Elevating the Game: Black Men and Basketball

By Nelson George

Book Overview

What's the likelihood that people with intellectual disabilities know the secret of life? Timothy P.?Shriver's Fully Alive chronicles one man's discovery of a wild and reckless and wonder-filled spirituality. It's a lesson from the most unlikely spiritual masters: people with intellectual disabilities, the world's most forgotten minority. Shriver's teachers are also athletes in the Special Olympics, known for their gigantic smiles, breathtaking honesty, gritty determination, and all-around unconventional way of living. This is the untold story of millions of people who come to the Special Olympics believing that they are there to help a charity, only to encounter a way of life that is beautiful and unapologetically countercultural. This bold book promises nothing less than a new way of thinking about giving and receiving-where giver and receiver are part of a shared search for fulfillment. Readers will be transformed by those they encounter here. We see straight into the lives of people who face deep pain, but who turn it into beauty and love. ???? We also get a different lens on the story of the author's family. American icons and originators of the Special Olympics, his parents, Sargent and Eunice Shriver-and his uncles, John, Robert, and Edward Kennedy-were all part of the same journey of discovery through their own encounters with the shame and struggle of disability. Their political genius and their resolute advocacy for those on the margins emerge from this tale of hope in the face of hardship.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803270852
• ISBN13: 9780803270855
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
• Length: 261 Pages
• Weight: 0.91 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 0.8" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Unsung heroes that shaped the game

An insightful overview of the African-American in basketball and how the game has thus changed forever. The information on the old teams like The Harlem Renaissance was fascinating. They were a black-owned pioneering team from the 1920's, known as the Rens that paved the way for the superstars of today. The history of the Harlem Globetrotters is chronicled as well and the influence on basketball and the players who made the jump to the NBA like Nate "Sweetwater" Clifton. There are sections that detail the inroads African-American players made, such as Chuck Cooper who was the first black Boston Celtic. All the great old players are discussed , including Bill Russsell, Wilt Chamberlain, Connie Hawkins, Oscar Robertson, Elgin Baylor, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Dr. J, Elvin Hayes, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and "Magic" Johnson amongst others. The role of others in basketballs development includes such b-ball dignitaries as Larry Bird, Bill Walton, Red Auerbach and John Wooden are also mentioned. The history of the NBA is not very detailed but suffices for the novice to the sport and includes the merger of the ABA and the NBA and it's stars. The unique aesthetic of the black athelete and the relationship to music and entertainment is also discussed. Presented in a style that is very easy to read this book would be good for high school students of the game. This book is a good educational tool for students to learn the history of the game and how it has evolved.

Superb

Nelson George is a brilliant, articulate, sardonic, insightful author and a wonderful man. Anyone who has a profound appreciation of minority history and/or the game of basketball will thoroughly enjoy this well-written, well-researched masterpiece. Amen.

A good addition to any basketball library. Roots of game

Like my book "SKY KINGS", this is a valuable resource of how basketball came to be associated with Black males. If you enjoy stories of vitnage players such as Oscar Roberston and Elgin Baylor' it's all here. Also discusses the style of the game. Bijan Bayne, author "Sky Kings".