The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to The Sports Guy

Before I begin the review, I'd like to point out the valid and invalid criticisms of the book with my responses to them:Valid criticisms:1) "It's a little too long" (arguably yes, I myself probably could have enjoyed the book just as much if it were 50-100 pages less. I do question though if having less pages would've left out an important area of debate and even after I read this book, I felt there were more topics and issues that could've been presented.)2) "It is vulgar at times and has too much profanity" (Very valid, this is NOT a book for little kids, this is definitely a book for ADULTS. If anything, adults should read it and boil off the profanity and just give the main points of the book to the kids that want to learn about the NBA. SPOILER: It is important for kids to know why Dennis Johnson was one of the most important players in NBA history; it is perhaps not important for kids to know how large his "equipment" was).3) "It is borderline racist" (this one is rather suspect because Simmons, to the best of my knowledge, is not a racist and is actually quite brave to tackle race in his basketball book. No serious book about the history of professional basketball can avoid racial questions and when Simmons is being serious, he does a superb job of tackling race and racism in professional basketball. That being stated, it is not out of the question that some readers with antennae turned to high would be offended, especially when Simmons is trying to be funny. However, I suggest you read what he writes about Oscar Robertson and Elgin Baylor before judging him.)SPOILER:Bill is quite "racist" against one race, the Martians. He just assumes that the Earthlings would roll over a Martian Dream Team.4) "It is too much in the Simmons wheelhouse" (Valid too, I have been a fan of the Simmons columns and podcasts and therefore I get a lot of the humor and his style. However, perhaps someone born after 1992 or before 1958 won't get a lot of the humor and therefore feel lost as Simmons rattles off pop-culture references and jokes that resonate with people that grew up around his time. Also, people not familiar with his columns may also feel lost. Some might consider this book, because of Simmons' comedic perspective, a book with a specific audience. However, if you can get past the pop-culture references, you may still find that this basketball book is one that you can appreciate even if you don't get all the jokes.).5) "I don't like the NBA and/or I know nothing about the NBA" (Sorry to hear that. This is not an NBA book for novices in terms of the debates it wants to start and in terms of the questions it asks. Simmons' passion for the sport might alienate the person that is new to the NBA or just hates it. I've been a NBA fan for over 25 years and even I got an education from reading Simmons so imagine what the newbie/hater would have to face.)Invalid criticisms:1) "It is way too long!" (What are you 8? In this case, read response to valid criticism #2. Simmons is attempting to discuss the entire history of the NBA and quite frankly, with all the issues involved over the past 60+ years I'm surprised that the book isn't longer. Also, it is not a united 700 pages, rather one could easily read any of the book's 13 chapters as standalone ones. BTW, if you can't read more than 100 pages, then you might want to give up on reading altogether, unless you are the aforementioned 8 year old or lower in which case this book is not for you anyway).2) "It has a lot of footnotes" (Normally I would respond, but I think giving you a pacifier would be better. If you like, don't read the footnotes. You'll get a different interpretation of the book from the rest of us and you may complain about that too but then again, you're the baby whining about the footnotes in the first place).3) "I hate Bill Simmons" (You most likely won't like the book then. But I have to question the sanity of someone who hates Bill Simmons, then reads a 700+ page book by the same Bill Simmons, then comes on to Amazon to badmouth Simmons and the book [oh wait, this person did not read the book?])4) "Bill Simmons is a Boston-homer so most, if not all, of his conclusions are slanted that way" (You can't be more wrong about the book, yes Simmons is a Boston-homer but the majority of his analyses are reasonable given the thesis of the book. Fans of other teams, knowing Simmons' Boston-homer demeanor, should be pleasantly surprised by many of the analyses and conclusions he makes)5) "Bill Simmons pathologically hates Kobe/Kareem/Vince Carter therefore a lot of this book will be anti-those guys" (see response to invalid criticism #4).Now my review:"The Book of Basketball" by Bill Simmons is to me the right combination of comedy book, sports chronicle and master's thesis (if they have those for NBA analyses). It is because of this that even though the book is over 700 pages long, it is not boring because while reading it, it at times can make you laugh, make you think, make you feel, or some combination of the three.The basic premise of "The Book of Basketball" is that one should not judge players solely on the stats. One needs to go beyond the stats into who these players actually are/were and what their peers thought of them in order to determine their overall value to the history of the sport. It is quite an ambitious undertaking and one that requires a thorough examination of the sport and all its leagues and eras. Simmons utilizes all of his firsthand knowledge of watching games, tapes of old games, interviews he did himself, and a collection of great basketball books and condenses them into a book that explores every era, every league and every relevant player and issue.Simmons brilliantly opens the book with a chronicle of a conversation he had with Isiah Thomas (a guy Simmons attacked in many-a-column) and closes it with a chronicle of a conversation he had with Bill Walton. These two bookending chronicles set up the rest of the book and how one should value players and teams. What Isiah calls "The Secret" and what Walton calls "The Choice" is that intangible quality that makes an NBA player and a team successful. Armed with the concept of "The Secret" (or "The Choice"), Simmons examines and sometimes reexamines those players and teams that grasped this concept and those that didn't and used this as a variable to determine the greatness of that player or that team. Simmons reexamines the "Russell versus Wilt" debate and creates the "Hall of Fame Pyramid" where players are placed on different tiers depending on where their play ranks in the overall importance of the history of the league.In addition, Simmons poses the great "What Ifs?" of NBA history (which, as a fan of Cowley's "What If?" books for history was a welcome surprise for yours truly), looks at the greatest single-season teams from a different viewpoint and looks at specific individual player seasons that you would want in the NBA "Wine Cellar". Without creating separate chapters, Simmons also examines the spread of cocaine in the NBA during the late 70s to late 80s, the personality traits/flaws of certain players and the role that race and racism played in the history of the NBA.The best thing about this book is that it is as Malcolm Gladwell wrote in the foreward: "This book is supposed to start arguments" and after reading it, this book can and should generate a few healthy NBA debates. In addition, he gets guest input from "luminaries" like William Goldman (a 40+ yr Knicks season ticket holder/very successful screenwriter) and Chuck Klosterman (a confirmed sports atheist/writer).Simmons also injects a lot of comedy (I mean a lot). For those unfamiliar with Simmons' columns and podcasts, Simmons combines analyses and personal stories in this book with many humorous pop-culture references to Hoosiers, Teen Wolf (in a very surprising way), Scarface, the Wire, Mad Men, Shawshank Redemption, the Godfather and many well known and lesser known ones (the references to porn are why this book is not for kids).So who is this book for primarily? 1) any serious (adult) fan of the NBA and/or 2) any fan of Simmons' columns/podcasts. If you don't like this book, it is probably because you don't fit in either camp.All I can state after that is thank you Bill Simmons for writing this book. It is well overdue.

Last year I purchased Bill Simmons' The Book of Basketball for my birthday. Wow I didn't know what I was getting into. The book was released in 2009. I picked up the soft cover of the book which is the one I suggest everyone pick up. He has updated the book over the years only adding to how good it is. This book is 700 pages long so be ready for a long read. While it is an easy read for big fans of the NBA it may not be for the casual fan. If you aren't a fan who loves reading about the past in great detail this book may not be for you. Me? I am a big NBA fan and do love its past.I will preface everything by saying Bill Simmons isn't perfect but he is a fan, a passionate fan, who has used this medium to put down his thoughts on the sport he loves. And he did a great job in doing so. Simmons is a Celtic homer. No doubts there. And while it may make you wrinkle your nose at some of his thoughts he is still pretty centered and doesn't go too far left. Since he grew up going to Celtics games in his youth there is plenty of Celtic love in this book and some Laker hating as well. Do not let this cloud your thoughts about reading this book. Simmons did tons of research including reading a library of books on the NBA as well as tons of video research to ensure his writing was as accurate as his memory. I want to say it took him three years to write the book. I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed it. His perspective is a great easy read and he loves having fun with his words. Simmons also has a love for the footnote. Almost every page has at least one. His humor can also be on the adult side at times. Not that an eleven year-old is going to pick up this book but I just wanted to mention it.I didn't start following the NBA until around the time I was eight or nine. My brother-in-law Curtis got me into playing an NBA board game (Statis Pro Basketball) in the 70's and I was hooked. Weird how a board game can get someone hooked on sport such as basketball. Go figure. It was perfect timing for me as the Larry Bird - Magic Johnson era kicked in at the same time and I've never looked back. I love history and learning more about things I enjoy. This book was perfect me. I wish there had been a little more love for my favorite Dominique Wilkins and the Atlanta Hawks but I was still very happy with his thoughts on both.We all look at sports in our own unique way. I am 43 now and how I viewed and learned the sport of basketball 30 plus years ago is much different in how I learn and view it now. To that end I loved Bill Simmons' insight into the game. To quote Paul Harvey this book gave me "the rest of the story". While I could always see the play on the court I didn't have the basketball/NBA smarts to dissect some of the details. There was little NBA coverage at that time in small town America and until the NBA hit cable it was just as hard to see games consistently. This book provides tons of insight I never had. Nowadays every move is over analyzed instantly on TV and on the web allowing us to make a better informed analysis of what we are seeing in a game and around the league. It just wasn't that way back in the day. So as Bill Simmons looks at the NBA from every possible angle I was able to live those early days of watching the NBA all over again. This time with a new appreciation.This is a must read for any NBA fan. Again it may be a bit much for the casual fan but if you think there is any possibility you might like this book I suggest you spend the $11.11 on Amazon or at some other retailer and I don't think you'll be disappointed.