The Breaks of the Game
Pretty interesting view into the NBA of the late 70's from David Halberstam.
Halberstam is a really good writer. He follows the Portland Trailblazers through the 79-80 season, talking extensively with coaches, players, etc. Tells a pretty compelling story. Remember that this is when Magic and Bird are just coming into the league, and noone was sure whether/how long the NBA would survive. Long, interesting story of the history of the TV contract. (Started with ABC/Arledge. He feels screwed when he feels the league unfairly moves to CBS. Invents Superstars to dig into
This book is a masterpiece. It's the best sports lit/sports history book I've ever read. So much was changing in the NBA in 1979; it was the birth of the modern league. Young David Stern. Magic and Bird were rookies. Incorporation of the four ABA teams and its players. Transition to a more "black" sport, or at least a less white sport. Crazy salaries for the younger players, while older players and coaches miss out on the money. Television contracts. Expansion teams. Everything was changing and
The late, great David Halberstam followed the Trail Blazers during the 1979-1980 season, two years after their acclaimed victory over the Sixers. The Breaks of The Game, the book that resulted, remains one of the best sports books I have ever read and a work that has easily stood the test of time.The author of more than 20 books on topics as diverse as the Vietnam War, the modern civil rights struggle, the decline of the American auto industry, and the history of American media , Halberstam
4.5 starsAn excellent look at basketball, life, people, racial attitudes and the culture of the late 1970s and early 80s. How times have changed, particularly in the sports world. It was almost amusing to me to read about NBA players, in 1979, striving to get paid, say, $150,000 for a year, when today they are getting $20 million and complaining that they're worth more. The author does a first-rate job of discussing the ups and downs of a very competitive sport, which basketball is, and there
"The Cuckoo Man was Jack Nicholson, the movie star, a devoted follower of Laker basketball who had a seat right next to the Laker bench. In the championship season, when Portland had played Los Angeles, Nicholas had thus sat only about three feet away from the last man on the Portland bench who, in this case, happened to be Lloyd Neal, and everything that Nicholson said, every cry praising Kareem or belittling Walton, thundered in the ears of the Portland players. It was as if he had been chosen
David Halberstam
Mass Market Paperback | Pages: 467 pages Rating: 4.19 | 10259 Users | 271 Reviews
Be Specific About Out Of Books The Breaks of the Game
Title | : | The Breaks of the Game |
Author | : | David Halberstam |
Book Format | : | Mass Market Paperback |
Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
Pages | : | Pages: 467 pages |
Published | : | February 12th 1983 by Ballantine Books (first published 1981) |
Categories | : | Sports. Nonfiction. Basketball. History |
Commentary To Books The Breaks of the Game
"Among the best books ever written on professional basketball." The Philadelphia Inquirer David Halberstam, best-selling author of THE FIFTIES and THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST, turns his keen reporter's eye on the sport of basketball -- the players and the coaches, the long road trips, what happens on court, in front of television cameras, and off-court, where no eyes have followed -- until now.Define Books Supposing The Breaks of the Game
Original Title: | The Breaks of the Game |
ISBN: | 0345296257 (ISBN13: 9780345296252) |
Edition Language: | English |
Rating Out Of Books The Breaks of the Game
Ratings: 4.19 From 10259 Users | 271 ReviewsPiece Out Of Books The Breaks of the Game
Truly a fantastic, fascinating book. As a life-long Blazer fan, I started the book with the hopes of understanding the roots of my hometown team. What I found was an in-depth examination of the NBA in a period of evolution and stunted growth, with the '79-'80 Blazers as a vehicle to move the narrative forward. Halberstam's coverage of racial, social, and economic actions and consequences is direct and objective and provides far more of a historical read than I had expected. As it relates to myPretty interesting view into the NBA of the late 70's from David Halberstam.
Halberstam is a really good writer. He follows the Portland Trailblazers through the 79-80 season, talking extensively with coaches, players, etc. Tells a pretty compelling story. Remember that this is when Magic and Bird are just coming into the league, and noone was sure whether/how long the NBA would survive. Long, interesting story of the history of the TV contract. (Started with ABC/Arledge. He feels screwed when he feels the league unfairly moves to CBS. Invents Superstars to dig into
This book is a masterpiece. It's the best sports lit/sports history book I've ever read. So much was changing in the NBA in 1979; it was the birth of the modern league. Young David Stern. Magic and Bird were rookies. Incorporation of the four ABA teams and its players. Transition to a more "black" sport, or at least a less white sport. Crazy salaries for the younger players, while older players and coaches miss out on the money. Television contracts. Expansion teams. Everything was changing and
The late, great David Halberstam followed the Trail Blazers during the 1979-1980 season, two years after their acclaimed victory over the Sixers. The Breaks of The Game, the book that resulted, remains one of the best sports books I have ever read and a work that has easily stood the test of time.The author of more than 20 books on topics as diverse as the Vietnam War, the modern civil rights struggle, the decline of the American auto industry, and the history of American media , Halberstam
4.5 starsAn excellent look at basketball, life, people, racial attitudes and the culture of the late 1970s and early 80s. How times have changed, particularly in the sports world. It was almost amusing to me to read about NBA players, in 1979, striving to get paid, say, $150,000 for a year, when today they are getting $20 million and complaining that they're worth more. The author does a first-rate job of discussing the ups and downs of a very competitive sport, which basketball is, and there
"The Cuckoo Man was Jack Nicholson, the movie star, a devoted follower of Laker basketball who had a seat right next to the Laker bench. In the championship season, when Portland had played Los Angeles, Nicholas had thus sat only about three feet away from the last man on the Portland bench who, in this case, happened to be Lloyd Neal, and everything that Nicholson said, every cry praising Kareem or belittling Walton, thundered in the ears of the Portland players. It was as if he had been chosen
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