The heart and soul of a champion: his life, his career, his game. To understand basketball, you have to understand Larry Bird. Arguably the greatest all-around player the game has ever known, he led the Boston Celtics from the basement to three world championships, collecting three NBA Most Valuable Player awards along the way. .

Yet, despite these massive accomplishments, Bird rarely talked to the press, and much about the man has remained a mystery. In Drive, the long-silent superstar sets the record straight, revealed a side of himself-and of basketball-you’ve never see before. Inside, you’ll learn Bird’s most private feelings about: The momentous decision to transfer from Bobby Knight’s Indiana University to Indiana State. The heartbreak of his father’s suicide and his own failed marriage. The single-minded discipline that tumed a small-town hero into a national superstar. The Boston Garden and the legendary Celtic charm. The Isiah Thomas controversy and the fierce Celtic-Laker rivalry. The great players of the NBA: including Magic Johnson, Dominique Wilkins, and Michael Jordan, and much more. here is the book that puts a basketball legend-and his game-on the line

I think that I bought this book from a place called Barstow which is about half way between Los Angles and Las Vegas.  It is a great book. 

NOTHING BUT NET is a rambling memoir by the renowned basketball player, Bill Walton. He concentrates on the joy he found in playing basketball at all levels. He played for the joy of competition, not for the money or glory.

Walton praises the coaches and mentors he had as a player, especially his coach at UCLA, John Wooden. Walton sees Wooden as a man who completely dedicated himself to basketball. Walton speaks of the championships he won in basketball at UCLA, the Portland Trailblazers, and the Boston Celtics as team rather than personal victories. He gives special attention to his days as a member of the Boston Celtics. After a terrible experience in Portland and a frustrating one with the Los Angeles Clippers, Walton found a place with a team that stressed team values and individual excellence. He singles our Larry Bird as a player and a man who possesses the attitudes and values Walton cherishes most.

Walton discusses his injuries at great length in the book. He missed nearly half of the games in his long career because of foot and ankle problems. Some accused him of being a malingerer, but he did have serious injuries that have only recently healed.

The second half of the book is devoted to Walton’s opinions on various issues. He opposes undergraduates leaving college after a year or two for the money of the professional league. He also suggest reforms for the National Basketball Association (NBA) and discusses his all-time dream team.

Nothing but Net is a loosely organized book that repeats many of Walton’s points and anecdotes; it could have benefitted from tighter editing to increase its coherence. Nevertheless, it is an entertaining memoir by a man who has opinions to express and values to defend.

This ladies and gentleman, is an awesome basketball book.  The book is written by Terry Pluto and it is an awesome read.  I think I acquired it from a book store in Seattle but I honestly can’t remember.  I think that I have re read this book over ten times and generally read it at least once a year.  It is awesome!

The book  was originally published in 1990 by Simon and Schuster. The book was written Terry Pluto, although much of his writing is limited to introductions and summaries of each season, much of the dialogue is from former players, league executives, and journalists, among others.

For those who don’t know anything about the ABA, a great summary can be found here .  The ABA was seen as a rogue league and it really upset the NBA when it was founded in 1967.  The ABA distinguished itself from its older counterpart with a more wide-open, flashy style of offensive play, as well as differences in rules (such as the 30 second shot clock and the 3 pointer).  NBA great George Mikan was appointed the first commisioner of the ABA and he is credited with introducing the trademark of the league – the Red, White and Blue basketball.   The stupid thing was that the ABA didn’t even trademark the ball and lost millions of dollars in revenue.  GM’s from around the league were rotuinely criticsed by the NBA for their contract negotiations.  The thing about the ABA was that the owners were willing to do things that was not accepted by the establishment.  The challenged the legitmacy of the rules at the time about ‘early entry’ draft picks by selecting Spencer Haywood in the 1968 – 69 ABA draft.  Haywood pleaded that, as his family’s sole wage earner, he should be allowed to earn a living in the ABA or else his family would face destitution. 

The ABA decided to take it a step further by drafting Moses Malone straight out of High School in the 1974 draft.  The book describes the amount of controversy surrounding this decision and the recruting battle that took place.  At one stage the ABA was banned by the NCAA Coaches Association in attending practices or entering buildings.  The ABA counted with having every player in the league write down the things (e.g. gifts, cash, cars etc) that they had received during their college career (which of course is very illegal)  The ABA was subsequently allowed back into NCAA buildings.

A feature of the ABA that the book describes is the ownership of the different franchies.   Some franchies such as the Indiana Pacers had fantastic ownership who paid their players on time and produced great teams. At the other end of the scale was Miami Floridians Owner Ned Doyle was constantly late in paying his players and they had awful teams. The only great thing that this team had going for them was their cheerleaders who paraded around games in bikinis that didn’t leave much to the imagination. The book describes that the original purpose of the league was to force a merger with the NBA and make some money.  The merger plans were raised every year and finally came about in 1976. 

The biggest star in ABA history is Julius Erving Dr J helped legitimize the ABA. Much as some players are considered “the team,” Dr. J was considered “the league.” He was the main asset of the ABA when it merged with the National Basketball Association (NBA) after the 1976 season.  Even at the end, when it was very obvious that a merger was going to happen, Dr J was still fighting to keep the league seperate.  He was worried that players would be without jobs (not him of course) but others. 

This is one of my favourite basketball books of all time.  It is all tattery and stained and my two year old son has ripped some pages but I keep it.  If you are a hoops fan, this is a must read.  You will not know many of the characters and some of the teams but you will appreciate the story and the struggle that these pioneers went through for the superstars of today. 

So the other day I was attempting to think of some original things that I could add to my blog to make it stand out and be original.  I thought that a good thing could be doing a review of all of my basketball books every so often.  I have heaps of basketball books (I counted 40 the other day but I am sure that some of my dodgey friends have some!!) and am constantly re reading them and trying to get some cheap new ones. 

The other day I finished reading my latest re read of the entire Harry Potter series and was looking at my book shelf for a book to read.  I decided to read this awesome novel by my favourite basketball and sports author of all time – John Feinstein  For a complete listing of his works please go to this link and check out what is avaliable.   It is well worth it!

The Last Amateurs emphasizes the efforts of the true scholar-athletes at the highly respected institutions that make up the league, where academics come first, and athletes play for love of the game rather than as a farm team for the NBA.  The story is about the Patriot League   The motto for the Patriot League is ‘Today’s Scholar Athletes, Tommorrow’s Leaders’ and this story emphasises the journey that the players take and the battles that they face.  The 7 teams in the Patriot League at the time the book was written were Bucknell, Army, Navy, Lehigh, Lafayette, Holy Cross, and Colgate. American University has subsequently joined the league. 

One of the most interesting parts of this book is the differences that these students face as compared to other players in their conference.  The players who are at the Navy and Army face huge challenges both academically and socially.  At the end of the season there is a 11-1 tie between Navy and Lafayette and Navy.  A tie break system had to take place to negotiate who would host the final and Lafayette had a better RPI index.

The book outlines some of the unsung heroes of the league.  Each team was only guarnteed one NCAA spot, so the championship game for the league is a huge deal.  Tournament MVP Stefan Ciosici from Lafayette is one of these heroes.  He missed out on the championship game from the previous season due to a knee injury and was unable to celebrate with his team.  He was determined to get the job done and battled with his knee throughout the season.  He was able to celebrate with his teammates and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book.  I can’t remember where I got it from.  I think it was from a bookstore in New York on my first visit to the USA.  If you are keen for a good read, get it!  You won’t regret it. You won’t know any of the players.  Only one player from the Patriot League has gone to the NBA is Adonel Floyd from Colgate.  He was recruited by Duke but decided to go to Colgate. 

Hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I did!