Scan barcode
sandin954's review against another edition
3.0
The author's highly opinionated take on the greatest players in NBA history etc. Like most of his work, far too long with many juvenile rambling asides. I did enjoy his views on the players and their place in the history of hoops though and thought his pyramid scheme for rating them was quite well thought out.
kintha's review against another edition
3.0
Simmons is pretty knowledgeable about basketball, but his writing is much better suited to columns than books, let alone gigantic tomes. A book like this, that exists to make comparisons and create hierarchies needs to use language in a consistent way. He doesn't.
leslielu67's review against another edition
3.0
Whew! I read every page (700+) and every footnote (700+). This guy watches a lot of basketball. And TV. And movies. Not only did I get a basketball education, but I also got a pop culture retrospective from the past 50 years. I enjoyed his analysis of players based on his own made-up stats, including "stocks",and the wine cellar best team ever to save earth from the aliens.
davidchanza's review against another edition
5.0
LA BIBLIA!
http://dvdwebz.es/blog/2013/10/26/the-book-of-basketball/
http://dvdwebz.es/blog/2013/10/26/the-book-of-basketball/
ohsodeluxe's review against another edition
4.0
If you are into American basketball, this is a must-read book: informative, entertaining, funny, well written. And you do not even need a deep knowledge of the sport to appreciate it.
hagbard_celine's review against another edition
2.0
Readable and conversational, but it's a conversation with a guy who kinda sucks.
optimismprime's review against another edition
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.
-----------
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 against another edition
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)