Basketball Memoir

Bill Russell was not the first African American to play professional basketball, but he was its first Black superstar. From the moment he stepped onto the court of the Boston Garden in 1956, Russell began to transform the sport in a fundamental way, making him, more than any of his contemporaries, the Jackie Robinson of basketball. In King of the Court, Aram Goudsouzian provides a vivid and engrossing chronicle of the life and career of this brilliant champion and courageous racial pioneer. Russell's leaping, wide-ranging defense altered the game's texture.

This is the year of the Bubble, a vacated Disney World, and the nearly one hundred days that 350 players and personnel from twenty-two NBA teams isolated from their friends and family, testing their patience for a dorm-style solution to America’s lost pandemic sports season - but also inspiring them. In a country violently divided by more than COVID-19, the Lakers rise to the occasion. From initial quarantine to the best basketball ever played by LeBron James and Anthony Davis to transitioning again to the real world, Jared Dudley shares his winning memories....

On September 26, 2017, the biggest recruiting scandal in college basketball history sent shock waves through the world of sports. Caught up in a massive FBI and NCAA investigation - and the intense media spotlight - was Rick Pitino, the Louisville Cardinals’ Hall of Fame coach. Here, from Pitino himself, comes the real story of the ongoing case and the hard truth about how college hoops has been pushed to the brink of disaster by greed, bad actors, and shoe company money.

"Work hard, and don't look for excuses", C. Vivian Stringer's parents told her, "and you can achieve anything." But her faith and perseverance would be tested many times. A gifted athlete, she had to fight for a place on an all-White cheerleading squad in the 60s. In 1981, just as her coaching career was taking off, her 14-month-old daughter, Nina, was stricken with spinal meningitis. Yet Stringer brought a small, poor, historically Black college to the national championships.

Whether you play basketball, watch basketball, or you’re simply a history buff, there is something for you here! Crafted for both hardcore NBA fans and curious newcomers to the sports world, this book dives into the history of basketball and specifically the tales of certain players that revolutionized the game.

A deeply revealing memoir of big wins and hard lessons from a seasoned executive caught smack in the middle of the trillion-dollar soft power struggle pitting China against Hollywood, the NBA, and American business....

Like millions of kids before him, Jay Williams used to pretend he was making the game-winning shot while playing basketball in his Plainfield, New Jersey, backyard. Unlike almost all of those other kids, he kept right on making shots until he became an NCAA champion and two-time national player of the year at Duke and the number-two overall NBA draft pick in 2002.

In Players First, John Calipari relates for the first time anywhere his experiences over his first four years coaching the Kentucky Wildcats, college basketball's most fabled program, from the doldrums to a national championship, drawing lessons about leadership, character, and the path to personal and collective victory. At its core, Calipari's coaching philosophy centers on keeping his focus on the players - what they need to get the best out of themselves and one another.

This short unauthorized biography of LeBron James highlights his journey so far in the NBA from once-doubted leader to perennial title contender. Few players demand as much excitement from crowds as LeBron James. It does not take a basketball fanatic to recognize and respect the name of LeBron James. Around the world, fans idolize LeBron for his unbelievable athletic prowess and collaborative team-based nature on the court.

In Fred VanVleet: The Inspiring Story of One of Basketball’s Underdogs, you'll learn the inspirational story of one of basketball's underdogs, Fred VanVleet. Despite going undrafted in the 2016 NBA Draft, Fred VanVleet carved quite a name for himself as a key member of the 2019 NBA champion Toronto Raptors. It's hard to believe that just a few years before that historic run, VanVleet was chipping away at finding a role in the league. Much has changed since his first year in the league, as VanVleet is now considered one of the most important pieces of the Raptors' rotation.

In Bradley Beal: The Inspiring Story of One of Basketball's Most Prolific Shooting Guards, you will learn the inspirational story of one of basketball's most promising young stars, Bradley Beal. Since being drafted with the third overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, Bradley Beal has played an instrumental role in the resurgence of the Washington Wizards in the Eastern Conference. Paired with fellow star John Wall, Beal and Wall have taken a once forgotten franchise back to the playoffs in recent years.

In Ray Allen: The Inspiring Story of One of Basketball's Greatest Shooters, you'll hear about the inspirational story of basketball star Ray Allen. Ray Allen will go down in the history of basketball as one of the sharpest and most talented shooters to ever play the game. With an incredible ability to roll off screens and release the ball with an elite level of accuracy, Ray Allen struck fear in the eyes of hundreds of defenses throughout his NBA career.

In Michael Jordan: The Inspiring Story of One of Basketball's Greatest Players, you'll hear the inspirational story of basketball's superstar, Michael Jordan. This short unauthorized biography of Michael Jordan highlights his journey in the NBA, from once being passed over until being the third overall pick to becoming a six-time NBA champion. Few players have shaped so much of the game of basketball as Michael Jordan.

Learn the Inspiring Story of the Denver Nuggets' Star Center Nikola Jokic! In Nikola Jokic: The Inspiring Story of One of Basketball's Rising Stars, you will learn the incredible story of one of basketball's most exciting young centers, Nikola Jokic. Once just a second round pick in the 2014 Draft, Jokic has quickly become the future of the Denver Nuggets franchise, most recently securing his first All-Star selection. He is one of the best recent international players to transition their game successfully into the NBA.

Curtis Malone had the charisma, vision, and connections to become a giant in the world of grassroots basketball. He didn't just build teams—he built futures, transforming raw talent into college scholarships and NBA dreams. On the surface, he was a mentor, a role model, and a community leader. But beneath that polished exterior lay a man caught in a dangerous web of ambition, survival, and duplicity.

With in-depth writing from The Athletic, Caitlin Clark: Raising the Game traces this incredible rise, from Clark's early days as a standout in Des Moines to her dominance with the Iowa Hawkeyes that made her a household name, and the start of her professional career with the WNBA's Indiana Fever. Chapters will also spotlight her dynamic playing style and her impact on the world of women's sports.

"A walk in the woods never lies," Dirk Dunbar says upfront in Confessions of a Basketball Junkie, and this autobiography by the pro athlete, humanities professor, musician, and sometime mystic demonstrates the point. In easygoing, familiar language that belies the depth of his knowledge, Dunbar here retraces the many paths of his life as a promising NBA star, a finely tuned philosopher, and a devoted friend and family man.

In Phil Jackson: The Inspiring Life and Leadership Lessons of One of Basketball's Greatest Coaches, you will learn the story of how Phil Jackson became one of the greatest coaches of all time. A two-time NBA champion as a player, and an 11-time NBA champion as a coach, Phil Jackson knows how to win and knows how to inspire players to play at the highest of levels.

In this, the definitive biography of Hall of Fame inductee and one of college basketball's most controversial and successful coaches, son Danny Tarkanian takes us through a first-hand accounting of the life, controversy, and triumphs of historic UNLV coach Jerry "The Shark" Tarkanian. From his immigrant roots through his own school days as an athlete, through the continual conflict with the NCAA and the eventual shocking outcome, with play-by-play action of the greatest games, and with a first-hand account of finally breaking through to win a national championship.

June 19, 2016: the greatest moment in Cleveland sports history, when the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA Finals and broke the Cleveland Curse. It was the triumph fans had been waiting 52 years for, and it wasn't easy to get there - but thanks to LeBron James, an audacious plan to build a winning team, a couple of maverick GMs, and an incredible community of fans, it happened, and 2016 saw the birth of a new Cavaliers dynasty.