"Gary Pluff has put together a great manual for basketball players 12-to-18 who want to get better. The A-Z Basketball Book is a great read for those interested in learning more about the game and becoming improved players." Jim Boeheim, Head Coach Syracuse Men's Basketball The A-Z Basketball Book is for all players, from age 12 to 18, that want to know what it takes to excel at the great game of basketball. Developed from a lifetime of coaching, playing, and studying, this comprehensive book condenses all the wisdom of the game down into an easy-to-read A to Z format. Meant to be read over and over again, the book will help young players elevate their game by increasing their knowledge and insight of the sport.
Expressing the passion felt for basketball using all 26 letters of the alphabet accompanied by rhymes, colorful illustrations, and informative text, this tribute to the sport explores the hardwood heroes in a fresh and fun way. Readers will enjoy fun facts about NBA superstars past and present, including LeBron, Kobe, Jordan, and Magic, seemingly doing the impossible on the court.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER A unique, unfiltered memoir from the NBA champion and fifteen-time all-star ahead of his induction into the Hall of Fame. Kevin Garnett was one of the most dominant players the game of basketball has ever seen. He was also one of its most outspoken. Over the course of his illustrious twenty-one-year NBA career, he elevated trash talk to an art form and never shied away from sharing his thoughts on controversial subjects. In KG A to Z, published ahead of Garnett’s induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame, he looks back on his life and career with the same raw candor. Garnett describes the adversity he faced growing up in South Carolina before ultimately relocating to Chicago, where he became one of the top prospects in the nation. He details his headline-making decision to skip college and become the first player in two decades to enter the draft directly from high school, starting a trend that would be followed by future superstars like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. He shares stories of playing with and against Bryant, James, Michael Jordan, and other NBA greats, and he chronicles his professional ups and downs, including winning a championship with the Boston Celtics. He also speaks his mind on a range of topics beyond basketball, such as fame, family, racism, spirituality, and music. Garnett’s draft decision wasn’t the only way he’d forever change the game. His ability to play on the perimeter as a big man foreshadowed the winning strategy now universally adopted by the league. He applies this same innovative spirit here, organizing the contents alphabetically as an encyclopedia. If you thought Kevin Garnett was exciting, inspiring, and unfiltered on the court, just wait until you read what he has to say in these pages.
STUFF Good Players Should Know may very well be the best book ever written for basketball players. It is conversational and easy to understand, yet filled with subtle insights into the game of basketball. STUFF is page after page of creative concepts, common sense, and special tips that can not be found anywhere else. ? How do you guard a stronger player? ? How do you set up a game-winning steal? ? How do you ?strip? a rebound? ? How do you score with a strong-handed dribble while going to the weak side? ? How do you practice shooting for maximum game effectiveness? ? How do you recognize defensive changes? STUFF is like having a coach right beside you, in your room, discussing the fine points of the games. How do you think in the minutes of the game? How do you react to mistakes? What is your attitude about fouls? Eating? Superstitions? Injuries? All this and more makes STUFF a book that players will find indispensable. Basketball fans will enjoy it, but players won't do
The inspiration for the Netflix film Rez Ball—produced by Lebron James The moving story of a Navajo high school basketball team, its members struggling with the everyday challenges of high school, adolescence, and family, and the great and unique obstacles facing Native Americans living on reservations. Deep in the heart of northern Arizona, in a small and isolated patch of the vast 17.5-million-acre Navajo reservation, sits Chinle High School. Here, basketball is passion, passed from grandparent to parent to child. Rez Ball is a sport for winters where dark and cold descend fast and there is little else to do but roam mesa tops, work, and wonder what the future holds. The town has 4,500 residents and the high school arena seats 7,000. Fans drive thirty, fifty, even eighty miles to see the fast-paced and highly competitive matchups that are more than just games to players and fans. Celebrated Times journalist Michael Powell brings us a narrative of triumph and hardship, a moving story about a basketball team on a Navajo reservation that shows how important sports can be to youths in struggling communities, and the transcendent magic and painful realities that confront Native Americans living on reservations. This book details his season-long immersion in the team, town, and culture, in which there were exhilarating wins, crushing losses, and conversations on long bus rides across the desert about dreams of leaving home and the fear of the same.
A story of passion and commitment and faith?qualities that drove one working-class kid to not only build a sports empire, but also to change the way the entire sports industry has done business. This book is a tale of determination, faith, and, most assuredly, good timing and good luck. In truth, this isn’t one story?but many. Sports executive and businessman Jerry Colangelo weaves together a lifetime of great moments in sports and tense times in business. In How You Play the Game, sports executive and businessman Jerry Colangelo details a lifetime of stories, including: How he emerged from the tough streets of Chicago Heights as a high school and college sports star How he helped create and build the Chicago Bulls?at a time when the NBA was a second-tier professional league, and two basketball teams had already failed in the Windy City How he moved to Arizona and started the Phoenix Suns, an organization that fought its way to become the ninth richest franchise in all of sports And how he then began baseball’s newest team, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Peppered with stories about players and coaches, including Charles Barkley and Connie Hawkins, Red Holzman, and Buck Showalter, as well as owners, general managers, investors, reporters, and more, How You Play the Game is truly an insider’s look at the sports world.
From Michael Jordan to'Magic' Johnson, LeBron James to Shaquille O'Neale, Basketball LegendsAlphabet is a slam-dunk A to Z of All-Star ballers that have earned their place in history. Fantastic for young fans from the age they can dribble to the age they can dunk. A magical way to inspire their hoop dreams.
'A part of all those people who helped me along the way can be found in everything I have done and continue to do. I had some great teachers - and I listened to what they had to say.' - Michael Jordan A global icon in sports, style and business, Michael Jordan is famous for his unrivalled athletic ability, his fierce determination, and his grace under pressure. In DRIVEN FROM WITHIN, he makes it clear that his phenomenal success is thanks in large part to the teachers, mentors and friends who have guided him throughout his life. Here is a book about the power of collaboration and teamwork, the energy that is released when people share their gifts and hard-won knowledge. With almost two million copies of his three previous books in print, Michael Jordan has proven himself to be as strong a performer in bookstores as he is on the court. Lavishly illustrated and beautifully designed, this is Michael Jordan's most intimate book to date. Organized around the qualities that Jordan demonstrates in his own life and that he looks for in others - qualities like authenticity, integrity, passion and commitment - DRIVEN FROM WITHIN is an inspiring record of an extraordinary life.
From New Jersey's rough and competitive world of playground basket-ball to the unforgiving, sleep-deprived reality of surgical training, Bruce Rosenfeld offers a gripping account of how a young boy with an overwhelming passion for basketball repeatedly utilizes lessons learned on the court to overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges. Often hilarious and at times heart wrenching, this captivating and honest narrative leaves the reader mesmerized by a unique perspective on two very different worlds and how they ultimately fused to shape a life and a successful career in medicine. A book for the underdog, the author's lessons of teamwork, discipline and never-ending practice is motivating and inspiring and effortlessly demonstrates the importance of believing in your own potential while trusting your instincts to do what is right. About the Author Dr. Bruce Rosenfeld has been the chief of urology at the Fallon Clinic in Worcester, Massachusetts, and an assistant professor of urology at the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine. Currently he is in private practice in Tucson, Arizona, where he enjoys caring for patients and never forgets his basketball roots. Endorsement ...what youth sports are supposed to be about. This book strengthens my faith in that ideal. --Steve Kerr, five-time NBA Champion, Chicago Bulls, San Antonio Spurs
Whether you're a die-hard booster from the Lute Olson era or a new supporter of Sean Miller, this is the ultimate resource guide for true fans of the Arizona Wildcats. Authors Steve Rivera and Anthony Gimino have collected every essential piece of Wildcats knowledge and trivia—from how many players the Wildcats have had selected in the NBA draft, the program's longest-tenured coach, and the former players who have had their numbers retired—and pair it with must-do activities, and rank them all, from one to 100. Providing an entertaining and easy-to-follow checklist for diehard fans, these are the 100 things all Wildcat supporters need to know and do in their lifetime.
