Loose Balls - by Terry Pluto (Paperback)

Number of Pages: 464
Genre: Sports + Recreation
Sub-Genre: Basketball
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Age Range: Adult
Author: Terry Pluto
Language: English

About the Book

The American Basketball Association (1967-1976) gave birth to Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Bob Costas, the Indiana Pacers, the San Antonio Spurs, the Slam Dunk contest, flashy moves, and the three-point basket. During its nine seasons, the ABA generated scorn and laughter--and made a lasting impact on how the game is played. 24 pages of photographs.

Book Synopsis

What do Julius Erving, Larry Brown, Moses Malone, Bob Costas, the Indiana Pacers, the San Antonio Spurs and the Slam Dunk Contest have in common? They all got their professional starts in the American Basketball Association.

What do Julius Erving, Larry Brown, Moses Malone, Bob Costas, the Indiana Pacers, the San Antonio Spurs and the Slam Dunk Contest have in common? They all got their professional starts in the American Basketball Association.

The NBA may have won the financial battle, but the ABA won the artistic war. With its stress on wide-open individual play, the adoption of the 3-point shot and pressing defense, and the encouragement of flashy moves and flying dunks, today's NBA is still--decades later --just the ABA without the red, white and blue ball.

Loose Balls is, after all these years, the definitive and most widely respected history of the ABA. It's a wild ride through some of the wackiest, funniest, strangest times ever to hit pro sports--told entirely through the (often incredible) words of those who played, wrote and connived their way through the league's nine seasons.

Review Quotes

Loose Balls is either the great American novel in oral-history sound bites or the definitive book on the 1970s, or both: sex, drugs, platform shoes, sideburns, slam dunks, midnight franchise shifts, million-dollar deferred-payment player contracts, the three-point shot, Dr. J., Marvin (Bad News) Barnes, LaVerne (Jelly) Tart and Pat Boone (yes, Pat Boone). Pro sports, the way they oughta be. -- Newsweek

ABA veterans say 'you had to be there, ' and now, thanks to this book, we are. -- Steve Gietschier, The Sporting News

I assure you I could not recommend this book more highly. This is one of the funniest sports books of all-time. -- Bob Ryan, The Boston Globe

The best sports book of the year? Loose Balls... -- USA Today