The late 1960s and early 1970s, in New York City and America at large, were years marked by political tumult, social unrest—and the best professional basketball ever played. Paradise, for better or worse, was a hardwood court in Midtown Manhattan. When the Garden Was Eden is the definitive account of how the New York Knickerbockers won their first and only championships, and in the process provided the nation no small escape from the Vietnam War, the tragedy at Kent State, and the last vestiges of Jim Crow. The Knicks were more than a team; they were a symbol of harmony, the sublimation of individual personalities for the greater collective good. No one is better suited to revive the old chants of “Dee-fense!” that rocked Madison Square Garden or the joy that radiated courtside than Harvey Araton, who has followed the Knicks, old and new, for decades—first as a teenage fan, then as a young sports reporter with the New York Post, and now as a writer and columnist for the New York Times. Araton has traveled to the Louisiana home of the Captain, Willis Reed (after writing a column years earlier that led to his abrupt firing as the Knicks' short-lived coach); he has strolled the lush gardens of Walt “Clyde” Frazier's St. Croix oasis; discussed the politics of that turbulent era with Senator Bill Bradley; toured Baltimore's church basement basketball leagues with Black Jesus himself, Earl “the Pearl” Monroe; played memory games with Jerry “the Brain” Lucas; explored the Tao of basketball with Phil “Action” Jackson; and sat through eulogies for Dave DeBusschere, the lunch-bucket, 23-year-old player-coach lured from Detroit, and Red Holzman, the scrappy Jewish guard who became a coaching legend. In When the Garden Was Eden, Araton not only traces the history of New York's beloved franchise—from Ned Irish to Spike Lee to Carmelo Anthony—but profiles the lives and careers of one of sports' all-time great teams, the Old Knicks. With measured prose and shoe-leather reporting, Araton relives their most glorious triumphs and bitter rivalries, and casts light on a time all but forgotten outside of pregame highlight reels and nostalgic reunions—a time when the Garden, Madison Square, was its own sort of Eden.
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Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association: The Real Story of a Team Left Behind gives an inside look at one of the most intriguing times in the history of professional basketball; and the city of Louisville and the state of Kentucky were enjoying every bit of it. And then as quickly as the Colonels appeared, they were gone. They had been around just long enough to win a world championship and showcase not only some of the best basketball players in the history of the game, but also some of its most colorful characters. Perhaps this book should have been written years ago, but there always seemed to be plenty of time. And then one day, a generation or two removed, someone asked what happened to that pro-basketball team back in the 60s and 70s? BAM, it hits you. This book had to be written. Here are never-before-told stories that only Lloyd "Pink" Gardner would know. He lived it and Gary P. West wrote it. A story of colorful owners with family connections to the Lindbergh kidnapping and Hope Diamond; sports agents who would do anything to sign players; a double murder and suicide; a businessman who thought he could do in basketball what he had done with Kentucky Fried Chicken; an insignificant T.V. deal that turned into hundreds of millions of dollars; a team that drafted a 5 6 , 55-year-old college professor; and through it all still won a world championship. Lloyd Gardner was a major part of the success of the Kentucky Colonels. Anyone who knows anything about the Kentucky Colonels and their history will tell you that. Lloyd had the perfect temperament to be a trainer, and the knowledge to get the players back after certain injuries, and the key thing of loyalty... to the players and the coaches. Hubie Brown--Interview with Drew Deener on WKRD Radio
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Born in El Paso's Segundo Barrio, Nolan Richardson was the first black star for legendary basketball coach Don Haskins at Texas Western College. Rising to national prominence at the University of Arkansas, Richardson became the first black coach at a Southern school to win the NCAA Championship, playing an electrifying style dubbed “Forty Minutes of Hell.” His outspoken response to perceived racial injustices culminated in Richardson's accusing his university of discrimination, bringing about an abrupt end to his college career. The only coach in history to win a Junior College, NIT, and NCAA title, Richardson now coaches in the WNBA. Rus Bradburd, a former assistant coach under Don Haskins, highlights Richardson's trailblazing career with empathy and intimacy, revealing a man whose hard-won successes were matched by deeply felt losses. An inside look at the politics of race in college sports, Forty Minutes of Hell sets Richardson's complex story against the backdrop of a decisive time in American history.
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Few people in sports have had more books written about them. This is the first by Bob Knight---one of the most literate, candid, quoted, and outspoken men in American public life telling in this first-person account of his full, rich life. Much of that life has been in basketball, most of it because of basketball, but it also has brought him forward as a coach, who has proved academic responsibility and production of championship college athletic teams not only can coexist but should. His excitement as things start anew for him at Texas Tech is matched here by his characteristic frankness and remarkable recollection of a life he clearly has enjoyed.His Indiana teams also won NCAA titles in 1980--81 and 1986--87. The 1975--76 Indiana team was the last unbeaten team in college menâs basketball. Knightâs career includes six seasons as head coach at Army, where his teams won 102 games and lost 50. He is the only coach whose teams won championships in the NCAA tournament, the National Invitation Tournament, the Olympic Games, and the Pan American Games. During all that he has been at the heart of more controversies while running a winning and squeaky-clean program than any coach of any sport anytime or anywhere.His excitement as things start anew for him is matched here by his candor and remarkable recollection of a life he clearly has enjoyed. Youâll see why, with story after story---some delightful, some hilarious, some poignant, none of them dull: the story of Bob Knightâs life.
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In 1977, Rudy Tomjanovich and Kermit Washington became entwined in a single punch that would change not only their lives, but how professional basketball is played today. Because the punch dislodged Tomjanovich's skull and nearly destroyed both men's careers, the scuffle never settled as a dusty bit of NBA trivia. Instead, it nearly superseded both men's notable achievements. The history of that punch (it could not, by any standards, be considered a fight) and the fate of the two men are the subjects of John Feinstein's The Punch. In the early days of the NBA, teams had their stars and their "enforcers." Enforcers such as Washington protected star players on the court with their willingness to mix it up. With concise prose, Feinstein reports on this era, following strings of trades, drafts, and personal relationships to their nexus. Those who do not think about basketball on a statistical level may occasionally find themselves lost, but Feinstein, ever conscious of his subject, ties the tangents neatly to the core of the scuffle that led to the infamous punch. Thorough and thoughtful, Feinstein does not make any excuses, nor does he vilify. He simply traces the web of both men's lives back to their adolescent years when it was not about the NBA, nor the punch, but about the game. Anyone who has ever wondered about these two men, or the history of the NBA, will want to read this book. --Karin Rosman
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Heaven Is a Playground was the first book on the uniquely American phenomenon of urban basketball. Rick Telander, a young photojournalist and former high school basketball player, spent part of the summer of 1973 and all of the summer of 1974 in Brooklyn living the playground life with his subjects at Foster Park in Flatbush. He slept on the floor of a park regularâs apartment, observing, questioning, traveling and playing with, and eventually coaching a ragtag group of local teenagers whose hopes of better lives were often fanatically attached to the transcendent game itself. At times little separates the author and his subjects, both of whom are emotionally linked by their passion for hoops. But as the summer unfolds and even superstars such as the legendary and incendiary Fly Williams are confronted with the realities of ghetto life and the sociological hurdles facing African American males, the joy of the game starts to be seen as the wispy pipe dream it often becomes. Written before cell phones, disposable cameras, and cable TV, Heaven Is a Playground is one of a kindâa funny, sad, ultimately inspiring book about Americans and the roots of the sport that they love. In this third edition, thirty-five years after Telander discovered New Yorkâs kings of basketball, the author provides a retrospective of the game and times.
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When Bill Russell retired in 1969, his departure signaled the end of the Boston Celtics dynasty. The Celts, with Russell in the middle, had won 11 NBA championships in 13 years, but as the 1969-70 season opened so did the door for a new champion. Some felt the L.A. Lakers, with their superstar triumvirate of Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, and Wilt Chamberlain would claim the title. Others picked the high-scoring Baltimore Bullets or the balanced and deep Atlanta Hawks. And there were even a few people who picked the New York Knicks. The Knicks? Weren't they the team that had never won an NBA title, despite being an original franchise when the league began play in 1946? They were, indeed, but in the fall of 1969 the Knicks put a different kind of team on the floor, one they had been building for years. Center Willis Reed and guard Walt "Clyde" Frazier were the New Yorker's two best players, but it was a trade with Detroit the season before that gave Coach Red Holzman the kind of team he wanted by bringing hardworking forward Dave DeBusschere into the fold. Former Princeton All-American Bill Bradley and veteran guard Dick Barnett completed the starting five. A strong bench and the defensive minded Holzman were the other elements that allowed it to work. The old-school Holzman made defense a byword, imploring his players to see the ball, and on offense to hit the open man. With five starters playing as one, and a solid bench behind them, the Knicks unveiled the kind of team basketball that hadn't been seen in years. Playing unselfishly from the start, they ran off a record 18-game win streak and took it from there, showing the basketball world how teamwork and defense could win. Tales from the 1969-70 New York Knicks is the story of a group of individuals and a coach who created a magical season for New York fans that is still remembered today. The Knicks won it all, but not without sacrifice, struggle and a moment of high drama that is perhaps unmatched in NBA annals.
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Basketball is now over a century old. Cages to Jump Shots offers an unforgettable glimpse of its exciting and eccentric early years, beginning in 1891 when James Naismith drew up the first rules, through decades of growing popularity and professionalism, and culminating with its fundamental transformation in the 1950s, when the twenty-four-second shot clock and team foul limit were instituted. Along the way we learn about all those who were drawn to the gameâplayers, officials, owners, and fansâand why so many came to love it. Drawing on extensive research and a host of interviews with veteran players, Robert W. Peterson vividly recreates the rough-and-tumble basketball games of long ago and shows why basketball has become such a celebrated part of American life today. This Bison Books edition features an updated appendix of early pro basketball teams.
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In the mid-1970s, the city of Boston entered a period of upheaval on both its historic cobblestone streets and its legendary parquet basketball court. The Boston Celtics’ long dominance of the NBA came to an abrupt end, and the city's image as a hub of social justice was shaken to its core. When the federal courts declared, in 1974, that the city was in violation of school desegregation rulings and would need to institute a busing program, Boston became deeply polarized. Then, just as the city was struggling to pull itself out of economic and social turmoil, the Boston Celtics drafted a forward from Indiana State named Larry Bird. Upon the arrival of the “Hick from French Lick” to Boston in 1979, the fates of team and city were reborn. Pride, championships, reduced crime, and an economic boom re-emerged in Boston. In Rebound!, author Michael Connelly chronicles these parallel but intertwining worlds. It is an account of a city in financial, moral, and social decline brought back to life by the re-emergence of the Boston Celtics dynasty and the return of hope, purpose, and pride to “Hub of the Universe.” Interviews with city officials, former players, and others on the frontlines provide a fascinating exploration into this tumultuous time.
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