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Black Ball: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Spencer Haywood, and the Generation that Saved the Soul of the NBA
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About This Book
A vital narrative history of 1970s pro basketball, and the Black players who shaped the NBA Against a backdrop of ongoing resistance to racial desegregation and strident calls for Black Power, the NBA in the 1970s embodied the nation's imagined descent into disorder. A new generation of Black players entered the league then, among them Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Spencer Haywood, and the press and public were quick to blame this cohort for the supposed decline of pro basketball, citing drugs, violence, and greed. Basketball became a symbol for post-civil rights the rules had changed, allowing more Black people onto the playing field, and now they were ruining everything. Enter Black Ball , a gripping history and corrective in which scholar Theresa Runstedtler expertly rewrites basketball's "Dark Ages." Weaving together a deep knowledge of the game with incisive social analysis, Runstedtler argues that this much-maligned period was pivotal to the rise of the modern-day NBA. Black players introduced an improvisational style derived from the playground courts of their neighborhoods. They also challenged the team owners' autocratic power, garnering higher salaries and increased agency. Their skills, style, and savvy laid the foundation for the global popularity and profitability of the league we know today.
Reviews
"This low-key but important title fills some glaring gaps in the history of American sports, economics, race relations, and politics."
"This savvy reappraisal of the NBA's tumultuous evolution soars."
"A strong, engaging look at a poignant, neglected aspect of pro sports."
"Runstedtler's argument—that the modern NBA was created "largely because of the efforts of African American players who challenged the status quo"—is ultimately persuasive."
"A scholarly look at 1970s pro basketball and how the NBA became synonymous with being a Black league ..."
"But even without those recollections, Black Ball is instructive reading for anyone interested in the rise of the modern NBA."
"A compelling history of the league, and the origins of what we today call player empowerment ..."
"Black Ball is a timely read at a moment when professional athletes are more outspoken than ever on social issues, and when it's clear that sports and society are inextricably linked."
"An authoritative history ..."
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