Sports Basketball

The day after future NBA superstar Chris Paul signed his letter of intent to play college basketball for Wake Forest, he received a world-shattering phone call. His grandfather, Nathaniel "Papa" Jones, a pillar of the Winston-Salem community where he owned and operated the first Black-owned service station in North Carolina, was mugged and ultimately died from a heart attack resulting from the assault. His funeral filled the largest church in the county, which held over 1,000 people. He was 61 years old.

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.

A sapphic interlude of secret touches, stolen glances, and the kind of love that blooms between the buzzer and the bedroom. 🏀 She’s the WNBA’s rising star. 💼 She’s the polished PR director with too much to lose. 💘 But off the court, their chemistry can’t be coached—or ignored. In this sultry, emotionally rich companion novella to Love & Basketball, Jordan Keller and Camille Robinson are no longer fighting their feelings—they’re learning how to surrender to them. From stolen kisses at the lake house to steamy late-night locker room encounters, this collection of ...

Ronald Reagan declares the Soviet Union an Evil Empire. The Apple Macintosh personal computer makes its debut. Michael Jackson's Thriller dominates the charts. And Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics capture the NBA championship over the Los Angeles Lakers. It was 1984, and for the NBA and the nation, the year was full of milestone moments. In Dynasty Restored, Thomas J. Whalen explores this dramatic season.

Sixteen-year-old Bethany Greene, though confident and self-assured, is what they call a late-bloomer. She’s never had a boyfriend, date, or first kiss. She’s determined to change that but after her crush turns her down cold for Homecoming—declaring her too inexperienced—and all her back-up ideas fall through, she cautiously agrees to go with her best friend’s boyfriend Jacob. A platonic date is better than no date, right? Until Saylor breaks up with said boyfriend.

John Feinstein - The Friends I've Made provides a compelling view of sports and life from the incomparable perspective and recall of multiple New York Times best-selling author John Feinstein and five individuals who John has covered, followed and now considers friends: David Feherty, Tom Izzo, Steve Kerr, Mary Carillo, and Mike Krzyzewski.

Chris Bosh, NBA Hall of Famer, eleven-time All-Star, two-time NBA champion, Olympic gold medalist, and the league’s Global Ambassador, had his playing days cut short at their prime by a freak medical condition. His extraordinary career ended “in a doctor’s office in the middle of the afternoon.” Forced to reckon with moving forward, he found himself looking back over the course he'd taken, to the pinnacle of the NBA and beyond.

Think pro basketball begins with the opening tipoff? Think again! In this Sports Illustrated Kids book, go behind the scenes of a typical game day in professional basketball—from cleaning the hardcourt and mascot madness to locker room pep talks and postgame interviews.

Out of the greatest dynasty in American professional sports history, an intimate story of race, mortality, and regret. About to turn 90, Bob Cousy, the Hall of Fame Boston Celtics captain who led the team to its first six championships on an unparalleled run, has much to look back on in contentment. But he has one last piece of unfinished business. The last pass he hopes to throw is to close the circle with his great partner on those Celtic teams, fellow Hall of Famer Bill Russell, now 84.

In Tales from the Duke Blue Devils Locker Room, readers will laugh, dream, and sweat alongside the players of one of the most successful and storied college basketball teams to ever take to the hardwood. In this treasure trove of Duke history, Jim Sumner brings to life the legendary games and unique players that have come to define this championship team.

At the height of the Great Depression, Sam Babb, the charismatic basketball coach of tiny Oklahoma Presbyterian College, began dreaming. Like so many others, he wanted a reason to have hope. Traveling from farm to farm, he recruited talented, hardworking young women and offered them a chance at a better life: a free college education if they would come play for his basketball team, the Cardinals. Despite their fears of leaving home and the sacrifices faced by their families, the women followed Babb and his dream.

Throughout the NCAA Tournament’s history, underdogs, Cinderella stories, and upsets have captured the attention and imagination of fans. Making March Madness is the story of this premiere tournament, from its early days in Kansas City, to its move to Madison Square Garden, to its surviving a point-shaving scandal in New York and taking its games to different sites across the country.

In Wilt Chamberlain: The Inspiring Story of One of Basketball's Greatest Players, you'll learn the incredible story of one of basketball's greatest centers, Wilt Chamberlain. Throughout the 1960s, Chamberlain dominated the league. He averaged more than 30 points in multiple seasons, and even had breakout seasons where he would average 44.8 and 50.4 points respectively. He truly was one of the most prolific scorers of his generation.

Combining modern reportage with historical revelations, a multifaceted portrait of Caitlin Clark’s game-changing superstardom and the cultural foundation it was built upon.

Are you a beginner coach looking for drills for your next practice? Or a time-strapped volunteer parent coach? Coaching from the Base Up consults experts, such as Dell Curry, Brian McCormick, Bob Bigelow, and more to share paradigm-shifting ideas, drills, and practice plans.

Mind Games follows the journey of Phil Jackson to the top of basketball’s coaching hierarchy, a rise that took him from obscurity in the Continental Basketball Association to nine championship rings in the NBA. Along the way he turned multimillionaire players on to meditation, transformed the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls from a one-man show to a five-man team of domination, and after battling with Bulls management, ended one dynasty to start another on the West Coast.

Are you new to basketball or have never coached a youth team before? Are you unsure of what to do during practice or how to manage a team during a game? Are you dealing with a loudmouth parent on your team that is a bad example of sportsmanship? 50 Things to Know About Coaching Youth Basketball by Aaron Reynolds offers an approach to coaching youth sports for first-time coaches, or parents new to the game that were “volunteered” to lead the team.

Who are the game changers in sports? Who are the warriors who laid the pathways for social, cultural and political advancement? Liberate these caged, unheralded and underappreciated icons in sports history. Unshackle their glory! Discover their uncomfortable truths! “Caged Champions” is a snap-shot reference guide for serious fans. The first 11 chapters cover major sports along with cross references by individual pioneers. Chapter 12 is a catch-all for minor sports and lesser known caged champions other than No. 42, who, along with Larry Doby, et al, dismantled apartheid in America’s ...

Deep in the heart of Northern Arizona, in a small and isolated patch of the vast 17.5 million-acre Navajo reservation, sits Chinle High School. Here, basketball is passion, passed from grandparent to parent to child. Celebrated Times journalist Michael Powell brings us a narrative of triumph and hardship, a moving story about a basketball team on a Navajo reservation that shows how important sports can be to youths in struggling communities, and the transcendent magic and painful realities that confront Native Americans living on reservations.

Against a backdrop of ongoing resistance to racial desegregation and strident calls for Black Power, the NBA in the 1970s embodied the nation’s imagined descent into disorder. A new generation of Black players entered the league then, among them Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Spencer Haywood, and the press and public were quick to blame this cohort for the supposed decline of pro basketball, citing drugs, violence, and greed.