From his latest ESPN column. ”I’m gonna go block Delonte’s shot from behind! HAH! He didn’t see me coming! Wait, I’m in the mood for an alley-oop. I need me some oop. Mo, throw me an oop. Ah, yes … it’s in the air … I’m jumping … DUNK! What now? I want to try a one-handed shot from the corner. Jamario, come play with me. Hold on, I just saw Baron Davis! Hey Baron! What up, dog! Watch this, I’m gonna make a half-court shot with my eyes closed … DAMN! Just missed it. You know what I really feel like doing? Jumping on Shaq’s back. Look out, Big Fella, eeeeeeeeeeee-yah!!!!!!!”
No criticism for Jabal Abdul. He’s one of the few willing to discuss race in a public forum without equivocation. Maybe LeBron really does “need him some oop.” Just want to hear him read that paragraph on the B.S. Report.
It’s hard to captivate a reader for 702 pages. Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and now, apparently, Simmons. In The Book of Basketball, Bill spends 702 pages expounding two insights that will alter profoundly perception of the sport. Teamwork is the secret to winning. Michael Jordan is the greatest player of all time. Thanks, professor (I kid).
Bill Simmons has an obsessive mind. He’s not a man to list his top ten basketball players of all time. He’s a man to outline his ideal construction for the Hall of Fame, rank and profile the 96 players he believes should fill it and then write thousands of words in a column about how he changed his mind.
It’s this obsession that makes Simmons detail-attentive, analytical and creative. He examines every angle – some you would think of, some you would never think of and some you wish he never thought of.
Not everyone would hound the NBA for footage of Walt Bellamy or Dolph Schayes to better understand basketball. Not everyone hits #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list.
The Book of Basketball has flaws. Freed from censors, Simmons struggles initially to balance himself. He references porn a little too frequently in the first few hundred pages, descending from ribald into creepy.
Simmons trusts the objective weight of his own logic too much in my opinion. He focuses on his grand theorizing and, perhaps subconsciously, masks where his writing is strongest, the memoir. Bill with his immaculately stached father is far more compelling than who Bill thinks should have won the NBA MVP in 1964.
A more diligent technician could cut 200 pages from this book, but it wouldn’t be a Bill Simmons book. The tangents are an essential part of the package.
The Book of Basketball will not convert anyone to Bill Simmons, but he’s past the point where he needs to proselytize. This book taught me a ton about basketball. I was for the most part amused. If you enjoy Simmons’ columns and his rapport with Jack O and House, as I do, you will enjoy this book. Having said that, read it in chunks.
It’s hard to captivate a reader for 702 pages. Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and now, apparently, Simmons. In The Book of Basketball, Bill spends 702 pages expounding two insights that will alter profoundly perception of the sport. Teamwork is the secret to winning. Michael Jordan is the greatest player of all time. Thanks, professor (kidding).
Trouble brewing in Orlando? Rashard Lewis refused to enter the game last in against Utah – then the Jazz took over, and Stan Van Gundy ended up pissed. Utah 120, Orlando 111. (Sentinel) Read the rest of this entry »
Bill Simmons continued his book tour in Seattle, where the WNBA’s Seattle Storm presented him with his very own, customized WNBA jersey, which I’m sure he’ll be wearing to the Kimmel house on Sunday. On a related note, I am on page 551 of The Book of Basketball. My new puppy has only destroyed three corners so far. I hope to write a review when I finish. (Storm Tracker)
Bill Simmons had a book signing in Beaverton, Oregon last night, and a reader who attended wrote in that he “overheard” ESPN’s Sports Guy telling a fan that he was “suspended from tweeting for two weeks” and that all he was allowed to tweet about was his book tour. We went to the usually-forthcoming Simmons this morning, and here was his response: “no commento.” Read the rest of this entry »
Did Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown make a wager that will make Roger Goodell unhappy? (Joe Bucs Fan)
Thunder Collins, the former Nebraska running back, received a sentence of 90-110 years in jail. He had some interesting things to say in court afterward. (Omaha WH) Read the rest of this entry »
From his latest ESPN column. ”I’m gonna go block Delonte’s shot from behind! HAH! He didn’t see me coming! Wait, I’m in the mood for an alley-oop. I need me some oop. Mo, throw me an oop. Ah, yes … it’s in the air … I’m jumping … DUNK! What now? I want to try a one-handed shot from the corner. Jamario, come play with me. Hold on, I just saw Baron Davis! Hey Baron! What up, dog! Watch this, I’m gonna make a half-court shot with my eyes closed … DAMN! Just missed it. You know what I really feel like doing? Jumping on Shaq’s back. Look out, Big Fella, eeeeeeeeeeee-yah!!!!!!!”
