A Sense of Where You Are : Bill Bradley at Princeton

Rating:
Summary: A Man With a Passion for the Game
Review: Bill Bradley, a three-time basketball all-American at Princeton, Olympic gold medalist, Rhodes scholar, member of the New York Knicks and two time NBA champion definitely has a passion for basketball. This books helps show what goes into the making of a champion. Discipline, selflessness, respect, courage, imagination and passion are elements that made him a success on and off the court. I knew nothing at all about Bill Bradley before reading this book, but I have great respect for his personal code and his shining example.

Rating:
Summary: Do not recommend this book!
Review: I was shocked to see that this book has received such marvelous reviews!

I am a big fan of anybody that has deserved success on the same level as Bill Bradley. However, this simple fact does not mean that the product of his interesting life will be a good book.

Simply, this book was very plain and details Bradley's life at Princeton, inside and outside the classroom and on the basketball court. The stories are not interesting and there is too much worship given to Senator Bill. I found many of the "facts" divulged by the author to be incredibly hard to believe.

If you like the modern-day NBA at all you will absolutely hate this book.

If you like the modern-day NBA, politics and the Golden Age of sports you will give this book two stars on a five-star scale!

Rating:
Summary: An elegant look at the game of basketball.
Review: I'm writing this review because the fact that it didn't have a 5-star rating irritated me. I first saw the McPhee/Bill Bradley piece in the New Yorker Magazine about 30 years ago. After reading it I xeroxed the entire article and sent copies of it to every member of the University of South Carolina basketball team (which for those of you who are as old as I am was coached by the legendary Frank McGuire (the assistant coach was Donnie Walsh, now President and General Manager of the Indiana Pacers) and featured a cast of great college players like John Roche, Tommy Owens, Billy Walsh, Bobby Cremins, etc. All of the players (an unusually intelligent group) loved the article. We had many conversations about Bradley's approach to the game in the months to come. This is definitely a 5-star book for any lover of the true game of basketball. It's great and can't possibly be outdated. Highest recommendation.