During his career, David Halberstam wrote two books about the National Basketball Association: The Breaks of the Game and Playing for Keeps (concerning the break-up of the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers and the construction of the 1990s Chicago Bulls respectively). Halberstam’s two works – written roughly seventeen years apart – cover a dramatic shift in the game of basketball, a change from a marginal sport without a full television contract to the second most popular sport in the world. The 1976-77 Portland Trail Blazers may have been the last true team (greater than the sum of its parts) to win …
On the Subject of the Association, Generally
Rules Are Affecting My Enjoyment of the Game: Beyond the suspensions of Stoudemire and Diaw, which were preposterous. Bill Simmons wrote a great column and I share a number of the views that he expressed. Irrespective of flagrant fouls (if they were enforced correctly, Bowen would have about a dozen points in 2007), consistent application of the rules is becoming a huge problem. Offensive Fouls: it’s too easy to draw a foul on contact that is chiefly incidental and should be a pass (see the call Bell drew against Ginobli for the push off). The responsibility should fall on the …