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

After reading all 700+ pages, I'm surprised the Sports Gal is still with Bill; the level of detail and analysis required to write this book would have definitely led to an end for most relationships. Bill manages to blend facts, opinion, and even some humor (especially about Kareem), into a very entertaining journey into NBA history. Can't wait for the next version in 2016...you know, after the Sports Gal leaves him, takes half in the divorce, and he's hard up for money.

Love the anecdotes, stories and side comments, Simmons of grantland fame does a great job of putting the the structure for the best team ever. The wine cellar team chapter makes this a great buy by itself.

I read these 700 pages as quickly as possible, because I'm a fan of Bill Simmons' writing, but you could also take Simmons' advice and plant this book in your bathroom and have the greatest 5 months of bathroom reading in your life. Plus, with the the store/Wal-Mart price war dropping the price of this book so low, how can you lose? Just buy it.

P.S. This book, apart from rekindling my love for the NBA, inspired me to dust off my late grandfather's copy of "Breaks Of The Game" (which is praised highly throughout this particular book). Thanks for the memories, Book Of Basketball!

Not only does Bill Simmons write beautifully, but he KNOWS his stuff.... a guaranteed look at sports like you've ever seen it before... If he were to write a book like this for Baseball and/or Football... I'd get those book too! Way to go Bill! Miss your articles in The Mag.

Bill Simmons writes the most entertaining sports column on the internet, and his podcasts are lively and fun. His book is an exhaustive foray into a sport he feels passionate about, and his writing reflects his love for basketball. He does not come across as the foremost authority, but instead as a fan who thinks about things like "Pantheons" and ranking players by their abilities and impact on the game. I found myself frustrated by the Kindle version for not being able to skip forward to find out who ranked #1 in his list of best players, and I say that as a compliment. However, I feel that sometimes his love for the Celtics clouds his judgment at times (KG that high? Really?) but as any sports fan who sometimes takes things too seriously, this is entirely understandable, and ultimately forgivable. The Kindle version gets a lower mark due to the inability to readily access footnotes, which makes Bill's book unique, and takes the fun out of reading it. As a previous reviewer stated, buy the dead tree version.

Despite a slow start I loved the Book of Basketball. The brief history of the league, for example, was a bit cumbersome -- but the Hall of Fame vision and Top 100 players are riveting prose (seriously). Captivating. I felt like I attended seasons of 70's era basketball games and reinforced by '80's and 90's memories. All that said - it'd be hard for me to see a non-basketball fan enjoying this read (which is a stark difference from his columns).

My only complaint is that the footnotes weren't just worked into the text.

Net-net -- if you're a basketball fan, this is a must-read. Set aside a few weeks!

Sure this book bounces around like Simmons' brain, but if you're used to reading his articles on ESPN and they are some of my favorite, then this book rekindled my love for "basketball beyond the Lakers", you'll get a ton of information about players from years past, and even more recent that you may have forgotten. If you're a basketball fan you have to read this book, it's packed full of great stuff with Simmons' enjoyable and fun style of writing. Highly recommended. Oh yeah, Simmons...Celtics suck.

An unbelievably detailed look at basketball written by an NBA obsessive. This book is the best book that Simmons will ever write as the NBA is his bailiwick. I still consider this book to be the authoritative guide to the NBA. Will be loved by serious NBA fans, and liked by even those with a mild interest in the NBA.

Bill Simmons is THE best sportswriter in America, hands down.

I stopped caring about the NBA 5-6 years ago, but still found this book entertaining, interesting, and easy to read.

You can also skip around as opposed to reading from cover to cover, which makes it a great "Bathroom Book"...which is nice.

If nothing else, buy this book to support the guy who has given us all more free, excellent content over years then we probably deserve.

The Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons is easily one of the best books I've ever read. Before I read this book I wasn't a huge NBA fan and knew very little about the history of the game. Once I started reading this book I couldn't put it down. Now I love the NBA. The Book of Basketball paints the NBA as more than a game, but rather a melting-pot of brash characters and differing psychologies. Simmons is hilarious and really does a great job balancing his comedic opinions with factual bits. This book is a MUST READ!

This tome has everything. It is perfect for bathroom reading in that each section stands alone and can be read in a few minutes.
Every page is chock full on detailed analysis which "proves" the author's premise. His treatment of old-time vs new players is thoughtful and, in my opinion, accurate.
I could go on and on, but only by reading this excellent work can it be fully appreciated for its genius.

Book came much earlier than expected and is in excellent condition.

I read the book and found it to be quite funny and informative. While it would be hard to enjoy most of the jokes if you didn't pay attention to pop culture, I enjoyed Simmons style.

Amazing book. I was second guessing myself thanks to all the negative comments. However, after plowing through all 700 pages in a few days, it was arguably one of the best basketball books I've ever read. From great footnotes to amazing coverages of 2-3 decades of NBA to inserting his point of view with witty comments and concrete evidences, it was amazing. If you are a basketball fan, you are going to LOVE it. I wished this book was longer because I did not want to put it down. Definitely worth the money and time. MUST BUY!

Fantastic book, still reading it and enjoying the wit and humor that Simmons uses. One of my favorite sports writers and a devout lover of Grantland.com. If you love Grantland and Simmons this is a must buy book.

Just too, much homerism. If Larry Bird winked at Bill I think Bill would consider it the greatest and most unselfish act that any man or God has bestowed upon mere mortals. Some good stuff in here, but the notes and trying to follow makes this really clunky reading. Also, sadly-- Simmons is one of those sports writers who unsuccessfully tries to convince us all that he knows a lot about not just pop culture, but movies and music on some higher level. Listening to him go on about movies, actors, their craft, comedy etc, is mildly annoying. Not an awful book by any stretch of the imagination, but true professionalism is covered in shamrock framed glasses. Should have known going in.

NBA basketball doesn't matter the way it used to. This book will remind you why that happened, and even fill you in on what you might have missed. Simmons is a hopeless homer Celtic fan, but you come to accept that as part of the deal, a necessary condition to the effort like the ego of a superstar.

The book is definitely a must read for all basketball junkies or fans of Simmons other writings. His bias towards the Celtics is clear from the get go but he acknowledges and embraces it so it doesn't bother me to much. Definitely insightful and as an 18 year old who hasn't seen to much basketball history it teaches about greats that aren't discussed openly for whatever reason. The Bill Waltons and Bernard Kings of the sport.

This was the ultimate gift for the sports fan who has and knows everything! I purchased this for my son, a former HS basketball player and college senior, along with gave him the reference website for Xmas. He stated last night that upon his return to campus, he spent the whole weekend immersed in it. This from a guy on the brink of more studies and all the reading he can handle. I think this speaks volumes to the highly conversant style of Bill Simmons as well as his fully documented history of basketball's most memorable moments. Truly a treasure trove of behind-the-scenes antics and sound analysis of playbook strategies of the game's greats! This purchase was spot on!

This really is *the* book on professional basketball in the USA. I've read several other classics - Loose Balls, Tee Breaks of the Game - however the depth of research that has gone into this book is extraordinary. A must read for any hoops fan.

Good writing but his lack of sophistication when it comes to basketball stats makes the second half of the book useless. It is really good for getting a sense of basketball history, styles of play and it is really opinionated. But the second half of the book where he is ranking players, teams etc really show his unsophistication. Not using tempo free stats is really galling in this day and age.

Get it for an overview of the history of the league. Not a good place to do comparisons. To not even reference the stats used in BASKETBALLREFERENCE.COM in a book of this kind is really really really stupid.