Hardcourt
Stories from 75 Years of the National Basketball Association
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- $18.99
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
Celebrate seventy-five years of the NBA in this exciting and beautifully illustrated middle grade account of the legendary athletes, coaches, and teams that changed basketball forever and created a national phenomenon enjoyed by millions today.
The National Basketball Association is the biggest league for one of the nation’s most beloved sports. Played in massive stadiums by athletes who are now household names, with millions of fans around the world, basketball has truly become a global phenomenon. But it didn’t always exist the way we know it now.
Follow basketball from its humble beginnings as a casual indoor pastime played in gyms and colleges through its evolution for seventy-five years of hardcourt history. The NBA gained legions of fans thanks to the introduction of rules like the three-point line and the twenty-four second clock, and teams such as the Harlem Globetrotters, who paved the way for desegregated teams. Discover the story of the legendary Olympic Dream Team of 1992 and beloved players like Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, and LeBron James, along with the early game-changers who made basketball what it is today.
With the expert storytelling of veteran sportswriter Fred Bowen and stunning full-page illustrations from award-winning artist James E. Ransome, experience the biggest and best basketball league in the world, the NBA.
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In this engrossing, statistics-peppered history of the NBA, sportswriter Bowen traces the evolution of the league, including the sport's origin story in 1891, the league's history of segregation and discrimination, and the noteworthy achievements of players, such as Wilt Chamberlain's scoring 100 points in one game in 1962. The prose has a conversational, buzzy tone befitting the fast-moving subject matter: "But the ABA always had interesting players.... Characters such as Maurice ‘Toothpick' McHartley... who couldn't play unless he had a toothpick in the corner of his mouth. (DO NOT TRY THIS!)" Bold watercolor illustrations by Ransome feature precisely detailed teams, with mid-action shots of plays both defensive and offensive, as well as collaged spreads and recognizable portraits of beloved NBA stars. A rousing exploration of an American institution. Back matter includes lists through 2021 of NBA Finals champions and NBA/ABA career scoring leaders. Ages 8–12.
