The Sidekick

ONE OF THIS WEEK'S BEST NOVELS OF 2022
The perfect novel for fans of The Last Dance, Hoop Dreams and Winning Time

'Exquisite. . . Warm, humane, and tragic.' JONATHAN LETHEM


At his high school basketball try-outs, nerdy sports-obsessed Brian Blum meets new kid Marcus

Hayes. As a sportswriter, Brian spends the following twenty years tracking his friends' superstar NBA

career. But when Marcus mounts his last dance comeback, after a couple of years out of the game,

both men must face the tensions of their unlikely dynamic, and the disappointments of getting

older.


'There is something so compelling about the questions of whether these two friends, despite their

fraught history and hefty egos, will rekindle a genuine connection . . . you'll want to know how the

game turns out.' TLS

'Compelling and emotionally resonant.' Spectator


'Contemporary fiction's best kept secret . . . It's gratifying to observe someone with a large amount

of specific knowledge not only imparting that expertise, but unlocking some deeper meaning within

it, like a top sports star working their magic.' Sunday Business Post