NBA Greats Struggles and Triumphs

From Wilt to Curry, the Greatest Players the NBA Has Seen

By Charlston Mellin and read by Melli Achna

Basketball: a game of big players with even bigger personalities. Discover what makes it the true, quintessential American sport.

The year: 1891.

The place: Springfield, Massachusetts, in the middle of a long New England winter.

The equipment: A soccer ball and a couple of peach baskets.

The result: The birth of basketball. What started as a way for restless college students to burn off some energy indoors has now become a cornerstone of American athletics, with an astonishing 2.2 billion fans worldwide. But do you know the true stories behind this enduring and entertaining sport, like: The college team that played in secret, afraid of being arrested or even murdered because of the color of their skin? The impact players like Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, and Nathaniel Clifton had on the sport? The men that brought the NBA back from the brink of bankruptcy? If you can answer these questions, then congratulations – you are a true basketball trivia master. But if you can’t, you have come to the right place. Full of entertaining stories and unbelievable stats, this book will keep you hooked from start to finish.

Inside, you will discover:

• The man behind the game – and how he knew his original rules needed to be changed from fear of the players “killing each other” by playing so rough
• Where the term “cager” comes from – and how they stopped players and fans from getting into huge brawls
• The all-black college team that secretly taught all-white teams their badass basketball moves – including how the fastbreak was introduced into the game
• The lasting effects of teams like the Harlem Rens and the Globetrotters – how these brave men changed the face of basketball forever
• Stories from the best players to ever grace the court – from what made the Black Mamba so great to the player who played in the NBA finals with the flu