Court Vision: Unexpected Views on the Lure of Basketball

by Ira Berkow (Foreword)

Best-selling New York Times writer Ira Berkow presents a unique look at America's premier sport—and its fans—through interviews with a remarkable cross section of widely known and extraordinarily accomplished individuals in a variety of fields, who explain what the lure of basketball is for them. Berkow talked with Chris Rock, Woody Allen, Tom Brokaw, Saul Bellow, Johnnie Cochran Jr., Walter Matthau, Nikki Giovanni, Donald Trump, Julia Child, Frank Stella, Erica Jong, Grover Washington Jr., Seiji Ozawa, and Sharon Stone, among others, to uncover fresh, funny, controversial, and often surprising opinions about the teams and players who make the game intriguing.

266 pages, Paperback

First published April 6, 2000

About the author

Ira Berkow was a sports columnist and feature writer for THE NEW YORK TIMES for more than 25 years. He won the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting and was a finalist for the Pulitzer for commentary. He is the author of numerous books, including THE CORPORAL WAS A PITCHER, ROCKIN' STEADY, and SUMMERS IN THE BRONX, the bestsellers MAXWELL STREET: SURVIVAL IN A BAZAAR and RED: A BIOGRAPHY OF RED SMITH, as well as two memoirs, FULL SWING and TO THE HOOP. He was the coauthor and editor of HANK GREENBERG: THE STORY OF MY LIFE, which was a primary source for the award-winning documentary The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg. He lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Doug Bradley]

Not a great book about basketball. Some of the views were enlightening, but it is already dated. Younger fans won't recognize many of the names of players.