All-American George Glamack was known as the "Blind Bomber" because his eyesight was so poor that he couldn’t see the basket. Bobby Bailey once fouled out of a game in three minutes. The first professional basketball player, Fred Cooper, earned sixteen dollars per game. Swedish player Mats Wermelin scored all 272 points in a game. Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach punched out the owner of the St. Louis Hawks prior to a game. Dennis Rodman dressed like a bride for his book signing. Wilt Chamberlain, who scored 100 points in an NBA game, claimed to have had 20,000 lovers. The 1936 Olympic basketball gold medal game was played on a muddy court during a driving rainstorm. Former vice president Al Gore played college basketball at Harvard. Basketball's Most Wanted™ chronicles 700 of the most outlandish players, coaches, and fans in basketball history. Its seventy lists describe in humorous detail basketball’s top-ten worst shooters, strangest plays, bizarre nicknames, politicians who played, little-known records, unlikely NBA teams, and more.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The NBA according to The Sports Guy—now updated with fresh takes on LeBron, the Celtics, and more! Foreword by Malcom Gladwell • “The work of a true fan . . . it might just represent the next phase of sports commentary.”—The Atlantic Bill Simmons, the wildly opinionated and thoroughly entertaining basketball addict known to millions as ESPN’s The Sports Guy, has written the definitive book on the past, present, and future of the NBA. From the age-old question of who actually won the rivalry between Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain to the one about which team was truly the best of all time, Simmons opens—and then closes, once and for all—every major pro basketball debate. Then he takes it further by completely reevaluating not only how NBA Hall of Fame inductees should be chosen but how the institution must be reshaped from the ground up, the result being the Pyramid: Simmons’s one-of-a-kind five-level shrine to the ninety-six greatest players in the history of pro basketball. And ultimately he takes fans to the heart of it all, as he uses a conversation with one NBA great to uncover that coveted thing: The Secret of Basketball. Comprehensive, authoritative, controversial, hilarious, and impossible to put down (even for Celtic-haters), The Book of Basketball offers every hardwood fan a courtside seat beside the game’s finest, funniest, and fiercest chronicler.

Basketball has so many great stories, so many interesting anecdotes-about college and pro teams, players from all levels, announcers, and even owners-that one book just isn't enough to hold it all. That's why Potomac Books, Inc. is introducing Basketball's Most Wanted™ II: The Top 10 Book of More Hotshot Hoopsters, Double Dribbles, and Roundball Oddities. With even more fun tales and interesting facts from the world of hoops, there's something in here for all fans of basketball. Which NBA team attempted to draft a player straight out of high school in 1969-a female player from the Iowa six-on-six league? What standard features in today's NBA were originally introduced in the renegade American Basketball Association? Who are the best three-point shooters in both the pros and college? Which high school team had an amazing four future NBA players on its roster? With which team did Wilt Chamberlain begin his professional career? (Hint: It wasn't an NBA team.) You'll find the answers to all those questions and so much more in Basketball's Most Wantedª II, including the best and worst basketball movies, the most shocking NCAA tournament upsets, top names from basketball's "Asian invasion," and even guys who played one game-and only one game-in the NBA. So join David L. Hudson, Jr. as he looks at the amazing and the amusing, the wacky and the wonderful, the best and worst of everything basketball has to offer. It's a slam dunk!

Two books on hoops weren’t enough, so now there’s a third: Basketball Championships’ Most Wanted™, focusing on the best, worst, greatest, and most amusing from basketball’s long history of championships in college and the pros—mens’ and womens’, ABA and CBA, and the Olympics as well! March Madness is one of the most exciting times of year, when anything can happen and Cinderella looks for her prince, sometimes even finding him. And when May and June roll around and the NBA playoffs are in full swing, the intensity ratchets up as the professionals take center stage. Basketball Championships’ Most Wanted™ celebrates both of these and more, with fifty top-ten lists on topics like unlikely heroes and fantastic freshmen in the NCAA tournament, some of the best long-range gunners in play-off history, players who stepped up big-time with a triple-double in important games, the best buzzer-beaters of all time, and even teams that excelled in the regular season but withered in the pressure cooker. The championship hunt is the most thrilling and action-packed time of the year in basketball, and now you can relive all the excitement. Get in on all the “hoopla” with Basketball Championships’ Most Wanted™: The Top 10 Book of March Mayhem, Playoff Performances, and Tournament Oddities.

Provides a second helping of fun facts and amazing trivia from around the roundball world.

"The inspirational story of the most talented high-school basketball team ever and the dedicated coach who gave his players a lifetime opportunity by insisting on success"--

Former NBA star and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Kareem Abdul-Jabbar explores his 50-year friendship with Coach John Wooden, one of the most enduring and meaningful relationships in sports history. When future NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was still an 18-year-old high school basketball prospect from New York City named Lew Alcindor, he accepted a scholarship from UCLA largely on the strength of Coach John Wooden's reputation as a winner. It turned out to be the right choice, as Alcindor and his teammates won an unprecedented three NCAA championship titles. But it also marked the beginning of one of the most extraordinary and enduring friendships in the history of sports. In Coach Wooden and Me, Abdul-Jabbar reveals the inspirational story of how his bond with John Wooden evolved from a history-making coach-player mentorship into a deep and genuine friendship that transcended sports, shaped the course of both men's lives, and lasted for half a century. Coach Wooden and Me is a stirring tribute to the subtle but profound influence that Wooden had on Kareem as a player, and then as a person, as they began to share their cultural, religious, and family values while facing some of life's biggest obstacles. From his first day of practice, when the players were taught the importance of putting on their athletic socks properly; to gradually absorbing the sublime wisdom of Coach Wooden's now famous "Pyramid of Success"; to learning to cope with the ugly racism that confronted black athletes during the turbulent Civil Rights era as well as losing loved ones, Abdul-Jabbar fondly recalls how Coach Wooden's fatherly guidance not only paved the way for his unmatched professional success but also made possible a lifetime of personal fulfillment. Full of intimate, never-before-published details and delivered with the warmth and erudition of a grateful student who has learned his lessons well, Coach Wooden and Me is at once a celebration of the unique philosophical outlook of college basketball's most storied coach and a moving testament to the all-conquering power of friendship. Instant New York Times and USA Today Bestseller President Barack Obama's Favorite Book of 2017 A Boston Globe and Huffington Post Best Book of 2017 Pick