Publisher's Synopsis
A buzzer beater is perhaps the most unexpected and exciting occurrence in all of sport. And the great thing about the average basketball game is that it produces at least five moments that are almost as good as a vintage buzzer beater. This book celebrates the great game, the one that is responsible for you living on the edge of your seat, and that is responsible for your fingernails always being filed down to the bone!
The National Basketball Association is the home of many gentle giants, and some not-so-gentle ones, as well. From Jordan to LeBron, and from Magic to Shaq, these larger than life personalities have lit up our screens with their unique energy and wizardry with the hoops. Basketball is, indeed, a gift to all of us.This book is dedicated to both the huge superstars who have made basketball a global sport, popular in hundreds of countries, and to the lesser known players who, despite their lack of individual success, played the role of the glue that held championship winning teams together. Without these silent warriors toiling to set up assists, no team would be able to reach even the Conference Finals.
You will be able to learn a lot from this book. Depending on your level of interest in and familiarity with the players who took basketball to new heights, you will find a large number of players I have profiled, whom you might not have known about earlier. There is no total slam dunk here, since there are definitely obscure corners of the NBA that very few people know about!
I have been careful to include as much additional information as possible. Starting from the position at which each player in the book achieved the greatest fame and fortune (Centers, Point Guards, Small Forwards, Shooting Guards, and Power Forwards, all of them have contributed), to the year in which they turned professional and turned heads as rookies on the basketball court, everything is represented, and ensures that you will come away from reading any part of this book as a happier and wiser fan of the sport.
People across the globe, in every single country, have fond memories of the hard work they put in to watch NBA games - memories of waking up early in the morning or staying awake till the dead of night to watch their stars in action, or making a long trek to a sports bar that had the game on. This book is for all of them - the dedicated fans without whom the most dynamic sport in the world would be a little less exciting, a little less magical, a little less moving.
