"A 75-year history of the National Basketball Association."-- Celebrate the NBA with stories that capture the association's larger-than-life players and jaw-dropping events. From 1946 to 2020, there are stories and archival images that cover the best dunks, shots, dribble drives, and cross-overs. And the retrospective doesn't shy away from controversy, covering the league's struggles with racial bigotry, Magic Johnson's HIV diagnosis, and the cocaine-fueled...

"The Golden State Warriors are the envy of the modern NBA. Chasing their third consecutive championship, they have assembled an incredible wealth of athletic talent, lead the league in merchandise sales, and are planning to move into a glitzy new stadium next season. Their owner, Joe Lacob, regularly hosts the top CEOs and influencers of Silicon Valley in his box, fashioning himself into one of the most powerful men in the world. Yet inside the organization,...

"Every few years a talent comes along that disrupts everything we think we know about how the NBA should work. Whether it's scoring, playmaking, or shooting, these are players and tactics that fundamentally challenge how the game is played and what greatness looks like on a basketball court. For a period of time, these players each become an "Atlas" for the league, carrying the weight of the NBA on their shoulders, but also providing the roadmap that...

"Acclaimed sports journalist Marcus Thompson explores the 10 teams that transformed basketball in this illustrated history of the sport"--

"Against the backdrop of ongoing massive resistance to racial desegregation and increasingly strident calls for Black Power, the NBA in the 1970s embodied the nation's imagined descent into disorder. The press and the public blamed young Black players for the chaos in the NBA, citing drugs, violence, greed, and criminality. The supposed decline of pro basketball became a metaphor for the first decades of integration in America: the rules of the game...

"The 1980s were a transformative decade for the NBA. Since its founding in 1946, the league had evolved from a bruising, earthbound game of mostly nameless, underpaid players to one in which athletes became household names for their thrilling, physics-defying play. The 1987-88 season was the peak of that golden era, a year of incredible drama that featured a pantheon of superstars in their prime--the most future Hall of Famers competing at one time...

"No athlete is referenced as frequently in commentaries on Black politics as LeBron James. The NBA all-star, gold medal Olympian, four time NBA champion, and four-time finals MVP has been a pivotal figure in both the culture and politics of basketball. Despite his unmatched skill, success and popularity, James has never been fully free from the entrenched racism and anti-blackness in American life. His story, of both success and adversity, represents...