I was not very far into Bill Simmons The Book of Basketball
before I realized that I would love it. Besides the fact that Simmons is
obviously a Bill Russell fan, I could tell that this was a writer who
appreciated the sport even more than I did. The matter-of-fact analysis combined
with the unapologetic jabs at some of the all-time greats make this book
informative and enjoyable.
The bread and butter of the book is the proposed reinvention
of the Hall-of-Fame called “The Pyramid.” Simmons breaks down the top 96
players in NBA history. You may not agree with his entire list, but he makes
his arguments well (he convinced me in a few paragraphs in the Iverson section, where I was originally
quick to disagree with him on first seeing where he ranked him). I know Simmons himself would change his own list based on
the 2010-2011 season, having even written some about it in his blogs.
Specifically, Dirk Nowitzki would be a little higher having won a championship finally.
Possibly, Jason Kidd would move up as well, for the same reason.
The section on Dominique Wilkins especially caught my
attention as an Atlanta area sports fan. He captured the heart and essence of
what it was like to see Dominique play, while at the same time addressing his
short-comings and the frustrating aspects of his career. I am a huge fan of
Dominique, and Simmons take on him is fair and thrilling at the same time.
I’m still not finished with this book (it’s 700-something
pages), but I already know I need to own it. (Side note here: the book is
littered with footnotes and I am also reading every last one of those. It almost makes
the book twice as long and it is affecting my own writing style. I pretty much
just wrote a footnote.) I checked it out from the library after almost buying
it a few times at the bookstore. If the Pyramid was not worth the price of
admission alone, the "What-If?" section could keep an NBA fan entertained for
days. These are the things NBA fans talk about; this book can rightfully call
itself the Bible of Basketball, one of its self-stated goals. Anyone regretting the loss of Basketball should read this book to remind yourself why you like the sport.
