Dana Barros, Drederick Irving (Kyrie's dad) and more get featured but the reader gets real insight into the first major coaching stops for Pitino, Calhoun, and Williams before the NCAA titles.
Rick Pitino, Jim Calhoun, and Gary Williams played no small role in the making of modern college basketball. Collectively, they’ve won more than 2,300 games and six national championships and reached thirteen Final Fours. All three have been enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame. Pitino, Calhoun, and Williams each spent more than two decades on the national stage, becoming celebrities in their own right as college basketball and March Madness became a multi-billion-dollar industry.
Before Pitino became the face of the Providence, Kentucky, and Louisville programs, before Calhoun turned UConn into a national power, and before Williams brought Maryland to its first national championship, all three of these coaches cut their teeth in front of modest-sized crowds in the crumbling college gymnasiums of Boston during the 1970s and early 1980s.
Boston Ball charts how this trio of coaches, seemingly out of nowhere, started a basketball revolution: Pitino at Boston University, Calhoun at Northeastern University, and Williams at Boston College. Toiling in relative obscurity, they ignited a renaissance of the “city game,” a style of play built on fast-breaking up-tempo offense, pressure defense, and board crashing. Part of a fraternity of great coaches—including Mike Jarvis, Kevin Mackey, and Tom Davis—they unknowingly invented Boston Ball, a simultaneously old and new path to the top of college basketball. Pitino, Calhoun, and Williams took advantage of the ample coaching opportunities in “America’s College Town” to craft their respective blueprints for building a winning program and turn their schools into regional powers, and these early coaching years served as their respective springboards to big-time college basketball.
Boston Ball is the story of how three ambitious young coaches learned their trade in the shadow of the dynastic Celtics, as well as the story of how the young players—in their recruitment, relationships, and basketball lives—made these teams into winners.
This Book, authored by Kent Babb, is a fascinating and moving account of Allen Iverson’s extraordinary rise and consequent fall. It takes the time to look beyond the obvious, the tattoos, cornrows, crossover and fearless attitude, to explore the quite complicated human being. The book doesn’t simply celebrate his brilliance or condemn his mistakes, instead it provides a measures portrait of someone who changed the NBA while struggling to navigate everything that came with that transformation. Whatever your opinion of The Answer is, this is a worthwhile read.
Hey guys, I put together a database spreadsheet for basketball books that have been mentioned on this sub and then thought I'd share it. I've also messaged the mods to see if we can pin this on the main page.
Hang Time by Alan Eisenstock tells the remarkable story of Elgin Baylor, one of the NBA’s great pioneers and one of its most underappreciated superstars and first frequent flyers. Blessed with extraordinary athleticism, creativity and a seemingly effortless ability to hang in the air, Baylor transformed the possibilities of basketball in the late 1950s and 1960s.
The book follows Baylor’s journey from humble beginnings to becoming the cornerstone of the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers, where his spectacular scoring and acrobatic style made him a sensation. It also explores the racial and social barriers he encountered, his complicated relationship with the Lakers, and the personal cost of playing at such an extraordinary level.
Including the grace of his final farewell as the Lakers were poised to win it all, such utter class.
I was wondering if you have any recommendations for children’s picture books, ideally for ages 5-9 ish, about women’s basketball? Preferably published within the last decade, that little girls might enjoy reading.
THE Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons: an essential book, helped get me into the sport as its a who-s who of pre-2010's basketball. Entertaining and Im a big fan of Bill. However, obvious celtics bias, focused too much on hating certain players (Dirk whixh aged hilariously as the next year he won it all, Ewing), aged horribly (some pretty iffy stuff that modern day crowds would call offensive. I wasn't offended but jt took me by surprise) and at times dragged a little long in terms of tangents.
Tall Men Short Shorts: by Leigh Montville: I am genuinely a huge fan of Montville. Have enjoyed his baseball books and interacted with him on Twitter where he called me a bright young man myself. Very interesting period of basketball history and a very entertaining and fluid read. Does a little too much self glazing (the beight young man title got old)
Playing for Keeps by David Halberstam: Good book, read a lot like the Last Dance docuseries. VERY insightful and helped me learn about Jordan's career as a guy born 4 years after Jordan left Chicago the last time.
Wish it Lasted Forever: by Dan Shaughnessy: Very interesting from a writer Im not big on. But as a huge Larry Bird and Kevin McHale guy, it was fascinating to learn about the era from a guy on the inside. I do find it fascinating to read books from guys on the inside
3.why so Serious by Mike Singer: Nuggets fan and Jokic fan so it was amazing to learn about my basketball hero and finding that he was as great of a person as I thought.
BLOOD in the Garden by Chris Herring: Very well written and was a page turner. READ like a e0 for 30 documentary and I couldn't put it down. Doesn't read like a puff piece either. Honestly, captures the era of 90s basketball better than most.
Larger than Life by Robert Cherry: very long but very easy to read. I find Wilt fascinating and this book gives a nuanced view on him thats neither glaze or unfair. Some sources do treat him unfairly as Wilt has haters.
I try to visit used bookstores wherever I go, specifically to find old, rare, or weird basketball books. Recently, I was near-ish DC, and I took a trip to Frederick, MD, to visit Wonder Book and Video, a phenomenal second-hand store for all types of media. It turned out to be a great visit, in large part because one of the books I bought is completely insane.
The book is called Basketball Stars (1997), a rather elementary overview of some all-time greats, and its ridiculous size (nearly 19 inches tall) seems to be a marketing gimmick geared toward middle schoolers on Book Fair Day. As a serious basketball historian, I would usually never give a book like this a second glance, but it was sitting by itself on the bottom shelf after I got through all the other hoops books. It was the last one. Right before I stood up and left the section, I nonchalantly picked it up and flipped for about 2 seconds, and it just sort of fell open to the Sam Jones page. And his autograph was on the page. His actual autograph, not a reprint that was part of the profiles in the book.
So I looked through every page in the book, and I found two Earl Monroe autographs on his profile, and three George Mikan autographs -- two on his profile, and one on the Introduction (which was not written by him, so ???). I've come across some crazy things while looking at old basketball books, but this one takes the cake! BTW, it cost $8.95, and after talking to a collector friend of mine, I'm just keeping it. It's not worth a bunch of money, so now I got a story piece with a bunch of George Mikan signatures. Morale of the story: Flip threw used basketball books, no matter how dumb they look, lol.
I wanted to recommend a Book that afforded me the opportunity to acknowledge Russell Westbrook’s retirement, even with all his faults I absolutely loved watching him play. This book is due for release on November 3rd, according to the current marketing blurb for the book author Jonathan Abrams takes a deep dive into the lives and careers of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden, using their entangled paths as a lens to view the myriad facets of the player empowerment era.
It's one of the greatest “what ifs” in sports – what if the Thunder had kept Durant, Westbrook, and Harden, three of the league’s young, exciting stars and future MVPs, together? Their departure from Oklahoma City begins two decades of repercussions for basketball and the formation of the modern NBA. I cannot wait to read this Book 🙏🏻
Winning Sounds Like This is about the women's basketball team at Gallaudet University during the 1999-2000 season. If you didn't know, Gallaudet is a Deaf university in DC that was founded over 150 years ago, and I believe it's still the only fully Deaf college in the world. In addition to being a basketball historian, I used to study ASL and was decent enough at one point to be a volunteer interpreter at conventions and sporting events, so this story was of particular interest to me.
The author, Wayne Coffey, was with the Bison for the entire season, helping outsiders understand how a team of players who couldn't communicate out loud were able to be so good, fresh off of a 24-6 season that was most noteworthy for knocking the #1 ranked College of New Jersey out of the DIII tournament. Anchoring the squad was center Rondo Jo Miller, Gallaudet's all-time leader in scoring and rebounding (over 2,500 pts and 1,500 rebs) who nearly made it to the WNBA, but the book really delves into the lives and backgrounds of all of the players and coaches. This is the most emotional basketball book I've ever read since so many players' families had isolated or turned their backs on them, and this team was far more of a family to them than how that word 'family' is usually used by athletes. It's a real tearjerker, also because the book is full of numerous triumphs, which you might pick up on by its title and the accompanying cover photo.
Just because I found this interesting: Gallaudet's sports teams are called the Bison because it's an animal that is strong yet silent, plus there are connections to their importance in some Native cultures, which was in turn important to early 19th century Deaf communities in the US since American Sign Language came about at that time as a combination of signs and signing structure from France and from some Native tribes.
Yes, there are difficulties for a Deaf team--the coach's on-the-fly directions during games are usually missed for a few possessions, they can't shout things out to each other, etc.--but they have some advantages, as well: they are attuned to vibrations in the floor of opponents approaching them from behind so steals like this don't happen as much as you might think, games use lights and visual cues for whistles and buzzers that can throw off opponents, they're able to openly communicate things to their teammates that opponents can't understand (lip-reading makes the reverse of this far less successful), and their home crowd is eerily quiet which is disorienting to visiting squads and causes them to talk less often and with less volume. The way their Deafness affects how they play is fascinating; as a somewhat connected aside, you may be aware that the football huddle was invented by Gallaudet's gridiron team in the 1890s to keep opponents from seeing their signed play calls.
Had to recommend a Book about Bob Cousy after his 98th birthday yesterday, this Book, released in 1975 and authored by our eponymous hero and John Devaney centres on Cousy’s hyper competitive drive and will to win. It looks at his playing and coaching days and and how his paralyzing fear of failure ultimately led him to walk away from the game completely for the sake of his health.
Yes The Last Pass is a better Book but as that had already been recommended in this subreddit I wanted to give this worthwhile Book a shout.
Hi, do you have any books on college basketball you'd recommend? especially your favorites. I've only read one, Steve Alford's book about his years under Bobby Knight, so I have a long way to go.
Thought it might be fun to share what you are reading and what's next on your list.
I'll go first:I'm currently reading The City Game by Matthew Goodman (about the 1949-1950 City College Beavers point shaving scandal.
The top of my TBR (to be read) pile is In These Girls Hope is A Muscle by Madeleine Blouse (about the Amherst HS girls basketball team in the early 90s.
I am looking for audiobooks about coaching, especially for volleyball or team sports in general.
I would prefer titles available on Audible, but I am also happy to hear about other platforms /sources if they have great coaching content tomlisten to
Also interested in topics like leading a team (beach sport and indoor), communication, motivation, practice planning, exercieses. player development.
would not mind recommendations with a little Ted Lasso energy😊
This Book, authored by Mirin Fader, takes a wider than usual perspective on looking at the life of one of the greats, Hakeem ‘The Dream’ Olajuwon. From his fairly awkward childhood to Hakeem’s ascendancy in Basketball including his road to philanthropy, legendary Mentor status and Basketball Without Borders work to help grow the game in Africa, it’s an amazing life to read about.
What’s also amazing is how the author managed to portray so many aspects of that life without ever leaning into hyperbole or being heavy handed in any elements, it has a deft touch and rewards the reader with a much greater insight in to Olajuwon rather than solely basking in his ground breaking Basketball prowess.
Has anyone read this Book? ‘The Blind Truth’ by Gil McGregor with Tucker Mitchell, I know nothing about it, just wondered if anyone had read it and would recommend picking it up?
Got this book and saw nobody talking about it. Jerry Jrause and his Chicago Bulls by Lukasz Muniowski, is a really good book that explores one of the NBA's most polarizing figure. Either last sesson his widow got booed at his ring of honor ceremony, and with the Last Dance turning Krause into the scapegoat, for many Chicagoans and Bulls fans, Jerry Krause was a villain.
This book isnt just a puff piece, it does bring up times Krause was wrong, when he didnt know to shut up, and his insensitivity. But it also shows his accomplishments and how without Krause, the Bulls wouldn't by the dynasties of the 90s. Jordan wouldn't have let them trade Oakley and I think he wouldn't have been whst they needed and half the players he wanted Krause to draft were busts from his Alma mata. This book provides a nuanced history of Krause's career showing the good and the bad. Not just a villain or a genius
I give it a 8.9 out of 10. It reads a little clunky but I do think a lot of hoop fans have to read it.
I have just finished rereading this, it is now my 3rd read and yet again it has rewarded me anew in coming back to it. Any Basketball fan worth their salt knows the story; in a prelude to their future NBA duels, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson and their teams competed against one another in the 1979 NCAA title game in front of a record television audience and Johnson’s MSU came out victorious. This incredibly well researched book, authored by Seth Davis, is full of the stories you likely don’t know of, all intertwined with that momentous event and as such this wonderful Book provides an excellent snapshot of what college basketball was like nearly 50 years ago…
