Product DescriptionABC’s and ESPN’s “Mr. Stats” ranks the NBA’s greatest players of all time in this provocative and comprehensive book “Elliot Kalb’s work is beyond excellent. He thinks in story lines and uses numbers and history to make compelling and often original points. ” –Bob Costas “. . . a book that any hardcore basketball fan can savor. ” — San Francisco Chronicle When the NBA released its supposedly authoritative list of the top 50 players, basketball fans ever. . . More >>

Who’s Better, Who’s Best in Basketball?: Mr Stats Sets the Record Straight on the Top 50 NBA Players of All Time

Product DescriptionMichael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time. But his pre-eminence is more than just extraordinary athletic ability: the lessons of his life-such as focus, passion, hard work, perseverance and accountability-have shaped him into one of the most revered celebrities of the 20th century. In this inspiring book Pat Williams, motivational speaker and senior vice president of the NBA’s Orlando Magic, reveals Jordan’s method for living a life of greatnes. . . More >>

How to Be Like Mike: Life Lessons about Basketball’s Best

made for MTV BEST SHOW EVER (www.mtvbestshowever.com) – episode 201 – June 7 2008

Langston L. Boogie playing with his 2nd Grade Travel Team against 5th graders.

A collection of college basketball photos from around Chicago. This is a collection of 11 of the best photos.

John Wall Hoopmixtape Volume 1: Wall’s Senior Campaign at Word of God.

help me

A big area of concern surrounding Team USA professional basketball is the very noticeable lack of recent success against international competition. In the quadrennial World Championship tournament, an American team has failed to win the top prize since 1994, and in the Olympics since 2000.

In the 2006 WC competition hosted in Saitama, Japan, the team came in third place, winning a bronze medal. The 2004 Olympics in Athens produced the same result. The 2002 Indianapolis, IN WC tournament did not end well for the U. S. , as a team beset by internal conflict placed sixth, the worst showing in history by an American squad in an international tournament.

This situation has caused an orgy of hand wringing and harsh criticism as fans and other observers have taken turns lambasting the “lazy” players for not decimating foreign competition. Suffice it to say that there is no dearth of proposed “solutions” to “fix” the problem. The 2007 WC tournament to qualify for the 2008 Olympics is scheduled to be held in Las Vegas, NV, Aug. 22 through Sept. 2. We’ll see what happens then.

There is a consistent theme here — the U. S. no longer enjoys a huge advantage in hoops. The days are finished when a group of U. S. professional players could just show up and easily batter international opponents. That era ended after the first Dream Team, led by Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan, won the gold medal in the 1992 Olympics by many accounts the greatest collection of talent on one team in any sport in history. Now, the international teams, who feature a more pass-oriented, free-flowing version of the game, smell weakness and are more than eager to heap more indignities on the heads of the American players.

This state of affairs causes many to speculate as to whether the finest basketball is actually played in the NBA. Some sports analysts have indicated their partiality for the European-style game. Due to the fact that American teams have been handily thrashed in international competition for the better part of a decade, one would have to be very foolish to dismiss this notion.

Something that many have noted is the fact that the NBA championship team is dubbed the “World Champion. ” How appropriate is that title? Shouldn’t the championship team have to prove that it’s the best at what it does in the world?

Would it not be worthwhile to put together a true World Championship series between the NBA and Euroleague champions? The entertainment value, along with global interest in such a series would be tremendous, and the games themselves would serve to settle for once and for all which side of the Atlantic the best basketball is played on.