Classic Material
Take it back to the original ABA.
Loose Balls is one of basketball’s best books. It’s the story of the original ABA and how the dunks, 3-point-shots, ballgirls and red, white and blue basketballs revolutionized the game. Originally published in 1990, Terry Pluto’s text is the oral history of the American Basketball Association and, is really, the sub-plot to the story of how the NBA became the global power it is today.
As Will Ferrell’s movie, Semi-Pro, is set to hit screens soon, it should come as no surprise to see Loose Balls released in a new package. With the addition of a fresh cover design and equally crispy introduction from the author, Loose Balls returns to bookshelves better than ever. What makes the book so special is the fact that most of the information in it would have surely been lost or forgotten had Pluto not done a colossal job reporting on the facts of the league’s long-since ceased history.
At 450 pages, Loose Balls is a positively essential read for anyone who loves the history of hoops or anyone that reads slow and exclusively while on their toilet bowl.
8 Responses to “Classic Material”
Jan.30 at 6:30 pm
Tarzan Cooper says:
will ferrell basketball movie? YES!
Jan.30 at 6:39 pm
Gerard Himself says:
Hm, I’ve got a book by former Nets center Jayson Williams called “Loose Balls”. One of the funniest books ever.
Jan.30 at 6:40 pm
Ryne Nelson says:
I wonder if the title of this book has anything to do with the shorts.
Jan.30 at 6:41 pm
Ryne Nelson says:
@Gerard - funniest in the sense that he’s trying to be serious? JWill was never a funny guy.
Jan.30 at 6:45 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
I highly recommend ‘Tall Tales’ as well, his oral history on the same period of the NBA. Also, Pluto’s book predated Jayson Williams’s by, well, a lot.
Jan.30 at 7:01 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
You can accuse Jayson Williams of a lot of things (stop it), but never of not being funny.
Jan.30 at 9:25 pm
AP says:
This is one of my fave books…I have an old skool version with dr. j soaring on the cover….i found this book at a shop rite (grocery store) in one those big book bins some grocery stores have from time to time…one of my biggest finds
i love the chapter on the spirits of st.louis….fly williams, bob costas, marvin bad news barnes….marvin barnes coulda been amazing…his stats as a rookie were off the charts
Jan.31 at 12:48 am
Ben Osborne says:
Loose Balls is phenomenal.