FreeDarko Presents: The Undisputed Guide To Pro Basketball History (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
"Not having been around for much of the material we've covered in these pages, we have had to... creatively interpret history-- a process at best curatorial; at worst revisionist. But what has remained constant-- and what has kept us honest-- was a concerted attempt to honor the players, games, and stories we got to know along the way."Sportswriting, and more recently, blogging, often come off as sub-journalistic endeavors where assertions of personality trump all other considerations, yet the good folks of FreeDarko have here collectively put forth a series of essays that successfully recount and invite discussion and further research into the events, organizations, and people who shaped the experience of pro basketball, as it continues to evolve. As the text points out, the appreciation of sports history is now more democratized than ever, bolstered by the communal re-evaluation of moments both overlooked and already celebrated on YouTube and other forums outside of the limitations of league-sanctioned broadcasts. This yields contexts with which to study the game and its symbiotic/mutually parasitic relations with its surrounding industries, beyond merely the testosterone-ignited expressions of civic pride so dominant in the immediate experience.The well-researched, articulately phrased pieces are accompanied by witty illustrations and visualizations of large datasets outlining various trends and interactions over specific eras (in particular, the node graph connecting all players who had been in 5 or more fights between 1980 and 2008 to their opponents is quite a sight to take in). And there is enough detail here that hasn't traditionally been given much attention (such as the Chinese-American Hong Wah Kues of 1939, commissioned as villains with a deft passing game on the barnstorming circuit) that I can imagine revisiting chapters in the book from time to time on a quiet afternoon. Fun, expansive, digestible work. FreeDarko delivers again with another incredible basketball book. Not intended to be a comprehensive history of professional basketball, but rather a document to a game always in motion. Some big events and teams are barely mentioned here because they've already gotten their say in other books. Instead, the FreeDarko writers spent time on what they thought matters, even if it was a player that most people haven't heard of (Maurice Stokes - who knocked his skull against the hardwood one game but kept playing, soon enough he was coma and eventually paralyzed) or a team that never quite won it all (the 2000 Sacramento Kings- can't remember the last time I thought about them). I'd like to think that I'm pretty knowledgeable about the game, sadly I'm obsessed to the point that I can be found watching Golden State Warriors games late on Friday nights, but there's just some stuff about the beginning I didn't know. Like that before the formation of the NBA there were roaming travel teams usually formed across ethnic lines like The Rens, the Buffalo Germans and The SPHAS (the South Philadelphia Hebrew Association - there's a whole book devoted to them coming out next May by Douglas Stark, look it up!) and sometimes across just gender lines, like The All American Red Heads. There's also really great, informative sidebars that just beg to be researched and accessed on Youtube and the graphics are ridiculously awesome. Not only are they visually pleasing, but they often distill a concept through statistics that actually makes in impact in a way that most graphics do not.Obviously this book is pure heroin for the basketball junkie because their viewpoints can often be different from the widely held belief about an era (it made me think again about the Spurs and Michael Jordan), but I can see this as an excellent starter for someone more interested in the game because of the pure love for the sport in everything presented.
What do You think about FreeDarko Presents: The Undisputed Guide To Pro Basketball History (2010)?
Interesting and helpful. Broadened my understanding of the game.
—Selina327
Pomo fandom, and I love it! Can't wait for this season to begin!
—plouffe1
