Top gifts for the Basketball fan in your life, as voted on by the editors of SportsTVJobs.com. Part 3 of a week long series, tomorrow will focus on top gifts for the Hockey Fan in your life.
Best Basketball Books Released in 2010
The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to The Sports Guy: The Book of Basketball is a 700-page work of hoops genius that would make Dr. James Naismith beam proudly – and probably blush. Author Bill Simmons, best known as ESPN.com’s “The Sports Guy,” explores the NBA with hilarious insight, brilliant analysis, and a bevy of irreverent footnotes.
The Wisdom of Wooden: My Century On and Off the Court: Coach Wooden wrote his final book, The Wisdom of Wooden: My Century On and Off the Court, in the last months before his death. Filled with his most treasured memories and more than 100 photographs, many never-before seen, it captures a life spent teaching, guiding, and serving others.
Play Their Hearts Out: A Coach, His Star Recruit, and the Youth Basketball Machine: George Dohrmann provides a first-hand account of the rise of a nine-year-old basketball phenom and the grassroots programs that both helped and hindered his dreams of superstardom. To call this story a cautionary tale is to sell it short, as Play Their Hearts Out is an unflinching look at the increasing need for hype in youth athletics. – review from Amazon Best books of the Month Oct. 2010
When the Game was Ours: Captures the defining moments of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird’s lives, from the very beginning of their fiercest of rivalries through their constantly evolving historical relationship and friendship right up to the present. This epic tome is the capstone of their landmark careers. It is also so much more than anyone could ever dream for. When the Game Was Ours brilliantly explains why “The Game” will always belong to Larry and Magic.-Bill Walton
Carolina Basketball: A Century of Excellence – Boasting six national championships and scores of Hall of Fame coaches and players, Carolina Basketball has come a long way from the first season-when the campus newspaper published a notice asking an unknown culprit to return the team’s basketball. These pages are packed with little-known stories from the program’s earliest days and new insights into its best-loved moments.
Best Basketball DVD’s released in 2010
Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals: I am a sucker for 80′s NBA, I still think it was the greatest era for hoops. HBO Sports does a great job with documentaries, this is great stuff.
ESPN 30 for 30: Without Bias – Nothing is more sad than potential unrealized. Personally, this is the best of the fantastic ESPN 30 for 30 series. The generation before mine remembers where they were when Kennedy was shot, it sounds trite but anyone that grew up in the Northeast knows where they were when Len Bias died. Not ashamed to admit I cried a little during this piece (which made my wife laugh).
From cautionary tales to the historic rivalries of the game, this basketball fans holiday list has something for everyone. Return tomorrow for top gifts for the Hockey fan in your life.
