The Playmasters: From Sellouts to Lockouts-An Unauthorized History of the Nba

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Summary: A good book, but a few bricks were shot
Review: As an attorney, author and genuine sports nut, I have enjoyed reading Mr. Ham's sports column in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. From the description, I was hoping it would be a book not unlike some other histories of sports that have been great reads; books such as "The League," about the NFL, and John Helyar's incomparable "Lords of the Realm," one of the best (and funniest sports books ever written. It didn't quite measure up to those works, but had one problem that I couldn't have possibly imagined when I started it. By definition, any book of history, sports or otherwise, is fact-oriented. Either events happened or they didn't. It is extraordinarily exasperating when one reads a historically premised book and finds out that the author is simply wrong on certain facts. Within the first 10 pages of the first chapter, Mr. Ham makes at least three blunders that any factchecker would have spotted. Buddy Ryan was not fired by the Bears in January 1986, he took the Eagles head coaching job two days after Super Bowl XX. Wilbur Marshall was not "dumped" by the Bears, he signed with the Redskins as a free agent. Mr. Ham quotes from a prominent Chicago sportswriter and places him with the wrong newspaper. None of this detracts from the story Mr. Ham has to tell which he does with flair and interest. It is just that this is not a book for the casual fan, it is for the reader with a keen interest (and presumably) a background in the NBA and the business of sports. It is precisely that type of reader who will see such errors and stop reading to wonder how such an experienced author as Mr. Ham could have written such a good book but missed a few easy lay-ups with the facts.

Rating:
Summary: Books on Professional Sports
Review: Despite some minor misstatements and misrepresentation of events, sports law professor Eldon L. Ham's book is interesting and insightful to read. Detailed by name and/or organization, he reveals how insiders "engineer[ed] the greatest entertainment marketing partnership in the history of professional sports." Besides tracing the founding and historical development of the NBA, Ham writes about the good, bad, spectacular and inane agents, coaches, commissioners, owners, and players that contributed to the growth of the sport.
For further information about how, when and why the NBA along with the NFL, NHL and American and National Leagues in MLB, became prominent and successful sports organizations in the U.S., see "American Sports Empire: How the Leagues Breed Success." Published by Praeger Publishing in 2003, this book documents how member teams, franchise owners, team players, the media and various government entities have collectively contributed to the progress and wealth of each sports league in the twentieth century. After reading "American Sports Empire," sports fans, team administrators, owners, coaches and players, and business journalists and historians will appreciate the significance and role of professional sports as a component of the culture in American society.