Book description
A vital narrative history of 1970s pro basketball, and the Black players who shaped the NBA
Against a backdrop of ongoing resistance to racial desegregation and strident calls for Black Power, the NBA in the 1970s embodied the nation’s imagined descent into disorder. A new generation of Black players entered…
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Why read it?
2 authors picked Black Ball as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Great narrative of a turbulent time in pro hoops!
I am a big fan of sports books because I find teams and their stories analogous to bands. I'm particularly fond of books that offer a new way for me to look at a familiar subject. In this case, it's hoops. Black players of the 1970s shaped the face of the NBA economically, culturally, socially, Runstedtler argues, and paved the way for an explosion in popularity in the 1980s and 1990s (an era I experienced in real time).
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