Marcus Richards
Even though the sports genre isn’t the most popular category when it comes to books, there are many great books that sneaked through that you must read. Most of them are based on actual events and they provide higher value than expected.
Sportsbooks are great for giving you motivation, learning something new, or just getting into the right mindset, especially if you play the same sport in real life.
So, if you are a basketball fan or want to peruse your basketball career, here are some books that will definitely impress you.
The Book of Basketball (Bill Simmons)
This book is packed with a huge amount of information about the history of the NBA that you probably didn’t know about. It is a fun book that is great for all basketball fans. The author even decided to put fun chapters like “The What-If game” where he asks questions like “What if Detroit took Carmelo Anthony over Darko Milicic?”
Even though there are some chapters where you can get overwhelmed and bored by all the unnecessary statistics that won’t mean a thing to you, overall it is a very interesting book about basketball. The author also decided to add some pop-culture references which can be hard to understand, especially if you are younger or didn’t grow up in the United States.
The Last Shot (Darcy Frey)
This is a much deeper book than the previous one. “The Last Shot” is a book about life on the playgrounds of Coney Island. It is a book filled with poverty, despair, and crime where basketball becomes the last chance to escape his reality and have a decent future making big money in the NBA.
The book shows the struggle from inadequate schooling, brutal world of college recruiting, desperate family situations, but overall the strong will that will keep them going.
It is a book that will definitely inspire you to become something more, especially if you are in the early stages of basketball.
Pacific Rims (Rafe Bartholomew)
Most people don’t know that the Philippines are the most basketball-crazy nation on Earth? Well, neither did I until I read this book.
Pacific Rims is a book that highlights Rafe Bartholomew’s journey as he spends an entire season inside the locker room of a professional basketball team and shows his hard work for improving the sport in the country.
He negotiates with politicians over basketball courts in exchange for votes and shows the dirty rules behind the system.
It is a must-read book if you want to learn more about basketball outside of the US.
Brave Dragons (Jim Yardley)
You know that the best stories about basketball come from NBA coaches, and this book is no exception. It highlights the story of an NBA coach called Bob Weiss and his almost impossible mission to transfer the NBA basketball style to the worst team in Chinese basketball.
Spoiler alert: Things don’t work out quite as well as he thought.
The book also giving us an inside look into Chinese society and what happens if you try to bring something American to a country where there are still communist rules.
This is a great book if you want to learn something new about a country that is very different in terms of sport compared to western countries.
The Mamba Mentality (Kobe Bryant)
There is no better book than a book written by a legend, where you have a lot to learn. This is a large-format coffee table book that gives insights into Kobe’s passion for basketball and the way he approached challenges.
The Mamba Mentality isn’t a traditional biography book. It is more about going through Kobe’s steps to prepare physically and mentally.
It is a book the will give you behind the curtain look at Kobe’s career and you’ll definitely learn something useful, especially if you are just starting your basketball career.
Here you have it, the best books about basketball. If you like basketball check out the current odds for the NBA 2021 season here: https://edge.twinspires.com/nba/odds/
