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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.
banandrew's review
4.0
In the style of this book, a pro/con list:
Pros:
- Incredibly detailed. Descriptions of players and teams are not just stats, but impressions from videos, reactions from other teammates/opponents/coaches/analysts at the time, memories straight out of new interviews conducted just for this book, and historical context (not just the NBA itself but even racial issues in the US at various times) give a much broader picture of who players really were.
- The early chapter on Russell and Wilt does a great job setting the tone for the rest of the book and even providing material for modern conversations. Is Lebron a Russell or a Wilt? Did he become more of a Russell during the most recent playoffs (2012) than the Wilt that he was before?
- The Pyramid does a pretty damned good job of trying to put each player in one ranking, and (especially given the context from his historical "How the Hell Did We Get Here?" chapter) handles each player's place in history and how they benefited from (or were hindered by) the league at that time.
Cons:
- If you're like me, just reading a single Bill Simmons article is exhausting. Despite the consistent sports insight, there are so many side-stories from Vegas, imaginary tournaments, and comparisons to porn stars that by the time you're 70% of the way through you just want to be done. This is fifty of these, back to back.
- Over-emphasis of the Celtics. I understand this is the team he watched for decades growing up and that they are undeniably one of the historically best franchises but it is still noticeable.
- An entire chapter on "What-Ifs". Simmons somehow thought he didn't have enough space or footnotes (not only were his interjections distracting in his ESPN articles, just his footnotes take up probably a third of the book's pages. At least he built a format on Grantland to fit his style) for these ideas that he had to dedicate an entire chapter to things that didn't actually happen.
- You're expected to know a fair bit of NBA history coming into this book---more than I had. Having a laptop nearby if you are, like me, only acquainted with a much smaller, recent set of teams/players/events can be a good idea.
Worth the read, but take your time, don't read it all at once, and read a few other books while you work through this.
Pros:
- Incredibly detailed. Descriptions of players and teams are not just stats, but impressions from videos, reactions from other teammates/opponents/coaches/analysts at the time, memories straight out of new interviews conducted just for this book, and historical context (not just the NBA itself but even racial issues in the US at various times) give a much broader picture of who players really were.
- The early chapter on Russell and Wilt does a great job setting the tone for the rest of the book and even providing material for modern conversations. Is Lebron a Russell or a Wilt? Did he become more of a Russell during the most recent playoffs (2012) than the Wilt that he was before?
- The Pyramid does a pretty damned good job of trying to put each player in one ranking, and (especially given the context from his historical "How the Hell Did We Get Here?" chapter) handles each player's place in history and how they benefited from (or were hindered by) the league at that time.
Cons:
- If you're like me, just reading a single Bill Simmons article is exhausting. Despite the consistent sports insight, there are so many side-stories from Vegas, imaginary tournaments, and comparisons to porn stars that by the time you're 70% of the way through you just want to be done. This is fifty of these, back to back.
- Over-emphasis of the Celtics. I understand this is the team he watched for decades growing up and that they are undeniably one of the historically best franchises but it is still noticeable.
- An entire chapter on "What-Ifs". Simmons somehow thought he didn't have enough space or footnotes (not only were his interjections distracting in his ESPN articles, just his footnotes take up probably a third of the book's pages. At least he built a format on Grantland to fit his style) for these ideas that he had to dedicate an entire chapter to things that didn't actually happen.
- You're expected to know a fair bit of NBA history coming into this book---more than I had. Having a laptop nearby if you are, like me, only acquainted with a much smaller, recent set of teams/players/events can be a good idea.
Worth the read, but take your time, don't read it all at once, and read a few other books while you work through this.
pgavinandrews's review
4.0
750 pages of brilliant, witty, hysterical, and altogether illuminating basketball content. Simmons unveils The Secret through an account in Vegas with Isiah Thomas and proceeds to take us on a journey through every era, creating an extensive hierarchy of the greatest players of all time, and selecting his Final Finals team, all while beautifully binding endless humor and pop culture to his basketball brilliance. The book is lengthy but very manageable, and for basketball fans, an extremely rewarding read.
dave_daines's review against another edition
5.0
There's no basketball to watch in this Corona virus Spring of 2020, so instead I read a 700 page book about basketball. I've been reading Bill Simmons for a couple decades, and listening to his podcasts the last few years, so I knew what I was getting into: a passionate, funny, analytic and story-filled look at the history of the game of basketball. The meat of the book is a ranking of the 96 best players in NBA history, the players making up the official Basketball Pyramid (which would be a huge improvement over the existing basketball hall of fame). Of course I'm about 10 years late to the game to this book, so I don't get the MJ vs. LeBron debate (which we all get enough of regardless), but rather a dissertation on why the second best player is Bill Russell, and why Wilt isn't even close, despite the jaw-dropping stats he put up against a league full of slow white guys.
I give the 5 star rating whole-heartedly, as I had a hard time putting this book down, and despite the lack of credit Simmons gives to my beloved Jazz and their best player, Karl Malone. I don't really have an issue with where he ranked the Mailman, it's more about how he dismisses the '97-'98 West Champion Jazz as products of a league watered-down by expansion, while at the same time anointing Jordan as the greatest player of all time and the 90s Bulls as some of the greatest teams of all time. If the Jazz took those Bulls to 6 games in both Finals, losing three games in the 1997 Finals by 2, 2, and 4 points, then losing three games in the 1998 Finals by 5, 4, and 1 (and one non-called push-0ff), then they can't be dismissed as anything less than unlucky to have been facing the wrong team at the wrong time.
I give the 5 star rating whole-heartedly, as I had a hard time putting this book down, and despite the lack of credit Simmons gives to my beloved Jazz and their best player, Karl Malone. I don't really have an issue with where he ranked the Mailman, it's more about how he dismisses the '97-'98 West Champion Jazz as products of a league watered-down by expansion, while at the same time anointing Jordan as the greatest player of all time and the 90s Bulls as some of the greatest teams of all time. If the Jazz took those Bulls to 6 games in both Finals, losing three games in the 1997 Finals by 2, 2, and 4 points, then losing three games in the 1998 Finals by 5, 4, and 1 (and one non-called push-0ff), then they can't be dismissed as anything less than unlucky to have been facing the wrong team at the wrong time.
trent24's review
5.0
I wasn't thrilled about reading 700 pages, but I really enjoyed this book and read it pretty quickly. He does a nice job contextualizing the game and is an excellent story teller. The humor certainly helps keep things light. I enjoyed learning about the greats that were before my time, and his ranking of the best players was a lot of fun. If you are a sports fan in general, this one is worth checking out.
tinnytree's review
4.0
Well the beast has finally been slain. This really was a massive book that took ages to read, over 2 months on and off.
I had a hard time deciding whether to give it 5 stars or 3 stars so I settled for 4. If you love NBA and Basketball in general you will love this book but Bill Simmon's humor does get a bit old especially after 700 odd pages.
Most of the book is really interesting but it could have probably been a few hundred pages lighter. I loved the footnote addition but it was annoying having to look them up all the time, would have been easier if they were written on the same page instead of at the end of each chapter.
If Simmons writes another book I might read it but I dont know if he could possibly have anything else interesting to write about the NBA.
I had a hard time deciding whether to give it 5 stars or 3 stars so I settled for 4. If you love NBA and Basketball in general you will love this book but Bill Simmon's humor does get a bit old especially after 700 odd pages.
Most of the book is really interesting but it could have probably been a few hundred pages lighter. I loved the footnote addition but it was annoying having to look them up all the time, would have been easier if they were written on the same page instead of at the end of each chapter.
If Simmons writes another book I might read it but I dont know if he could possibly have anything else interesting to write about the NBA.
rwarner's review
5.0
I bought the hardcover and read it some time ago. I bought the paperback recently and read it. I wasn't disappointed. I'll read it again next year. And the year after that. Simmons has great insight into the NBA, opines magnificently, has an amazing collection of anecdotes, and cracks me up, page after page. Read, for example, his writeup of Dave Cowens.
I'm amazed at the swings he takes at people: Kareem, Vince, Isiah, The Mailman. Hey, Bill! ALL those dudes are bigger and tougher than you, by orders of magnitude! You're a brave dude!
Warning: Simmons gets salty. A lot. If you can't skip over parts while reading, or at least stomach them, this isn't the book for you.
If you love the NBA, you gotta read this book. And Bill: it's not homerism. You can rank Bird over Magic--the Hick from French Lick never clanged FTs in the clutch.
I'm amazed at the swings he takes at people: Kareem, Vince, Isiah, The Mailman. Hey, Bill! ALL those dudes are bigger and tougher than you, by orders of magnitude! You're a brave dude!
Warning: Simmons gets salty. A lot. If you can't skip over parts while reading, or at least stomach them, this isn't the book for you.
If you love the NBA, you gotta read this book. And Bill: it's not homerism. You can rank Bird over Magic--the Hick from French Lick never clanged FTs in the clutch.
strangebehavior's review
5.0
Fun - I can only hope he does a book every few years as I'd love to get his perspective on the teams/players that have and will come since this first book was written.