I still like to roam new neighborhoods, checking out the courts. In Cranston, Rhode Island, there’s a metal ring that looks like hanging equipment for your worst enemy. In Amherst, Virginia, a huge washtub is nailed to a tree at the edge of a farm. Rims without nets, without backboards, without courts, with just gravel and grass underfoot. One basket in West Branch, Iowa, has a white net blowing in the breeze and an orange shooter’s square on the half-moon board. Backboards are made from every possible material and tacked to anything that stands still in a storm. Rims are set at every height, at the most cockeyed angles, and draped with nets woven out of everything from wire to lingerie. From Port Jervis, New York, to Medford, Oregon, every type and shape of post, court, board, and hoop.
I once felt joy in being alive and I felt this mainly when I was playing basketball and I rarely if ever feel that joy anymore and it’s my own damn fault and that’s life. Too bad.
Sources and Acknowledgments
Great care has been taken to locate and acknowledge all owners of copyrighted material included in this book. If any such owner has inadvertently been omitted, acknowledgment will gladly be made in future printings.
The editor would like to thank the following people for their assistance in preparing this volume: Henry Abbott, Bruce Anderson, Alex Belth, Flinder Boyd, Karen Carpenter, Santiago Colas, Aram Goudsouzian, Jack Hamilton, Mark Heisler, Jan Hubbard, Jay Jennings, Richard Johnson, Stefanie Kaufman, Michael MacCambridge, William Meiners, Joe Mitch, Josh Robbins, Sam Smith, Glenn Stout, and Matt Zeysing.
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Pete Axthelm, from The City Game (New York: Harper’s Magazine Press, 1970). Copyright © 1970 by Pete Axthelm. Reprinted by permission of SLL/Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc.
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Darcy Frey, from The Last Shot (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994). Copyright © 1994 by Darcy Frey. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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Mark Jacobson, The Passion of Doctor J. Teenage Hipster in the Modern World (New York: Black Cat, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Mark Jacobson. Reprinted by permission of Grove/Atlantic, Inc. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited.
Lee Jenkins, The King: LeBron James, Sportsman of the Year 2012. Sports Illustrated, December 10, 2012. Copyright © 2012 by Lee Jenkins. Reprinted by permission of Sports Illustrated.
Dave Kindred, Pete Maravich. Heroes, Fools & Other Dreamers (Atlanta: Longstreet Press, 1988). Copyright © 1988 by Dave Kindred. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Melissa King, It’s All in the Game. Chicago Reader, September 10, 1998. Copyright © 1998 by Melissa King. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Curry Kirkpatrick, Memories. Sports Illustrated, March 31, 1986. Copyright © 1986 by Curry Kirkpatrick. Reprinted by permission of Sports Illustrated.
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Zach Lowe, The Death of Fandom. Grantland, January 30, 2014. Copyright © 2014 by Zach Lowe. Reprinted by permission of ESPN, Inc.
Jack McCallum, from Dream Team. Prepublication book excerpt from Dream Team: How Michael, Magic, Larry, Charles, and the Greatest Team of All Time Conquered the World and Changed the Game of Basketball Forever as published in Sports Illustrated, July 24, 2012, under the title “The Greatest Game Nobody Ever Saw.” Copyright © 2012 by Jack McCallum. Reprinted by permission of Ballantine Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.
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Index
Abbott, Henry, xxii
Abdelnaby, Alaa, 333
Abdenour, Mike, 228
Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem (Lew Alcindor), xi–xiii, xviii–xix, 51, 59, 90, 172–86, 197, 199, 206, 213, 219, 238, 335, 404, 418; A Season on the Reservation, 307–12
Abraham Lincoln High School, 256–63
Adelman, Rick, 361
Adidas Superstar Camp, 375–82, 388
Aguirre, Mark, 199
Ainge, Danny, 432
Akron, Ohio, 415, 419–24
Akron Beacon-Journal, 227
Alchesay High School, 307–12
Alcindor, Lew. See Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem
Alexander, Leslie, 356–58
Ali, Muhammad, 175, 183, 193, 285
Allen, Lenny, 337
Allen, Phog, 75, 221
Allen, Ray, 419, 431–32
Allentown Central Catholic High School, 265
All-Star games, 27, 39, 82, 96, 136–37, 256, 286, 334, 352, 393
Alston, Rafer, 372
Amateur Athletic Union, 267, 335, 368–69, 378, 380, 382, 386, 388
American Basketball Association, 76, 81, 83, 192, 195–97, 203–4, 227, 233
American Basketball Coaches Association, 17
Anchorage Northern Knights, 142
Anders, Benny, 225–26
Anderson, Jerime, 378
Anderson, Kenny, 261, 347
Anderson, Sparky, 158
Andreas, Harold, 153–54, 169
Anet, Bobby, 215
Angell, Roger, 20
Anthony, Carmelo, 362, 420, 430
Ariza, Trevor, 370
Artest, Ron, 362
Associated Press, 171
Athletes for Better Education, 106, 113
Atlanta Hawks, 251
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 43, 230
Atlantic, 126
Auburn University, 278, 320–31
Auerbach, Arnold “Red,” xxi, 25, 27, 31–32, 35–39, 174
Austin, John, 33
Austin Peay State University, 87
Axthelm, Pete, xviii, xx, 181; The City Game, 53–63
Baker League, 137–38, 142
Banks, Ernie, 114
Banks, Jackie, 291–92
Barcelona, Spain, 393–96, 408
Barkley, Charles, 248, 350, 394–407
Barlow, James, 55
Barnes, Marvin, 224
Barry, Brent, 365
Barry, Rick, 84
Basketball Association of America, 21
Basketball Hall of Fame, 249, 332, 334, 420
Basketball Times, 366
Bass, Brandon, 431
Bates, Billy Ray, 129–49
Bates, Roy, 169–70
Battier, Shane, xvi, 353–73, 420
Bauer, Douglas, xvii–xviii; “Girls Win, Boys Lose,” 116–25
Bayless, Skip, 391–92
Baylor, Elgin, 22–23, 127, 193, 249
Beamon, Bob, 194
Bee, Clair, 158, 255
Beiner, Al, 324
Bell, Marvin, 78
Bellfield, Oscar, 378
Belmont Abbey College, 70
Bender, Bob, 218
Benjamin Franklin High School, 57–58, 61
Bennie’s Corners, Ont., 1, 5
Billy, Pablo, 90
Bing, Dave, 189
Bird, Larry, xxii, 129, 187, 190–91, 195, 211, 213, 215–16, 248–55, 334, 393–407, 425
Blackman, Pete, 224
Blackman, Rolando, 389
Blount, Roy, Jr., xvi, xxi; “47 Years a Shot-Freak,” 43–52
Boe, Roy, 74
Bohuny, Kim, 395
Bond, Jay, 337
Borel Junior High School, 440
Borgia, Sid, 36–37
Bornhost, Dave, 322
Bosh, Chris, 426, 430
Boston Celtics, xxi, 20, 22–29, 95, 126–28, 137, 148, 150, 187, 189–91, 195, 227–29, 248–55, 332, 357–58, 393, 428–33
Boston College, 23, 32–33, 35, 189
Boston Globe, 64, 227
Boston Herald, 248
Boston Phoenix, 248
Boston University, 189
Boulder Daily Camera, 283
Bowen, Bruce, 390
Bowling Green State University, 11–13, 24
Bradley, Bill, xvii–xviii, xx, 40–42, 211, 286, 313
Bradley, David, 307; “The Autumn of the Age of Jabbar,” 172–86
Bradley University, 211, 222
Branch, Taylor: Second Wind, 126–28
Brand, Elton, 367
Brayton, Bobo, 338
Brell, Gary, 71–72
Breslin, Jimmy, xvi, xx; “The Coach Who Couldn’t Shoot Straight,” 68–75
Brewer, Ron, 140
Bridges, Doug, 322–23, 325–30
Briggs, Gary, 227–29
Brown, Al, 271
Brown, Dee, 253–54
Brown, Jim, 194
Brown, Larry, 240
Brown, Walter, 24, 29, 32
Brown, Wiley, 217
Brown University, 41
Bryant, Kobe, 354–55, 362–68, 370–71, 373
Bryant, Phil, 381–82
Buckner, Quinn, 252
Buckwalter, Bucky, 130, 141, 143, 146, 148
Buisson, Bobby, 325–31
Bussey, Evan, 330
Butler University, 17
Cady, Edwin, 152
Caldwell, Joe, 76, 79–80, 82–83
Calverley, Ernie, 11–13
Calvin, Mack, 79
Campbell, Michele, 421, 423
Camp Graylag, 32–33
Canisius College, 211
Cannon, Jimmy, 129
Cappon, Cappy, 150
Carlesimo, P. J., 397
Carlos, John, 175–76
Carolina Cougar
s, 76–86
Carroll, Jim, 249
Carter, George, 82
Carter, Maverick, 417, 420
Carter, Vince, 362
Cauthen, Bob, 322–23, 328
CBS-TV, 212
Celina High School, 165
Celtics Hub, 427
Chamberlain, Wilt “The Stilt,” 22–23, 64, 173–74, 214, 231, 244–45
Chambers, Jerry, 216
Chandler, Tyson, 384
Chaney, John, 264
Charleston News and Courier, 330
Chicago Bulls, 113, 145–46, 190, 201, 283–92, 309, 398, 407, 429, 435–36
Chicago Reader, 293
Chicago Stags, 24
Chicago Sun-Times, 87
Chicago Zephyrs, 33, 38
Chones, Jim, 68–75
Cincinnati Royals, 23, 33–34, 42, 127
Citadel, The, 320–31
City College of New York, 97–103, 222
City Dump (documentary), 97
Clemson University, 321
Cleveland Cavaliers, 227–29, 373, 414, 416–17, 419
Clifton, Sweetwater, 105, 115
Cohane, Tim, 220–21
Cohen, Stanley: The Game They Played, 97–103
Colfax High School, 119–20, 124–25
Columbia Basin College, 335, 339
Columbia University, xx
Conerly, Charley, 51
Conner, Greg, 322
Conroy, Pat, xv–xvii; My Losing Season, 320–31
Continental Basketball Association, 130, 137–41, 145
Coronet, 14
Corso, Lee, 165
Cousy, Bob, xx, 20, 22–29, 70, 95, 127, 189, 194, 216, 231–32
Cousy, Missie, 33, 37
Crawford, Joey, 351
Creighton University, 71
Croatia, 393
Crocker, Frankie, 199
Crum, Denny, 246
Culp, Ron, 140–41, 144–45
Cunningham, Gary, 246
Curry, Steph, xix, 414, 434–38
Curtis, Bryan, xviii, xxii; “The Fiberglass Backboard,” 389–92
Curtis, Tommy, 239
Cuyahoga Falls High School, 153–54, 165, 169
Dailey, Quintin, 201
Daily Princetonian, 150
Basketball Page 56
