The Year's Best Sports Writing 2025

by Hanif Abdurraqib, Glenn Stout (contributor)

A must-read collection featuring the best in sports journalism Editor Hanif Abdurraqib has curated an essential anthology showcasing incredible feats and diverse perspectives across the world of sports. Selected from a wide range of newspapers, magazines, and digital publications during the previous year, these stories capture enduring moments while celebrating the craft of writing at its most sublime. This extraordinary collection reveals the fascinating stories behind the sports we love, the competitors who push their boundaries, and the cultures they are ultimately embedded in.

Genres: Sports

344 pages, Paperback

Published October 7, 2025

About the author

Hanif Abdurraqib is a poet, essayist, and cultural critic from Columbus, Ohio. His poetry has been published in Muzzle, Vinyl, PEN American, and various other journals. His essays and music criticism have been published in The FADER, Pitchfork, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. His first full length poetry collection, The Crown Ain't Worth Much, was released in June 2016 from Button Poetry. It was named a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Book Prize, and was nominated for a Hurston-Wright Legacy Award. With Big Lucks, he released a limited edition chapbook, Vintage Sadness, in summer 2017 (you cannot get it anymore and he is very sorry.) His first collection of essays, They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us, was released in winter 2017 by Two Dollar Radio and was named a book of the year by Buzzfeed, Esquire, NPR, Oprah Magazine, Paste, CBC, The Los Angeles Review, Pitchfork, and The Chicago Tribune, among others. He released Go Ahead In The Rain: Notes To A Tribe Called Quest with University of Texas press in February 2019. The book became a New York Times Bestseller, and was met with critical acclaim. His second collection of poems, A Fortune For Your Disaster, was released in 2019 by Tin House. He is a graduate of Beechcroft High School.

Reviews

[Peter Cohen · Rating 5 out of 5]

ughhhhh there really is no place like sports

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is fascinating collection of essays and articles. I do not know if Abdurraqib's introduction is available online, but it's definitely worth reading if you are unsure about this book because he lays out quite clearly that the driving force behind this collection is finding writers with a story to tell who are so confident of the power of their story that they're going to trust you to come along with them for the ride. The definition of "sports" gets stretched a fair bit in some places, though I think the biggest reach is in the piece about pilgrimages, which was worth the price of the volume for me.

[Kevin Krein · Rating 3 out of 5]

five stars for the introduction obviously. and like, i suppose something like this is going to be a mixed bag. some of the actual "journalism" is very stiff but that comes with the territory of news writing. the more unconventional pieces, or personal pieces, were of genuine interest, like about long distance walking, or hiking, or being in your 30s and leaning to ride a bike for the first time. those are for sure, like, really thoughtful and well done, and challenge the idea of what "sports writing" is.

[Shannon Heaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

An array of some of the nation's best sports and sports-adjacent writing -- I say some of only because there is not, can not be, an objective standard to it all. I think the essays that captured me the most were 1) the closing essay about attempting to learn how to ride a bike, by Devin Kelly; and, 2) a personal essay on one man's obsession with basketball cards, by Kaveh Akbar. All of the essays were written with sufficient verve to hold even this veteran writer's attention.

[Pete Papagiannis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Xmas gift. A real joy to read sports articles on paper instead of the blooming screen! I will go back and dive into the previous years. Some tremendous writing but would have liked to see more from the four major NA sports. Grateful to have found this superb quote that resonated deeply as an expat, reflecting on home:

"You cannot see that treasure until you have seen the wider world. You cannot know home by staying at home; you must first have gone away"

[Ethan Fuller · Rating 3 out of 5]

The introduction itself was super interesting. I would add that to these five favs:

- The Alchemists, Kim Cross/Bicycling
- Inside San Jose State’s Polarizing Volleyball Season, Katie Barnes/ESPN
- Football in Palestine, Zito Madu/Flaming Hydra
- Let’s Hear it for the Dolls: A day shooting hoops with Brooklyn’s trans basketball league, Frankie De La Cretaz/Self
- Torn from her family at birth, a woman brings a skatepark to her homeland, Roman Stubbs/Washington Post

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually enjoy this collection more than I did this year. Abdurraqib's editing seems to be at fault. There was not enough variety between the various entries, with common themes and topics flooding the book. Highlights included 'Sour' by Ettore Ewen, 'Black Girl, Blue Leotard' by Lisa Williamson Rosenberg, and 'Scholar's Mate' by Mychal Denzel Smith.

[Joseph · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not the "year's best" and mostly not "sports writing." In most cases, these articles are not from professional writers who cover their sports. A sad entry in an otherwise strong series. It makes me sad that they've taken this polarizing direction.

[Mike Azzalina · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 Sports usually wins for me. Sometimes this book stretched what I define as sport, but the journalism was able to pull it together. At times, it felt dry. At others, it really drew me in.

The intro is worth the price of admission. Solid read.

[George Klein]

Death of the Hiker was the standout in the collection to me

[Ingrid Gillies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every essay was phenomenal!!!