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hagbard_celine's review
2.0
Readable and conversational, but it's a conversation with a guy who kinda sucks.
optimismprime's review
5.0
I'm 40 pages in--through the Prologue and a bit of the first chapter--so I still have 660 pages to go... and my qualms on spending thirty bucks on it have already been forgotten.
Early reports look like it'll be one of the three must-read modern books on basketball, along with [b:Can I Keep My Jersey? Eleven Teams, Six Years, Five Countries, and My So-called Career as a Professional Basketball Player|24480|Can I Keep My Jersey? Eleven Teams, Six Years, Five Countries, and My So-called Career as a Professional Basketball Player|Paul Shirley|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51fDp-FJL3L._SL75_.jpg|25330] and [b:FreeDarko presents The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac Styles, Stats, and Stars in Today's Game|3355159|FreeDarko presents The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac Styles, Stats, and Stars in Today's Game|Bethlehem Shoals|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255929050s/3355159.jpg|3393667].
Will update this review as I progress and finish.
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Update: Am currently about halfway through, and my eyes have only started bleeding from information overload a couple times. Not bad!
Seriously, this book is big. I've been reading Clancy since I was a wee lad in fifth grade, and I'm not sure I've seen a book this big and densely packed in a while. I love basketball with a fiery passion, and this has almost burned me out.
Almost.
Fortunately, I'm still going. Made it up to the 60s in his list of the top 96 players ever, and I'm going to finish in the next couple days.
If you enjoy basketball, get this book and get ready to have your mind blown.
Early reports look like it'll be one of the three must-read modern books on basketball, along with [b:Can I Keep My Jersey? Eleven Teams, Six Years, Five Countries, and My So-called Career as a Professional Basketball Player|24480|Can I Keep My Jersey? Eleven Teams, Six Years, Five Countries, and My So-called Career as a Professional Basketball Player|Paul Shirley|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51fDp-FJL3L._SL75_.jpg|25330] and [b:FreeDarko presents The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac Styles, Stats, and Stars in Today's Game|3355159|FreeDarko presents The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac Styles, Stats, and Stars in Today's Game|Bethlehem Shoals|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255929050s/3355159.jpg|3393667].
Will update this review as I progress and finish.
-----------
Update: Am currently about halfway through, and my eyes have only started bleeding from information overload a couple times. Not bad!
Seriously, this book is big. I've been reading Clancy since I was a wee lad in fifth grade, and I'm not sure I've seen a book this big and densely packed in a while. I love basketball with a fiery passion, and this has almost burned me out.
Almost.
Fortunately, I'm still going. Made it up to the 60s in his list of the top 96 players ever, and I'm going to finish in the next couple days.
If you enjoy basketball, get this book and get ready to have your mind blown.
rosikathemidnightreader's review against another edition
5.0
Almost 2 months to read and I will rate it the 5 stars. Is it long and stats heavy to the point eye blurring, in many places yes. Do some of the jokes particularly on women and language that was acceptable in the 2010s age poorly? Like a stack of bricks dropped on a coffee table. So why 5 stars. Because the rest of the book was hilarious anecdotes and basketball history written by someone who loves it more than anything. And because I read chapters of it to my husband while we were on maternity leave in blurry sleep deprived mornings and the sound of him laughing his ass of is worth 5 stars.
rustyhotdong's review
4.0
The parts where he actually discussed NBA history were fantastic and informative but this is Bill Simmons so be warned he blows a lot of smoke up his own ass (and of course the Celtics bias) but overall you can tell he has passion for the NBA and if you’re a fan it’s pretty good jumping off point for NBA books especially for newer fans who don’t know the history just take some things with a grain of salt (like the Wilt disrespect)
downtowndaly's review against another edition
5.0
A must for any basketball fan or fan of Bill Simmons writing.
This book blends an encyclopedic knowledge of the sport of basketball, with pop-culture references and funny anecdotes. Most of all though Simmons puts the most important teams, players, and events in the sport into context better than I've ever seen done in any sports book. He somehow finds a way to compare teams and players from across generations while still acknowledging the massive differences as well. All this, while still keeping a light-hearted tone and an easy-reading, well formatted style that will allow for casual flip throughs, in addition to long reading binges.
This book blends an encyclopedic knowledge of the sport of basketball, with pop-culture references and funny anecdotes. Most of all though Simmons puts the most important teams, players, and events in the sport into context better than I've ever seen done in any sports book. He somehow finds a way to compare teams and players from across generations while still acknowledging the massive differences as well. All this, while still keeping a light-hearted tone and an easy-reading, well formatted style that will allow for casual flip throughs, in addition to long reading binges.
john_raine's review
3.0
Just a junk food read during the pandemic. Fun stories about players I grew up with
cubefan3x3's review against another edition
5.0
Reading this book was very enjoyable. I feel compelled to find some old NBA games on ESPN classic, so that I can see the old-school players that Simmons raved about in action.
toddlleopold's review against another edition
4.0
Like a really, really long Bill Simmons column, with all the positives (enthusiasm, some incisiveness) and all the negatives (endless footnotes, poor jokes) writ large. Some of his arguments and analysis were reminiscent of Bill James at his best; other times, I wished he’d just shut up. (There was a lot of skimming, only partially because I’m not a hardcore NBA fan.) Still, I enjoyed more than I didn’t. That’s pretty good for a 700-page book.