When I was growing (and falling in love the game of basketball), one my favorite things to do was read "The Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball," by Zander Hollander. Two main reasons for this: 1) It was the best way for me to work toward my goal of being to name the starting fives for all 23 NBA teams (yes there were 23 teams back then... let me know when you're done laughing); and 2) Hollander's writing style was hilarious and formed the basis for sizable chunk of my sense of humor.
He pulled no punches when offering opinions on players in the capsules that he wrote, especially the bench-warmers. One that sticks out in my memory:
On Dale Ellis, early in his career with the Dallas Mavericks: "Dale has proven in the past season that he will take a) no guff; and b) any shot"
The book also had every player's salary, which made it easy to compare stats with pay and find out who was really "stealing money."
I titled this "jackpot" because, after searching for a while, I was able to find a couple copies of the books ('83, '86 and '88) on Amazon. In 6 to 14 days (shipping time varies), I will be immersed in mid-80s NBA-lore, reading about Fred Roberts, Chuck Nevitt and the venerable Geoff Crompton.
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