NBA - Main

48 Minutes by Bob Ryan and Terry Pluto covering a mid 80’s Cavs - Celts game.

Book of Basketball is my first thought but 48 is the tits

When the Game was Ours by Jackie MacMullan

As others have noted, Simmons Book of Basketball is a great start. The biggest downside is that it has a very frat boy vibe to it. A lot of sexual inuendo jokes, a sprinkle of fart jokes, a ton of 80s and 90s pop culture references.

Don't get me wrong, it's worth reading, but when I read it in my 20s I found it hilarious and captivating, but when I read it again in my 40s I found parts of it to be a bit cringey.

The Free Darko book mentioned is another good one, it's like the exact opposite of BoB - rather than references to Melrose Place, there are references to 1600s French literature and rap, for example. It's also got a pretty cool form factor - big colorful pages, unique artwork, etc. - whereas BoB is more mass paperback form factor (thin pages, black and white, small text, few visual elements).

If you are looking for ABA specifically, or for 50s/60s NBA, there are two good oral hitory books by the same author (Terry Pluto): Tall Tales (about the NBA) and Loose Balls (about the ABA).

Finally, if you like talking hoops history here on Reddit, check out /r/VintageNBA

The Breaks of the Game by David Halberstam

Nais-Myth. Interesting. Very compelling story of how Dr James Naismith actually stole the idea from a small town in NY who adopted the game a few years earlier.

“Why Does He Do That?” by Lundy Bancroft. Great insight into the mindset that Kobe Bryant had. Mamba Forever baby