The Book of Basketball

[Venti Quattro]

Has/is anyone read/reading this book? It's a great read from Simmons tbh. It's 700+ pages long but it offers a lot of history and perspective about the NBA.

[Giuseppe]

A recommendation from the genuine motherfucker.

[DMC]

A recommendation from the genuine motherfucker.
How is your mom?

[Giuseppe]

How is your mom?

:rolleyes

[MattBonnerExperience]

Has/is anyone read/reading this book? It's a great read from Simmons tbh. It's 700+ pages long but it offers a lot of history and perspective about the NBA.

I'm probably gonna pick it up soon, Bill Simmons is atleast in my opinion the best writer In basketball.

[Mel_13]

Good book written by an a guy with insider access who is still a fan first. Definitely worth reading.

[Giuseppe]

I'm probably gonna pick it up soon, Bill Simmons is atleast in my opinion the best writer In basketball.

Just a little obsessed with 6-24.

tee, hee.

[Venti Quattro]

Good book written by an a guy with insider access who is still a fan first. Definitely worth reading.

You finished it already? I'm on the trade paperback version now.

[Mel_13]

You finished it already? I'm on the trade paperback version now.

Received it as gift when it came out.

I read it straight through, but it's the sort of book you can just leave in your favorite reading room and read a chapter here and there.

[Venti Quattro]

One of Simmons' best anecdotes:

2doM4TOWTNs

Start at 6:15

[Giuseppe]

No one is watching that bull shit, faggot.

Simmons is a hater. A consciousless Laker hating bastard, like that Ryan guy there in MA..

He means us no good.

I spit in his fucking face. Patooey!!!

[rayjayjohnson]

Simmons' is bigger parroting fag than cully.

Russilo is much better

[Giuseppe]

Simmons' is bigger parroting fag than cully.

Russilo is much better

Forget all this silly shit and just win tonite, dummy.

[Bill Simmons]

Yep, these are my readers.

*editors note: If anybody wants this troll, PM me for the password.*

[Killakobe81]

I read it with the addendum where he moved Kobe up after he rang in 2009 ...
Good book. Obviously he has his biases but a good read ...

[Venti Quattro]

Simmons likes mocking Kareem and Kobe. :rollin

[ElNono]

Yep, these are my readers.

*editors note: If anybody wants this troll, PM me for the password.*

How about getting a refund for the Red Sox book?

[Venti Quattro]

Nono, game is on.

[baseline bum]

No one is watching that bull shit, faggot.

LOL no Laker fan wants to watch the end of the most famous game in franchise history? :rollin

At least you still have Naruto though.

[Venti Quattro]

Reading this book, I just found out that the Lakers almost had Worthy and Sampson in 1982...

[Venti Quattro]

Have you guys read the Russell vs Wilt debate? Do you find Simmons' arguments satisfactory? I find it compelling for no reason at all. I feel like Simmons is biased in presenting his case but the facts are undeniable.

[Venti Quattro]

Simmons' is bigger parroting fag than cully.

Russilo is much better

I know he's biased (he hates the Lakers for fuck's sake) but his book is pretty good tbh. He hits with timely jabs when he feels like it, but his arguments are laid out in a factual way

[Jt.ONE]

you finished the book already venti?

[MattBonnerExperience]

Yeah i'm reading it right now, Simmons may be an ass but he knows what he's talking about.

[Venti Quattro]

you finished the book already venti?

I just finished the L1 of the HOF Pyramid.

[Venti Quattro]

I see Bynum making a total ass out of himself and I can't help but relate to Bill Simmons' "superstars who got paid early so they don't give a shit".

Today is definitely a bigger and worse version of the 70's when they used to dole out large contracts to players who didn't deserve it and then saw them not give a shit or engage in drugs.

[DMC]

Do you think these "don't give a shit" guys ever cared about basketball or do they see the payout as the grand prize?

[tesseractive]

Do you think these "don't give a shit" guys ever cared about basketball or do they see the payout as the grand prize?

Some of them did, but some of the guys with off the charts natural skills or height, the freaks of nature, they played baskeball because they had everyone telling them they had to at that height or "with those gifts". It's like people whose parents expect them to be a lawyer or something -- they don't love doing it, they're just doing it because they're "supposed to."

Some of those guys don't love the game the way guys do who had to fight the whole way to prove they were good enough. I bet Nate Robinson loves the game of basketball a hundred times more than Andrew Bynum does.

That doesn't change the fact that Bynum, when he wants to, can do a whole lot more to help you win a game than Nate can, though. But keeping a guy like Bynum on track? It's a whole different kind of challenge than coaching guys who really want to succeed.

[J.T.]

Its a really good book if you like basketball, you'll learn a lot. I've only been watching basketball since 1992 and even then I was just a kid, so it's pretty cool to get inside the head of someone who was a fan then and in the good old days too.

I was in Vegas last month and went to the Wynn specifically because I remembered Simmons talking about a topless pool in one of the chapters (I think when he met Isiah Thomas?)

[NewcastleKEG]

Do you think these "don't give a shit" guys ever cared about basketball or do they see the payout as the grand prize?
NBA community by nature is more lazy, image driven & superficial. All goes back to Hip Hop

[MattBonnerExperience]

I finally finished the book, it's probably one of my favorite books ever.

[Galileo]

I've got a copy of the book.

[Venti Quattro]

I'm surprised Simmons didn't put Hondo in the Pantheon (just a L4 cut-off guy) considering how he jizzed himself over every Hondo anecdote in the book.

But then, he moved Kobe from L4 to the Pantheon...

[baseline bum]

Have you guys read the Russell vs Wilt debate? Do you find Simmons' arguments satisfactory? I find it compelling for no reason at all. I feel like Simmons is biased in presenting his case but the facts are undeniable.

Simmons completely destroyed Wilt in that chapter. The stories about Wilt quitting on D when he got a fourth foul are particularly damning, though the one where all the Lakers players overwhelmingly voted against acquiring him in 1965 is pretty nasty too. Dude never hesitates to make an excuse for Russell though (lol Philly only winning in 68 because Russell was a rookie coach :cry).

[Venti Quattro]

Also, did anyone feel that LeBron was ranked too high? He was even ranked higher than Pippen (24). To me, Pip was a sure inside-20 guy.

I stopped at 8 (Kobe) because my vision is already feeling weird from all the reading.

[rayjayjohnson]

I finally finished the book, it's probably one of my favorite books ever.

you can't have a favourite book if you've only ever read one.

[Venti Quattro]

Simmons also documented David Robinson the bible-thumper.

[baseline bum]

Simmons also documented David Robinson the bible-thumper.

He's gotta be the only person in the media who still remembers Rodman screwing the Spurs over in the 95 playoffs.

[Goran Dragic]

He's gotta be the only person in the media who still remembers Robinson screwing the Spurs over by worrying more about Rodman finding Christ than winning in the 95 playoffs.
fixed

[MattBonnerExperience]

you can't have a favourite book if you've only ever read one.

Well aren't you just a clever indivdual.

[Venti Quattro]

lol, so the Spurs did tank not only once, but they did twice. And it netted them Robinson and Duncan. If you're on the Keyser Söze chapter, it's under the 1987 Lakers, when the Spurs gifted Mychal Thompson to LA.

[baseline bum]

lol, so the Spurs did tank not only once, but they did twice. And it netted them Robinson and Duncan. If you're on the Keyser Söze chapter, it's under the 1987 Lakers, when the Spurs gifted Mychal Thompson to LA.

That trade was actually really good for the Spurs. Thompson was terrible his half season in San Antonio, while Brickowski put up 3 really solid seasons there before the team stupidly traded him to Milwaukee for Paul Pressey.

[baseline bum]

Side note, my dad and I almost lost our season tickets for putting a banner in the upper deck of Hemisfair calling Thompson soft that year. Dude was traded a few days later. :lol

[Venti Quattro]

:lmao that's awesome. Mychal was so instrumental in the Lakers because Kareem's dead body could not afford to play physical basketball.

And here's the 34 points in 11 minutes by Sleepy Floyd against the Lakers in 1987. He abso-fucking-lutely torched the Lakers. :lmao

3D5x0Ve4pUk

[Venti Quattro]

I also found the 1986 Celtics' 36-6 (24-0 run) quarter against Atlanta :lol

k_eN0xPjzfY

[Venti Quattro]

If you're done with the Book of Basketball, you may want to check this out:

http://www.austinbell.tv/bookofbasketball.html

[tesseractive]

Shame most of those links are dead.

[Venti Quattro]

Does anyone believe that FILA ruined Grant Hill's career?

[tesseractive]

Does anyone believe that FILA ruined Grant Hill's career?

Probably not, but we'll never know for sure.

All I know is that if I were a professional athlete, I wouldn't take a chance -- I would sign with the company that's the best at performing that kind of analysis and producing optimized gear.