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Book Review: ‘The Book of Basketball’ by Bill Simmons February 27, 2010

Posted by pacejmiller in Basketball, Book Reviews, NBA.
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[Update: If you want to know what Simmons says about Indiana Pacers legend Reggie Miller, click here to find out!]

At first blush, Bill Simmons seems like a sportswriter with a massive ego (and dick vibe).  I mean, you’d have to, to call yourself “The Sports Guy” and to name your book (or “Pulitzer”, as Simmons likes to call it) The Book of Basketball.

Yes, Simmons does have a bit of an ego, and he is as opinionated as hell, but there are two things you can’t deny about him.

One, love him or hate him, the man knows basketball.  He grew up watching basketball (he grew up in Boston so naturally loved the Celtics), idolizing basketball players (mostly Russell and Bird and other Celtics players), writing about basketball and breathing basketball.  How else would he be able to fill up a 700+ page book about the sport?

And two, hands down, Bill Simmons (or Jabaal Abdul-Simmons, as he used to call himself as a kid) is the most creative and utterly hilarious sportswriter today.

Combine the two and that’ll give you a fair idea of what The Book of Basketball is like.

Big call, but I rank The Book of Basketball right up there with Jim Carroll’s The Basketball Diaries as the funniest basketball-related book ever (and borrowing from a Simmons-style analogy, both books were about basketball, both books were about race, both involved sex and getting blown, and both dabbled in drugs and homosexuality).

(Click on ‘more’ to read the full review and rating!)

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