Hardcover. NY, Simon & Schuster, 1st, 1997, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. 304 pages, b&w illustrations. The coach of the NBA's Houston Rockets recounts his life story, speaking out not only on the challenges of coaching a great player like Hakeem Olajuwon but also on the strategies that have led his team to two NBA titles. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Delacorte Press, 5th pr., 1996, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, Has black & white photos scattered throughout. A wild ride inside the glowing head of Dennis Rodman--the NBA's greatest rebounder and America's most outspoken and outrageous athlete. At a time when most celebrities and professional athletes try to control their public persona like politicians and refrain from expressing their true beliefs, Dennis Rodman is a refreshingly unique, uncompromising individual who both transcends his world and refuses to conform to it. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Crown/Archetype, 1st, 2018, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. To tell this story, acclaimed journalists Jackie MacMullan, Rafe Bartholomew and Dan Klores embarked on a groundbreaking mission to interview a staggering lineup of basketball trailblazers. For the first time hundreds of legends, from Kobe, Lebron and Steph Curry to Magic Johnson, Dr. J and Jerry West, spoke movingly about their greatest passion. Former NBA commissioner David Stern and iconic coaches like Phil Jackson and Coach K opened up like never before. Those who shattered glass ceilings, from Bill Russell and Yao Ming to Cheryl Miller and Lisa Leslie, explained what it really took to lay claim to their place in the game. At once a definitive oral history and something far more revelatory and life affirming, Basketball: A Love Story is the defining untold oral history of how basketball came to be, and what it means to those who love it. Clean, unmarked copy.

Hardcover. NY, Henry Holt, 1st, 1991, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. Profiles the life and career of Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson, tracing his rise from the poverty of the inner city to the heights of the sports world. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Boston, Little, Brown & Company, 1st, 1993, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 132 pages. Hardcover. SIGNED BOOKPLATE WITH SIGNATURES OF BILL LITTLEFIELD AND BERNIE FUCHS. Bright, clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Mariner Books, 1st, 2022, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 374 pages, b&w photos. Mike Krzyzewski, known worldwide as "Coach K," is a five-time national champion at Duke, the NCAA's all-time leader in victories with nearly 1,200, and the first man to lead Team USA to three Olympic basketball gold medals. Through unprecedented access to Krzyzewski's best friends, closest advisers, fiercest adversaries, and generations of his players and assistants, three-time New York Times bestselling author Ian O'Connor takes you behind the Blue Devil curtain with a penetrating examination of the great but flawed leader as he closes out his iconic career. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Simon & Schuster, 1st, 2005, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. 307 pages, 16 page photo section. Veteran sportswriter Bill Reynolds reveals the man often called 'the Babe Ruth of basketball, ' the dazzling athlete who brought 'showtime basketball' to the NBA and changed the game forever. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Harper, 1st, 2013, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. 431 pages, b&w and color illustrations. For most of his life, Julius Erving has been two men in one. There is Julius, the bright, inquisitive son of a Long Island domestic worker who has always wanted to be respected for more than just his athletic ability, and there is Dr. J, the cool, acrobatic showman whose flamboyant dunks sent him to the Hall of Fame and turned the act of jamming a basketball through a hoop into an art form. In many ways, Erving's life has been about the push and pull of Julius and The Doctor. It is Dr. J who has stories to tell of the wild days and nights of the ABA in the 1970s, and of being the seminal figure who transformed basketball from an earthbound and rigid game into the creative, free-flowing aerial display it is today. He has a long list of signature plays - he's famous for winning the first dunk contest in 1976 with a jam on which he lifted off from the foul line, and he made a miraculous layup against the Lakers on which he soared behind the backboard before reaching back in to flip the ball in on the other side, with one hand. He inspired a generation of dunkers, including Michael Jordan, to express their improvisational talents. But Julius wasn't always as graceful and in control as Dr. J. Erving had a pristine image throughout his career and early retirement, but he was far from a perfect man. Here he gives detailed accounts of some of the personal problems he faced -- or created -- behind the scenes, including the adulterous affair with sports writer Samantha Stephenson, which led to the birth of his daughter, professional tennis player Alexandra Stephenson.Though his marriage survived that infidelity, the death of Erving's 20-year-old son Cory in 2000 in a tragic accident proved too much for the union to bear. Erving paints a raw, heartbreaking picture of the dissolution of his marriage, as his wife Turquoise began to blame him for his refusal to be paralyzed by grief for as long as she was. Their intense arguments came to a head when Erving stepped out of the shower one day to find his wife holding a lamp in one hand and a vase in the other, ready for a physical confrontation. "I knew somebody was going to get hurt, and it wasn't going to be me," he says. He packed a suitcase and he and Turquoise never lived under the same roof again.

Hardcover. New York, Simon & Schuster, Reprint, 1999, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 302 pages. Hardcover. Black & white illustrations throughout. Dust jacket with only minor shelf wear. Clean, unmarked text.

Hardcover. Boston, Little Brown & Co., 1st, 1974, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover, 132 pages. Black & white illustrations by Byron Goto. Dust jacket with light soil, edgewear.

Hardcover. Boston/NY, Houghton Mifflin, 1st, 2018, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. 326 pages, b&w illustrations, Elgin Baylor's memoir of an epic all-star career in the NBA--during which he transformed basketball from a horizontal game to a vertical one--and his fights against racism during his career as a player and as general manager of the LA Clippers under the infamous Donald Sterling, Clean, bright copy.

Dallas, Taylor Publishing, 1st, 1991, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. 206 pages, b&w photos. A former player, scout, coach, and general manager presents reminiscences from his life in basketball.

Hardcover. NY, Random House, 1st, 1990, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. 233 pages, b&w photos. The greatest basketball player in history tells the dramatic story of his final seasons in the game. A revealing self-portrait by one of the most intriguing sports heroes. This richly detailed book describes the 1988-89 NBA season (his last).

Hardcover. Chicago, Masters Press, 3rd pr., 1998, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 328 pages, b&w photos. Even without his masterful debut as coach of the 1997-1998 Indiana Pacers, Larry Bird's brilliant, gutsy career with the Boston Celtics--three NBA championship rings and a trio of Most Valuable Player trophies--cries out for celebration and reassessment. He was a dominant player, a thinking player who controlled the game as much with his leadership as his keen passing, tough "D," and the soft touch of his jumper. In Larry Legend, Shaw interweaves chapters of Bird's biography with chapters chronicling his Coach of the Year season to create a hybrid volume; rather than do both well, he does both adequately. Everything is here--Bird's French Lick, Indiana, childhood; why he left Bobby Knight and the Indiana University pressure cooker for lower profile Indiana State; the glory years with the Celtics; the rivalry with Magic Johnson; the back problems; and the ways he re-created the Pacers in his own court-burned image. Clean copy.

Hardcover. US, Good Morning Publishing Co., na, 1997, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 320 pages, numerous b&w photos. INSCRIBED by author on front end paper. Clean, tight copy. You may have seen "Hoosiers" ... But you've never hear the real story!. It was a shot that changed the game of basketball, captivated people from all walks of life, and inspired one of the most beloved films of the 20th century. It was the shot made by Bobby Plump in the 1954 Indiana High School Athletic Association boys' basketball championship. And it's the centerpiece of one of the greatest sports stories of all time.

Hardcover. NY, Simon and Schuster , 1st, 1970, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. 256 pages, b&w photos. This is the book that launched Phil Berger's career. Controversial upon its publication 30 years ago, it freezes in time that great Knicks team. Willis Reed in his glory, Holzman at his best, Bradley struggling with his own popularity. The nerdy young Phil Jackson envious of that popularity. There's enough wry humor, revelation and wisdom to qualify "Miracle" as a treasure. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Harper, 1st, 2009, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 183 pages. Illustrated with photos. Basketball immortal Bill Russell provides this memoir of his deep friendship with Boston Celtics coach red Auerbach. Russell was the center on the Auerbach teams that one 11 championships in 13 years. At the time, he said little about his deeply personal relationship with his coach but Russell and Auerbach--one a short, brash Jew from Brooklyn, the other a tall, intense African American from Louisiana and Oakland--were far more than just coach and player. Through the 13 years of the Celtics dynasty together their relationship evolved into a rare, telling example of deep male friendship: confident, supportive, understanding, founded in common goals, even as their feelings went largely unspoken. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Crown, 1st, 1994, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, price-clipped dust jacket. 302 pages, b&w illustrations. Foreword by Larry Bird. A vivid, true-to-life portrait of a living legend whose career spaned the history of the NBA. He molded the most successful franchise in the history of American sport, and through the stars he acquired and nurtured he changed the face of professional basketball.

Hardcover. New York , Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1st, 1965, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, 144 pages. Hardcover. Author's first book. Pages are age toned. Black & white photo section with a degree of damp wrinkling to the upper third of pages. Stain at top edge of rear inside cover. Black cloth cover, spine cloth heavily faded. No dust jacket. Unmarked text. Good.

Hardcover. NY, Harcourt Brace & Co., 1st, 1995, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. 306 pages, b&w photos. Chronicling the season that brought New York its first NBA title, the story of the New York Knicks, its players, general manager Eddie Donovan, and coach Red Holtzman follows their notable winning streak and difficult play-off challenges. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Warner Books, 4th pr., 1988, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 258 pages, illustrations. INSCRIBED BY RILEY on the front fly leaf: "To Edward/Best Regards- Hoping your season will be as successful as ours/ 88 Pat Riley". Clean copy.

Softcover. NY, Tempo Books, 1st, 1970, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, mass market paperback. 206 pages. Minor shelf wear.

Hardcover. NY, Rodale, 1st, 2003, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. While The Big O: My Life, My Times, My Game will not disappoint basketball purists longing for Oscar Robertson's play-by-play of favorite games, the attraction of this autobiography is Robertson's perspective on the evolution of the sport and on the racial struggles that were the context of his formative years. Called by many basketball experts the greatest all-around player ever, Robertson earned an astonishing array of honors including an Olympic gold medal, 12 NBA All-Star appearances, the NBA Rookie of the Year award, and the 1964 NBA MVP award. Most remarkably, Robertson remains the only player in basketball history with a triple-double season (double-digit averages for scoring, rebounds, and assists).While Robertson could have easily candy-coated this impressive record for his retrospective, he devotes large sections of his book to the racial battles he faced off court, and his final chapters recount his controversial efforts as an NBA union leader to create free agency, a pension plan, and disability protection for players. In telling his life story, he lays bare the racism and mistreatment he suffered at the hands of individuals and institutions throughout his career, from the Mayor of Indianapolis and Cincinnati University to the NBA and CBS Sports. At times, his critiques can seem excessive (e.g. his discussions of the distortions in the film Hoosiers, while interesting, are repeated a bit too often), and some sections (like his attempts to compare himself to contemporary players) border on self-indulgence. Yet, he seems justified in arguing that his achievements--largely accomplished on second-rate teams, against a back-drop of unprecedented racial strife, and before the modern era of sports-media saturation--are easily underrepresented. In the end, The Big O offers a complex, human portrait to complement a spectacular sports career.

Hardcover. NY, Abrams Press, 1st, 2022, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. Illustrations, 470 pages with index. A groundbreaking, timely history of the largely unknown early days of Black basketball, bringing to life the trailblazers, entertainers, gangsters, and supremely talented athletes who made the game From the introduction of the game of basketball to Black communities in 1904 to the integration of the NBA in 1950, there was a full era in the development of the game. It was a time when Black players were discriminated against and opportunities were limited, but entrepreneurial men and women nurtured the game and breathed life into a sport they loved. This period was known as the Black Fives Era (teams at the time were often called "fives"), and was akin to the golden age of the Negro Leagues. But despite fierce rivalries between big-city clubs, innovative managers, and star players, this period is almost entirely unknown to basketball fans. Claude Johnson has made it his mission to change that. An advocate fiercely committed to our history, for more than two decades Johnson has conducted interviews, mined archives, collected artifacts, and helped to preserve an important, culturally rich era that otherwise would have been lost. The Black Fives is the result of his work, a landmark narrative history that will braid together the stories of these forgotten pioneers and rewrite our understanding of the story of basketball.

Hardcover. NY, Knopf, 1st, 1981, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. Halberstam, a lifeling fan of the game, explores the world of professional basketball as he spends the 1979-80 season travelling with the Portland Trail Blazers. Light fading to dj spine, remainder stamp to bottom edge.

Hardcover. NY, William Morrow & Co., 1st, 1990, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 365 pages, b&w illustrations. Stauth uncovers the business behind the Detroit Piston's NBA championship in 1989. He traces the building of the winning team: the draft choices, signing of free agents, and timely trades, all adding up to the proper team chemistry, the vital key to any championship. The man behind the franchise is no-nonsense general manager Jack McCloskey. Stauth's narrative is the exceptional story of the Pistons and their rise to NBA success. He pulls no punches; much of his book reflects the attitudes of players and management as well as the media. Although many will question Stauth's condemnation of certain practices in professional basketball, this is one of the best books ever on professional sports. Clean copy.

Softcover. NY, W. W. Norton & Company, 1st US, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, Advance Reading Copy, 408 pages. The seven-foot Dirk Nowitzki is one of the greatest players in basketball history. The Dallas Maverick's legend revolutionized the sport, redefining the role of the big man in the modern game. Dirk moved differently: flexible and fast, confident and in control. He thought differently, too. On the court, his shots were masterful-none more venerated than his signature one-legged flamingo fadeaway, a move that lives on in the repertoire of today's most skilled NBA players. How did this lanky kid from the German suburbs become an all-time top ten scorer and NBA champion? How can a superstar stay so humble? Award-winning novelist and sportswriter Thomas Pletzinger spent over seven years traveling with Nowitzki. He witnessed Dirk's summer workouts, involving fingertip pushups and the study of the physics, and spent days discussing literature and philosophy with Holger Geschwindner, Dirk's enigmatic mentor and coach. Watching Nowitzki in empty gyms and in packed arenas with 30,000 fans, Pletzinger began to understand how Dirk and Holger's philosophical insights on performance, creativity, and freedom enabled his success and longevity. This proof edition lacks the photo section. Clean copy.

NY, Paul S. Eriksson, 1st, 1974, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket with light edgewear. 174 pages, b&w photos. One of the NBA's great all-time guards tells his life story from the streets of Bedford-Stuyvesant to coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's, 1st, 2005, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket with light edgewear, 304 pages. The 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers won 33 consecutive regular season games on their way to a championship. The team, built around future Hall-of-Famers Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West, was coached by a third Hall member, Bill Sharman. Rosen, author of five novels and coauthor, with Phil Jackson, of More Than a Game (2001), traces the team from training camp through the start of the next season. His dual focal points are Sharman and Chamberlain. Sharman, who played with Bill Russell in Boston, convinced Chamberlain to play a more Russell-like style, emphasizing passing and teamwork. Rosen provides background for all the principals, context for games in the streak, as well as an account of the team's play-off run to the championship. This is wonderful reading for NBA history buffs, replete with anecdotes, humor, and revealing profiles. Mild soil, shelf wear, no markings.

Softcover. Lincoln NE, Bison Books/University of Nebraska Press, 1st, 2011, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 247 pages, b&w illustrations. In the spring of 1968, the Omaha Central High School basketball team made history with its first all-black starting lineup. Their nickname, the Rhythm Boys, captured who they were and what they did on the court. Led by star center Dwaine Dillard, the Rhythm Boys were a shoo-in to win the state championship. But something happened on their way to glory. In early March, segregationist George Wallace, in a third-party presidential bid, made a campaign stop in Omaha. By the time he left town, Dillard was in jail, his coach was caught between angry political factions, and the city teetered on the edge of racial violence. So began the Nebraska state high school basketball tournament the next day, caught in the vise of history. The Rhythm Boys of Omaha Central tells a true story about high school basketball, black awakening and rebellion, and innocence lost in a watershed year. The drama of civil rights in 1968 plays out in this riveting social history of sports, politics, race, and popular culture in the American heartland.

Hardcover. NY, Random House , 2nd pr., 2005, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 421 pages. Taylor offers a vivid account of the fledgling days of the National Basketball Association and the intense competition between two of its biggest early stars: Bill Russell (of the Boston Celtics) and Wilt Chamberlain (of the Philadelphia 76ers). While both players were dominant men who anchored their respective teams, their personalities differed greatly. The quiet, reflective Russell turned a serendipitous showing in front of a scout into a legendary career largely through willpower and hard work, while the outgoing Chamberlain was a much more naturally gifted athlete whose skills drew attention and offers while he was barely a teenager. Taylor highlights this distinction, asking, "[C]ould determination trump talent?" Along with examining the physical and psychological battles between the two, Taylor depicts the NBA's raucous nature in the 1950s and '60s, when fights between players were frequent, and the brash Celtics coach Red Auerbach was routinely pelted with rotten tomatoes, lit cigars and eggs. Looking at everything, from each player's private demons to the racially charged era in which they competed, Taylor's book is by turns an intimate profile and a spirited look at the foundation of modern professional basketball. Mild soiling to text block, no markings.

Softcover. Lincoln NE, Bison Books/University of Nebraska, reprint, 2004, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 276 pages, b&w illustrations. Through in-depth interviews with players, their families, coaches, teammates, and league officials, Ron Thomas tells the largely untold story of what basketball was really like for the first Black NBA players, including recent Hall of Fame inductee Earl Lloyd, early superstars such as Maurice Stokes and Bill Russell, and the league's first black coaches. They Cleared the Lane is both informative and entertaining, full of anecdotes and little-known history. Not all the stories have happy endings, but this unfortunate truth only emphasizes how much we have gained from the accomplishments of these pioneer athletes.

Hardcover. NY, Doubleday, 1st, 1997, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 342 pages, b&w illustrations. In the spring of 1995, twelve extraordinary basketball players were chosen to represent the United States in the yearlong march to the 1996 Olympics. For Rebecca Lobo, Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie, and their teammates, winning the gold medal was only one of many goals. Around them swirled the dreams of the millions of young girls who played organized basketball, the hopes of the fans who sent the team an average of 125 pounds of fan mail each month, the multimillion-dollar bets of Nike, Champion, and other corporate sponsors, the promise of a new women's professional league, and not least, the hopes of female athletes across the country finally to gain the respect accorded male athletes.

Hardcover. New York, Villard Books, First Edition, 1991, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 290 pages. Hardcover. Blue & black cloth covers with gilt titles to cover & spine. Light marginal foxing to top edge. Black & white photographs throughout. Dust jacket in very good condition. Clean, unmarked text.

Hardcover. New York, Times Books, 1st, 1988, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 259 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. A very clean, unmarked copy with only minor dust jacket wear. Black and white images throughout. SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY AUTHOR OFFEN ON FRONT FLYLEAF.

Hardcover. NY, Prentice-Hall, 1st, 1978, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a lightly worn, unclipped dust jacket, 263 pages. A Seattle sports reporter follows the Seattle Supersonics through the tumultuous 1978-77 season, A team full of superstars, Bill Russell as coach and championship hopes, all go sour. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 4th pr., 2009, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright. unclipped dust jacket, 340 pages. A compelling, up-close-and-personal portrait of basketball's most inimitable duo. It is also a rollicking ride through professional basketball's best times, the golden age of hoops for the boomer generation. This work tells the story of Magic and Larry from their vantage point and takes the reader inside their fascinating rivalry, with new insights and revealing details about two men who evolved from bitter competitors into lifelong friends. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Grosset and Dunlap, 1st, 1966, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, pictorial cloth. 183 pages, 4 pages of b&w photos up front. light rubbing to covers.