‘The Undisputed Guide to Pro Basketball History’
For anyone who follows professional basketball, this is the book to read regarding the history of the sport.
The guys at FreeDarko put out this book to write about the history of basektball like no one has ever covered it before. Instead of strictly talking about which teams or players are the best and which championships are the most memorable, The Undisputed Guide to Pro Basketball History covers the most memorable personalities from professional basketball history.
From the description on the back of the book:
The real history of the game is not in its championships, which are indisputable, but in the personalities of its heroes, which are, at least, undisputed. It’s in the larger-than-life pathos of Wilt, the secret ties that bind Larry Bird to the flashy ABA, and Michael Jordan when he flew a little too high. From the prehistoric teachings of Dr. James Naismith to pioneering superstars such as LeBron James and Kevin Durant, FreeDarko retells the history of the game in fresh, arresting detail. You’ll never see roundball the same way again.
You’ll never see roundball the same way again. Pretty bold statement to make about a book written by guys that run a blog that is satirical in nature and includes plenty of cartoons in its pages such as these:
The debate over who has the best hair in NBA history
Charles Barkley in cartoon form
But it’s close to an accurate statement.
The book is divided into seven chapters, based on eras in basketball history:
- Chapter Zero: Up from the waters (1891-1946)
- Chapter One: A more perfect union (1947-1956)
- Chapter Two: They walked this earth (1957-1969)
- Chapter Three: The big payback (1970-1979)
- Chapter Four: The gold standard (1980-1990)
- Chapter Five: A tale of two three-peats (1991-1999)
- Chapter Six: The new deuteronomy (2000-2009)
It starts off with how basketball began, based on Dr. Naismith’s idea of using peach baskets mounted to each end of the gym and putting a ball through the basket. A more perfect union discusses the formation of professional leagues for a more polished product. They walked this earth is mostly about the Boston Celtics and their domination at the beginning of the NBA, with a small section devoted to Wilt Chamberlain and a small passage about Elgin Baylor, Jerry West and Oscar Robertson.
The big payback is about the New York Knickerbockers of the 70s, the ABA and famous stars of 70s basketball. The gold standard is about arguably the most competitive era of the NBA: the battles between the Lakers and Celtics; Magic and Bird; the 1984 draft that brought in MJ, Barkley, Olajuwon and Stockton. A tale of two three-peats is about none other than the Bulls that dominated the 90s thanks to MJ, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and Phil Jackson; it also touches on the 1992 Dream Team and the Knicks-Heat rivalry that was one of the most hate-fueled rivalries ever in all of sports.
The new deuteronomy is about Allen Iverson; the break out of fast-paced basketball by the Suns, Kings and Mavericks; Shaq; the Spurs dynasty; and the benefit of Youtube in archiving rare NBA footage.
In terms of basketball history, you will learn more from “The Undisputed Guide to Pro Basketball History” than any other book about the NBA. It’s easy to read and comes in at only 211 pages. It ‘s the level of detail that FreeDarko put into this book that separates it from other basketball works; putting the time into finding quirky stats and factoids that no one else would bother looking up. And it’s what makes this book so special.
5/5
FreeDarko published another book in 2008, “The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac: Styles, Stats, and Stars in Today’s Game.”
