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The Soul Of Basketball: The Epic Showdown Between LeBron, Kobe, Doc, and Dirk That Saved the NBA – Inside the Pivotal Season That Transformed the Game
The Soul of Basketball tells the story of an NBA prodigy, his league and their sport in the throes of crisis during the pivotal 2010-11 season. It began with The Decision , that infamous televised moment when uber-star LeBron James revealed that he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers – thereby distancing himself from his role model Michael Jordan – to pursue his first championship with his former opponents on the Miami Heat.
To the great fortune of LeBron, the NBA and basketball itself, the mission didn’t work out as planned. In the cultural tradition of Moneyball and Friday Night Lights , veteran NBA writer Ian Thomsen portrays the NBA as a self-correcting society in which young LeBron is forced to absorb hard truths inflicted by his rivals Kobe Bryant, Doc Rivers and Dirk Nowitzki, in addition to lessons set forth by Pat Riley, Gregg Popovich, Larry Bird, David Stern, Joey Crawford and many more.
This is about the making of a champion. Brimming with inside access, The Soul of Basketball tells the inspiring story of LeBron’s loneliest year, insecure and uncertain, when his ultimate foe was an unlikely immigrant who renewed the American game’s ideals. From Miami to Boston, Los Angeles to Dallas, Germany to the NBA’s Manhattan headquarters, the biggest names in basketball are driven by something more valuable than money and fame – a quest that will pave the way for Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and future generations to thrive.
To the great fortune of LeBron, the NBA and basketball itself, the mission didn’t work out as planned. In the cultural tradition of Moneyball and Friday Night Lights , veteran NBA writer Ian Thomsen portrays the NBA as a self-correcting society in which young LeBron is forced to absorb hard truths inflicted by his rivals Kobe Bryant, Doc Rivers and Dirk Nowitzki, in addition to lessons set forth by Pat Riley, Gregg Popovich, Larry Bird, David Stern, Joey Crawford and many more.
This is about the making of a champion. Brimming with inside access, The Soul of Basketball tells the inspiring story of LeBron’s loneliest year, insecure and uncertain, when his ultimate foe was an unlikely immigrant who renewed the American game’s ideals. From Miami to Boston, Los Angeles to Dallas, Germany to the NBA’s Manhattan headquarters, the biggest names in basketball are driven by something more valuable than money and fame – a quest that will pave the way for Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and future generations to thrive.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2018
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February 26, 2018
The 2010-11 basketball season turned out to be one that was very pivotal for the sport and the league. Why this season was such an important one is explained by author Ian Thomson in this excellent book about not just LeBron James and the Heat, but also about other key player and teams.
It started during the summer when the game’s biggest star, LeBron James, announced “The Decision” to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat and in doing so, became a villain in the eyes of many fans, not just those in Cleveland. From there, the season was a topsy-turvy affair for the top teams. Not just for the Heat, who now had three stars (they also signed free agent Chris Bosh to go with their star guard Dwayne Wade), but also for the Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks.
Thomson takes the reader inside these teams and one key person for each team. For the Celtics, that is their coach Doc Rivers, who led the team to the championship in 2008 and lost a heartbreaking seven game series to the Lakers in the 2010 Finals. This has weighed heavy on Rivers’ mind and he wants to make sure this does not deter from his team’s goals. The Celtics had good success against the Heat during the 2010-11 season and they meet in the playoffs. Through the stories of not only Rivers, but also Paul Pierce and Rajan Rondo, the reader will experience the ups and downs of the season up to their elimination by the Heat in the playoffs.
Speaking of Miami, the Heat’s adventures are covered with the same extensive detail about their key personnel. The reader will learn about James’s inner turmoil about becoming the player everyone loved to hate. He realized that announcing his joining the Heat in the manner that he did was not popular, that the rally held soon afterward in which he, Wade and Bosh predicted multiple championships added fuel to that fire, and that he was realizing that he was not the only cog that made Miami a good team.
Not all of the material about the Heat is about the players, however. The reader will learn a great deal about the inner workings a team will execute when attempting to sign a star player when he or she reads about Pat Riley’s wheeling and dealing to sign James. These passages were very informative and helped the reader understand why James eventually chose Miami – and late in the book, also why James left Miami to head back to Cleveland. These are part of the “self- corrections” that Thomson illustrates as an important part of the NBA culture.
The Los Angeles Lakers were the defending champions during the 2010-11 season, and the determination and drive to succeed exhibited by their superstar, Kobe Bryant, is well documented. However, the best writing about a player who is exhibiting a special talent to win is saved for Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki. What is especially entertaining about Nowitzki’s story is how he worked closely for many years with Holger Geschwindner. Holger worked with Nowitzki on everything from his footwork to his shot selection to his mental game. Like his team, Nowitzki didn’t start the 2010-11 season with a lot of fanfare, but by the time the NBA Finals were done, the Mavericks were the champions, defeating James and the Heat with Nowitzki being the dominant player in the Finals. His reaction to winning was interesting – he lifted both fists up in triumph, then ran into the locker room where he was crying hard while being urged to come back out to the arena to accept the award of being named the MVP of the Finals. It made for great drama.
The book is certainly one of the best basketball books one will find about recent NBA history and one of the best I have had the pleasure to read. The NBA is carving out its own identity, according to Thomson, as the sport of the American Dream as Major League Baseball is drawing criticism for its slow pace and the NFL has issues with the violence of the game and the dangers of concussions. The book is a compelling case for arriving at this conclusion and is one that any NBA fan will want to add to his or her library.
I wish to thank Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
It started during the summer when the game’s biggest star, LeBron James, announced “The Decision” to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat and in doing so, became a villain in the eyes of many fans, not just those in Cleveland. From there, the season was a topsy-turvy affair for the top teams. Not just for the Heat, who now had three stars (they also signed free agent Chris Bosh to go with their star guard Dwayne Wade), but also for the Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks.
Thomson takes the reader inside these teams and one key person for each team. For the Celtics, that is their coach Doc Rivers, who led the team to the championship in 2008 and lost a heartbreaking seven game series to the Lakers in the 2010 Finals. This has weighed heavy on Rivers’ mind and he wants to make sure this does not deter from his team’s goals. The Celtics had good success against the Heat during the 2010-11 season and they meet in the playoffs. Through the stories of not only Rivers, but also Paul Pierce and Rajan Rondo, the reader will experience the ups and downs of the season up to their elimination by the Heat in the playoffs.
Speaking of Miami, the Heat’s adventures are covered with the same extensive detail about their key personnel. The reader will learn about James’s inner turmoil about becoming the player everyone loved to hate. He realized that announcing his joining the Heat in the manner that he did was not popular, that the rally held soon afterward in which he, Wade and Bosh predicted multiple championships added fuel to that fire, and that he was realizing that he was not the only cog that made Miami a good team.
Not all of the material about the Heat is about the players, however. The reader will learn a great deal about the inner workings a team will execute when attempting to sign a star player when he or she reads about Pat Riley’s wheeling and dealing to sign James. These passages were very informative and helped the reader understand why James eventually chose Miami – and late in the book, also why James left Miami to head back to Cleveland. These are part of the “self- corrections” that Thomson illustrates as an important part of the NBA culture.
The Los Angeles Lakers were the defending champions during the 2010-11 season, and the determination and drive to succeed exhibited by their superstar, Kobe Bryant, is well documented. However, the best writing about a player who is exhibiting a special talent to win is saved for Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki. What is especially entertaining about Nowitzki’s story is how he worked closely for many years with Holger Geschwindner. Holger worked with Nowitzki on everything from his footwork to his shot selection to his mental game. Like his team, Nowitzki didn’t start the 2010-11 season with a lot of fanfare, but by the time the NBA Finals were done, the Mavericks were the champions, defeating James and the Heat with Nowitzki being the dominant player in the Finals. His reaction to winning was interesting – he lifted both fists up in triumph, then ran into the locker room where he was crying hard while being urged to come back out to the arena to accept the award of being named the MVP of the Finals. It made for great drama.
The book is certainly one of the best basketball books one will find about recent NBA history and one of the best I have had the pleasure to read. The NBA is carving out its own identity, according to Thomson, as the sport of the American Dream as Major League Baseball is drawing criticism for its slow pace and the NFL has issues with the violence of the game and the dangers of concussions. The book is a compelling case for arriving at this conclusion and is one that any NBA fan will want to add to his or her library.
I wish to thank Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
January 2, 2019
More of a 3.5-star experience, on the strength of the insider information and behind-the-scenes quotes and anecdotes, contrasted with the frustratingly confusing structure and inexplicable digressions. The multiple-page transcriptions of interviews with Joey Crawford and Isiah Thomas added some meat to the bone but left me scratching my head and wondering about their reason for inclusion other than the author's good fortune in securing the sit-downs.
Thomsen deserves credit for being willing to take shots at Kobe and LeBron, even if he repeats some points incessantly (did you know that there's an "AAU generation" of NBA players, who have some different values and ideas than the previous stars?), and he got great access from his other two titular protagonists (Doc and Dirk) that result in satisfyingly complete character portraits.
Fun for any NBA fan, less so for non-believers because you need to be pretty familiar with the players and events going in for the narrative to add up.
Thomsen deserves credit for being willing to take shots at Kobe and LeBron, even if he repeats some points incessantly (did you know that there's an "AAU generation" of NBA players, who have some different values and ideas than the previous stars?), and he got great access from his other two titular protagonists (Doc and Dirk) that result in satisfyingly complete character portraits.
Fun for any NBA fan, less so for non-believers because you need to be pretty familiar with the players and events going in for the narrative to add up.
July 31, 2025
Closer to 3.5 than 3. I really enjoyed bits and pieces of this. Surprised myself by really enjoying the bits about the Mavs and short chapter on referees.
Most of all, I really appreciated the delivery of how the people that played mind games in 2011 were the ones who lost. And that’s how life should be.
But, as a big LeBron fan, I selfishly wanted more from him and the Heat.
This book really enforced my distaste for Paul Pierce. But, I did change my view on Doc Rivers. I always felt like they were cut from the same cloth. But, this shows otherwise.
Parts of this felt like a bit of a homework assignment rather than enjoyment.
Happy to have read it. It was a good change of pace to my normal choice of books.
Most of all, I really appreciated the delivery of how the people that played mind games in 2011 were the ones who lost. And that’s how life should be.
But, as a big LeBron fan, I selfishly wanted more from him and the Heat.
This book really enforced my distaste for Paul Pierce. But, I did change my view on Doc Rivers. I always felt like they were cut from the same cloth. But, this shows otherwise.
Parts of this felt like a bit of a homework assignment rather than enjoyment.
Happy to have read it. It was a good change of pace to my normal choice of books.
September 3, 2018
Decent book that highlights the turning point of the big 3 in Miami. A little overcrowded with the Doc Rivers and even Kobe Bryant narrative. Everything about Dirk and Miami was interesting but there were a few times the other stuff felt more like a sidetrack or side note than contributing to the narrative of the whole book.
December 17, 2018
Didn't quite live up to it's promise as a successor to David Halberstam, but still thought provoking and occasionally insightful, amidst some entertaining basketball writing. I think the story Thomsen is trying to tell - the maturing of basketball into "the sport of the American dream", with LeBron playing the central gravitational role - will be best told in a thoughtful biography of LeBron once he retires.
April 20, 2020
The first book I ever read that transformed my understanding and subsequent affection for professional basketball was the great Jack MacCallum’s 2006 book on the 2005-06 Phoenix Suns. He focuses the majority of his narrative on that team’s fascinating playoff run, but it encompasses stories, storylines, and dramas from prior seasons and the regular season.
Perhaps the greatest book ever written about basketball, or any sport for that matter, is David Halberstam’s ‘The Breaks of the Game’, which details the 1979-80 Portland Trail Blazers. That team finished six games below .500, had just traded Bill Walton, and were a few years removed from a championship season. That book, perhaps more than any other basketball book I’ve read, gets to the very heart of the challenges of professional basketball, and how, as the title states, the margins between greatness and being merely good, or between championships and bottoming out, are cruel, unforgiving, and never as one imagines.
I bring these two books up not to compare them to the subject of this review, because in the case of the former it evoked a very personal reaction in me while being a relatively pedestrian book, and the latter is in the pantheon of great sports books and wouldn’t really be a fair comparison. I bring them up because they were always in my mind while I read ‘The Soul of Basketball’. A book with that title implies something to its reader, namely that he is about to read something that examines ideas bigger than box scores or inside stories of the game’s biggest stars—just as ‘The Breaks of the Game’ does. Additionally, when examining an entire league’s season, and not just one team’s, the author must ensure that he retains command over the narrative while fulfilling what he clearly sets out to do when titling a book in this way. Unfortunately, Thomsen fails miserably in both regards.
The 2010-11 NBA season took place in the wake of Lebron James’s televised and heavily scrutinized decision to play for the Miami Heat, it involved a last-gasp effort by the defending champion Lakers, it had a potential Spurs championship destroyed by injuries, it had major, league-altering trades (highlighted by the Carmelo Anthony Denver-to-New York trade, but Boston’s decision to deal Kendrick Perkins probably was more consequential), it highlighted the differences between old school Boston and many of the league’s rising teams, it had Dirk finally getting over the hump and winning a legacy-affirming title, and it took place on the precipice of a league lockout that would shorten the following season by twenty percent.
That’s a very exciting season to write about! But Thomsen’s writing is so unfocused, going all over the place in terms of years discussed and persons profiled that the reader is never left with an impression of the season. So many events merely pass as snapshots. Things that should take one paragraph take two pages, and vice versa. If the titular soul of basketball is teamwork and personal sacrifice and going about one’s business, then yes, the Mavericks exemplified that and the Heat did not. But so did the Celtics and Spurs, and they failed to make the Finals! If we remember The Secret as detailed by Isiah Thomas to Bill Simmons, that the secret of basketball is that it’s not about basketball, then we would know the moral of this story before we set off.
Thomsen fails to achieve either one of the goals a sportswriter must have: to tell a captivating story or to make a statement that transcends sports. Even when provided a beautiful set of events to tell, he cannot do so, and any hope of explaining something existential about basketball gets bogged down in how he presents that season. Finally, he is incapable of not psycho-analyzing these players, and at times writes like a petty local beat writer about a hated opponent. He seems to take pride in sniping at James and his behavior on and off the court, coming close at times to accusing him of completely falsifying his image in both environments. Much of LeBron’s behavior in the summer of 2010 and at times throughout the regular season and playoffs is incorrigible given his failure to deliver championships either before or during that season. Yet one feels that Thomsen would object even in 2016 to LeBron bellowing at Steph Curry after swatting his attempted lay-up into the stands during Game 5 of the NBA Finals. In short, Thomsen is obnoxiously, consistently incapable of removing himself from what he is presenting. There is new information here, and good moments (Dirk sobbing alone in the showers of the visitor’s locker room as the buzzer sounds on the Mavericks’ championship stands out), but I was often left with one question: “What is the point of this book?” After finishing this book, the subtitle becomes laughable in that Thomsen never makes a compelling case that a) the NBA needed saving, or b) that the 2010-11 season saved it. Not sure who deserves more blame: the writer, his editors, or the publisher.
Perhaps the greatest book ever written about basketball, or any sport for that matter, is David Halberstam’s ‘The Breaks of the Game’, which details the 1979-80 Portland Trail Blazers. That team finished six games below .500, had just traded Bill Walton, and were a few years removed from a championship season. That book, perhaps more than any other basketball book I’ve read, gets to the very heart of the challenges of professional basketball, and how, as the title states, the margins between greatness and being merely good, or between championships and bottoming out, are cruel, unforgiving, and never as one imagines.
I bring these two books up not to compare them to the subject of this review, because in the case of the former it evoked a very personal reaction in me while being a relatively pedestrian book, and the latter is in the pantheon of great sports books and wouldn’t really be a fair comparison. I bring them up because they were always in my mind while I read ‘The Soul of Basketball’. A book with that title implies something to its reader, namely that he is about to read something that examines ideas bigger than box scores or inside stories of the game’s biggest stars—just as ‘The Breaks of the Game’ does. Additionally, when examining an entire league’s season, and not just one team’s, the author must ensure that he retains command over the narrative while fulfilling what he clearly sets out to do when titling a book in this way. Unfortunately, Thomsen fails miserably in both regards.
The 2010-11 NBA season took place in the wake of Lebron James’s televised and heavily scrutinized decision to play for the Miami Heat, it involved a last-gasp effort by the defending champion Lakers, it had a potential Spurs championship destroyed by injuries, it had major, league-altering trades (highlighted by the Carmelo Anthony Denver-to-New York trade, but Boston’s decision to deal Kendrick Perkins probably was more consequential), it highlighted the differences between old school Boston and many of the league’s rising teams, it had Dirk finally getting over the hump and winning a legacy-affirming title, and it took place on the precipice of a league lockout that would shorten the following season by twenty percent.
That’s a very exciting season to write about! But Thomsen’s writing is so unfocused, going all over the place in terms of years discussed and persons profiled that the reader is never left with an impression of the season. So many events merely pass as snapshots. Things that should take one paragraph take two pages, and vice versa. If the titular soul of basketball is teamwork and personal sacrifice and going about one’s business, then yes, the Mavericks exemplified that and the Heat did not. But so did the Celtics and Spurs, and they failed to make the Finals! If we remember The Secret as detailed by Isiah Thomas to Bill Simmons, that the secret of basketball is that it’s not about basketball, then we would know the moral of this story before we set off.
Thomsen fails to achieve either one of the goals a sportswriter must have: to tell a captivating story or to make a statement that transcends sports. Even when provided a beautiful set of events to tell, he cannot do so, and any hope of explaining something existential about basketball gets bogged down in how he presents that season. Finally, he is incapable of not psycho-analyzing these players, and at times writes like a petty local beat writer about a hated opponent. He seems to take pride in sniping at James and his behavior on and off the court, coming close at times to accusing him of completely falsifying his image in both environments. Much of LeBron’s behavior in the summer of 2010 and at times throughout the regular season and playoffs is incorrigible given his failure to deliver championships either before or during that season. Yet one feels that Thomsen would object even in 2016 to LeBron bellowing at Steph Curry after swatting his attempted lay-up into the stands during Game 5 of the NBA Finals. In short, Thomsen is obnoxiously, consistently incapable of removing himself from what he is presenting. There is new information here, and good moments (Dirk sobbing alone in the showers of the visitor’s locker room as the buzzer sounds on the Mavericks’ championship stands out), but I was often left with one question: “What is the point of this book?” After finishing this book, the subtitle becomes laughable in that Thomsen never makes a compelling case that a) the NBA needed saving, or b) that the 2010-11 season saved it. Not sure who deserves more blame: the writer, his editors, or the publisher.
August 16, 2018
This is a terribly written book. It is full of inanity--I highlighted numerous passages which were either inexplicable or laughable. I find it hard to believe that I actually finished this book. Here are the main problems:
1) the author is so old school he thinks he can get the story by interviewing the coaches, general managers, and players. But if you really want to read a book primarily of Pat Riley, Doc Rivers, Danny Ainge, Mark Cuban (!) etc., then you are in for a treat. Especially is you miss the Doc Rivers years at the Celtics. This focus on the top may work in college football sportswriting, but it is laughable with the NBA, where the players are in control.
2) The author is really into the "deeper meaning" behind basketball. Whole chapters of this book are devoted to his babbling about "meaning."
3) I can't follow his game descriptions. Maybe because he is looking for "meaning" and not the score.
4) If you are going to write a book about the 2010-2011 season (Mavs title) don't take SIX YEARS to write it. In his postscript, easily the best chapter of the book (because it is the end), he quickly tries to revise his initial views on LeBron. Nobody really cares about "the Decision" anymore except to chuckle. And he wants to give Dirk the credit for LeBron's new maturity as a player.
A representative example of the writing: "His [Dirk Nowitski's] long foreign journey to the championship proved that the NBA was indeed a theater in which the values of America were meant to be thrashed out. The immigrant, whose triumph measured the strength of his humility, provided the game of freedom, equality and merit with a higher calling worthy of those values."
If you want a good book about basketball, read When the Game was Ours, by (ahem) Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. It is everything this book is not--it even has some "meaning" in it.
1) the author is so old school he thinks he can get the story by interviewing the coaches, general managers, and players. But if you really want to read a book primarily of Pat Riley, Doc Rivers, Danny Ainge, Mark Cuban (!) etc., then you are in for a treat. Especially is you miss the Doc Rivers years at the Celtics. This focus on the top may work in college football sportswriting, but it is laughable with the NBA, where the players are in control.
2) The author is really into the "deeper meaning" behind basketball. Whole chapters of this book are devoted to his babbling about "meaning."
3) I can't follow his game descriptions. Maybe because he is looking for "meaning" and not the score.
4) If you are going to write a book about the 2010-2011 season (Mavs title) don't take SIX YEARS to write it. In his postscript, easily the best chapter of the book (because it is the end), he quickly tries to revise his initial views on LeBron. Nobody really cares about "the Decision" anymore except to chuckle. And he wants to give Dirk the credit for LeBron's new maturity as a player.
A representative example of the writing: "His [Dirk Nowitski's] long foreign journey to the championship proved that the NBA was indeed a theater in which the values of America were meant to be thrashed out. The immigrant, whose triumph measured the strength of his humility, provided the game of freedom, equality and merit with a higher calling worthy of those values."
If you want a good book about basketball, read When the Game was Ours, by (ahem) Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. It is everything this book is not--it even has some "meaning" in it.
December 18, 2020
This book has great information and is quite entertaining. It does good talking about the 2010 - 2011 NBA season and what exactly happened during that time period for those who did not watch. I love how it goes through LeBron’s decision to join the Miami Heat and the fallout it had in the rest of the league. The book brought up the idea of “superteams” as a result of LeBron’s decision. The narration is fine, it is just how every other book would be. The things that were not really that great about this include the narration of multiple games. If we wanted to know every detail about one specific game we could just watch it online or look up the statistics. The book really did show me how events that were talked about really changed the league forever, which is the NBA we all know today. Even though the book focuses on multiple players and teams, I love the way they talk about LeBron in the book and his rise in popularity. If you are a LeBron fan this book is definitely for you. Overall, the book is pretty good and I will give it three stars. It’s an averagely good book and sports fan would be thrilled to read it.
June 7, 2022
This book is a need to read title. If you are interested in basketball, this book is for you. This novel goes deep into the history of LeBron, including his grand entrance to the NBA. It gives you never before seen looks and interviews with the players we know as the greats today. All in All, Ian Thomsen includes dozens of great "behind the scenes" looks at the 2000's NBA.
September 22, 2018
A nice book on the 2010s in basketball (and particularly the 2011-12 season) which, I think, will be eventually defined as the LeBron decade. The oral history/bits and pieces of an interview mishmash tired me a little after the first half of the book, but there is still a lot of enjoyable material to read (and who guessed a book can be written about what happened in sports 6 years ago?)
January 7, 2020
In depth analysis with insider information about the NBA from the early aughts to the teens.
January 18, 2023
A solid behind-the-scenes look at a turning point in the NBA with some insightful stories, but overall it was a disjointed and clunky read.
September 20, 2018
Immensely well researched book looking at all facets of the growing emergence of NBA from the third best team sport to over-taking MLB and going toe to toe with the NFL for superiority.
One for fans of NBA and not looking mostly at the career of LeBron James but giving kudos to luminaries such as Paul Pierce and Dirk Nowitzki.
One for fans of NBA and not looking mostly at the career of LeBron James but giving kudos to luminaries such as Paul Pierce and Dirk Nowitzki.
May 1, 2018
First and foremost, I will admit I have been a LeBron fan for more than 15 years now.
Thomsen clearly did not like LeBron at all, along with sources and people he fluffs up in the book. I readily admit that LeBron did shrink under the pressure in the finals against Dallas, but I fail to see what Doc or Kobe had to do with it. All credit to the Mavericks and Dirk for seizing the moment, but this book basically slanders LeBron up until the epilogue.
Thomsen glazes over things, claiming everyone who leaves the Celtics reveres the entire organization and no one ever has bad blood, only to (correctly) contradict this point about the animosity felt by Ray Allen when he left.
I slogged through this, and got all the way through Riley's shots at LeBron.
Thomsen clearly did not like LeBron at all, along with sources and people he fluffs up in the book. I readily admit that LeBron did shrink under the pressure in the finals against Dallas, but I fail to see what Doc or Kobe had to do with it. All credit to the Mavericks and Dirk for seizing the moment, but this book basically slanders LeBron up until the epilogue.
Thomsen glazes over things, claiming everyone who leaves the Celtics reveres the entire organization and no one ever has bad blood, only to (correctly) contradict this point about the animosity felt by Ray Allen when he left.
I slogged through this, and got all the way through Riley's shots at LeBron.
October 24, 2025
Had a book been published in 2011 about LeBron and The Decision, it would have been stupid, but at least it might have been relevant. Publishing a book about LeBron and The Decision in 2018 is anachronistic at best.
The premise of the book is inherently flawed. Basketball doesn't have a soul. In the NBA, it's a game that is played at the highest level. Rapists and murderers have played the game. Thieves and bigots have played the game. The game was fine then. And the game was fine after a one hour charity special that raised 2.5 MILLION DOLLARS FOR THE BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB.
But, Ian Thomsen doesn't want you to believe that. He spends the first 50 pages eviscerating LeBron for The Decision. The words "selfish" and "immature" are used so many times, you wonder if he was just copying and pasting them from earlier pages. After the first 50 pages, after LeBron had made The Decision and got to Miami, I thought that surely the writer would move on and he might actually write about basketball.
I was wrong. Thomsen cannot go two pages without hearkening back to The goddam Decision. It's as if he's still stuck in 2011 with the Twitter mob, mad about a television program they didn't have to watch. Reading this book, I actually think The Decision broke his brain. It caused him to think that a one hour charity special on television hurt the "soul" of the game he has apparently been covering for SI for 20+ years. Frankly, I'd never heard of the guy until I heard about this book being released.
And the book is just poorly put together. The writer glosses over major points of the 2011 season so he can spend 10 pages giving you details about Dirk's German trainer. When Thomsen finally gets to The Finals, does he let Dirk talk about the games? No, he spends 50 pages with Joey Fucking Crawford, letting a damn referee spin his tale. Yes, in a taste of true irony, while eviscerating LeBron for The Decision every other page, Joey Crawford, a ref who made the game about himself as often as he possibly could, gets to tell about the culminating games of The Finals. It addles the mind.
At one point, Larry Bird is waxing poetic about how good LeBron is, and how good LeBron could be. The writer essentially tells Bird, "You shouldn't like LeBron, he doesn't play the game like you did."
Kobe Bryant is portrayed as a fierce competitor who can do no wrong. He may snarl at coaches, but it's because he wants to win so bad. And when he went on Colin Cowherd's radio show to demand a trade a decade ago, it's not because he's about himself, it's because he needs to win. Kobe does nothing wrong. Kobe never did The Decision.
Dirk Nowtizki is just an immigrant from Germany trying to make it in this foreign country. He's never once brought the spotlight on himself. And when he screamed, "SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!" at Mark Cuban, it was because he was showing how much he wants to win and be a face of the franchise.
Reading this book, you'd think Doc Rivers has twenty NBA Championship rings. He's never made a misstep coaching. His players failed him, he was too good. He was just a guy trying to make it out of the projects in Illinois. Doc Rivers the f-word more than I do in my feeble writing attempts. The writer never mentions a thing about his use of profanity.
But here's an actual sentence that was written about LeBron: "He was wearing headphones and singing along with the lyrics out loud, including the profanities."
LeBron is vain. LeBron is selfish. LeBron is immature. LeBron is immature again. If LeBron celebrates after a big play, it's about him. When Dirk celebrates after a big play, it's because he loves his team. If Kobe celebrates after a big play, it's because he's worked so hard to get there.
LeBron doesn't love his team. LeBron didn't have to work. LeBron is immature for the 87th time.
If you ever read Skip Bayless's tweets about LeBron and think he's making good points, you will absolutely love this book.
It fucking sucks.
The premise of the book is inherently flawed. Basketball doesn't have a soul. In the NBA, it's a game that is played at the highest level. Rapists and murderers have played the game. Thieves and bigots have played the game. The game was fine then. And the game was fine after a one hour charity special that raised 2.5 MILLION DOLLARS FOR THE BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB.
But, Ian Thomsen doesn't want you to believe that. He spends the first 50 pages eviscerating LeBron for The Decision. The words "selfish" and "immature" are used so many times, you wonder if he was just copying and pasting them from earlier pages. After the first 50 pages, after LeBron had made The Decision and got to Miami, I thought that surely the writer would move on and he might actually write about basketball.
I was wrong. Thomsen cannot go two pages without hearkening back to The goddam Decision. It's as if he's still stuck in 2011 with the Twitter mob, mad about a television program they didn't have to watch. Reading this book, I actually think The Decision broke his brain. It caused him to think that a one hour charity special on television hurt the "soul" of the game he has apparently been covering for SI for 20+ years. Frankly, I'd never heard of the guy until I heard about this book being released.
And the book is just poorly put together. The writer glosses over major points of the 2011 season so he can spend 10 pages giving you details about Dirk's German trainer. When Thomsen finally gets to The Finals, does he let Dirk talk about the games? No, he spends 50 pages with Joey Fucking Crawford, letting a damn referee spin his tale. Yes, in a taste of true irony, while eviscerating LeBron for The Decision every other page, Joey Crawford, a ref who made the game about himself as often as he possibly could, gets to tell about the culminating games of The Finals. It addles the mind.
At one point, Larry Bird is waxing poetic about how good LeBron is, and how good LeBron could be. The writer essentially tells Bird, "You shouldn't like LeBron, he doesn't play the game like you did."
Kobe Bryant is portrayed as a fierce competitor who can do no wrong. He may snarl at coaches, but it's because he wants to win so bad. And when he went on Colin Cowherd's radio show to demand a trade a decade ago, it's not because he's about himself, it's because he needs to win. Kobe does nothing wrong. Kobe never did The Decision.
Dirk Nowtizki is just an immigrant from Germany trying to make it in this foreign country. He's never once brought the spotlight on himself. And when he screamed, "SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!" at Mark Cuban, it was because he was showing how much he wants to win and be a face of the franchise.
Reading this book, you'd think Doc Rivers has twenty NBA Championship rings. He's never made a misstep coaching. His players failed him, he was too good. He was just a guy trying to make it out of the projects in Illinois. Doc Rivers the f-word more than I do in my feeble writing attempts. The writer never mentions a thing about his use of profanity.
But here's an actual sentence that was written about LeBron: "He was wearing headphones and singing along with the lyrics out loud, including the profanities."
LeBron is vain. LeBron is selfish. LeBron is immature. LeBron is immature again. If LeBron celebrates after a big play, it's about him. When Dirk celebrates after a big play, it's because he loves his team. If Kobe celebrates after a big play, it's because he's worked so hard to get there.
LeBron doesn't love his team. LeBron didn't have to work. LeBron is immature for the 87th time.
If you ever read Skip Bayless's tweets about LeBron and think he's making good points, you will absolutely love this book.
It fucking sucks.
April 8, 2018
There are clearly seasons in the life of a sports fan. You have football season, college basketball, March Madness...and then baseball kicks in along with the NBA and NHL playoffs. (Yes, I am a book nerd and I love sports.)
So, I requested to do a review of this book, The Soul of Basketball, which I thought would be a good way to get myself in the mood for the NBA playoffs, which also open next week.
I enjoy basketball a lot and have followed the NBA for my entire life. When I was 10 to 12 years old, I followed the Cleveland Cavaliers VERY closely. We didn't get the games on TV and I spent my evenings listening to Joe Tait (normally when I was supposed to be in bed) call the Cavs during the Miracle at Richfield season. (The Cavs had a Bowling Green (Ohio) connection, both through their owner Nick Mileti and their backup center Nate Thurmond...and their Coach Bill Fitch).
The Soul of Basketball is about the 2010-11 season, which is the first year after The Decision. It is an excellent book and anyone who is interested in the NBA would find it a great read. In fact, it's a great character study of people responding to the highest level of competitive pressure and would be interesting as a study to anyone interested in that slice of life.
The book is written by Ian Thomsen, who is a writer for Sports Illustrated. SI was known is the highest level of sports magazine writing. What appeared on those pages was of the highest literary quality. My high school teachers encouraged us to read SI when we were learning to write.
This is what I would consider classic SI writing. First, there's incredible access...long interviews with important people in this story, including Pat Reilly, Doc Rivers, Dirk Nowitzki, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant...the list goes on.
Next, there's a commitment to telling a story about people, not sports. What the reader leaves with is an essential understanding of the humanity of the people involved. Their upbringing, their fears, their motivations, their biases, their strength. And Thomsen shows us the humanity of players (stars and subs), yes, but also of coaches, referees, owners, scouts...everyone involved in the making of the 2010-11 edition of the annual NBA drama.
There's also an angle to the book that places all of what is happening in a historical context. The NBA was trying to find its way in the post-Jordan era and LeBron was supposed to be that guy, but he had just botched The Decision. You also have the influx of AAU-influenced players and a lot of questions about how the league is going to succeed. (For more on what the AAU is and what's wrong with it, check here or here.)
There were a couple parts that really stood out to me. I found the Gregg Popovich sections especially interesting. He's a guy I admire and I admire how his teams play. Turns out, he built the concept by focusing on foreign players who had not been infected by AAU mentality.
I also really enjoyed the stuff with Kobe Bryant and didn't expect to. I have often heard people say that a certain team doesn't "know what it takes to win." I always kind of scoffed at that, but the way NBA basketball is played, a star player has to be able to shoulder the burden in key moments and the team has to be really tough to win a title, not just good.
Anyway, this is an outstanding book. It is not great sportswriting, it is great writing and will make a great companion for the NBA playoffs, when the league really puts on its best show.
Full disclosure: I received this book from NetGalley for a fair and honest review. (Thanks NetGalley!)
So, I requested to do a review of this book, The Soul of Basketball, which I thought would be a good way to get myself in the mood for the NBA playoffs, which also open next week.
I enjoy basketball a lot and have followed the NBA for my entire life. When I was 10 to 12 years old, I followed the Cleveland Cavaliers VERY closely. We didn't get the games on TV and I spent my evenings listening to Joe Tait (normally when I was supposed to be in bed) call the Cavs during the Miracle at Richfield season. (The Cavs had a Bowling Green (Ohio) connection, both through their owner Nick Mileti and their backup center Nate Thurmond...and their Coach Bill Fitch).
The Soul of Basketball is about the 2010-11 season, which is the first year after The Decision. It is an excellent book and anyone who is interested in the NBA would find it a great read. In fact, it's a great character study of people responding to the highest level of competitive pressure and would be interesting as a study to anyone interested in that slice of life.
The book is written by Ian Thomsen, who is a writer for Sports Illustrated. SI was known is the highest level of sports magazine writing. What appeared on those pages was of the highest literary quality. My high school teachers encouraged us to read SI when we were learning to write.
This is what I would consider classic SI writing. First, there's incredible access...long interviews with important people in this story, including Pat Reilly, Doc Rivers, Dirk Nowitzki, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant...the list goes on.
Next, there's a commitment to telling a story about people, not sports. What the reader leaves with is an essential understanding of the humanity of the people involved. Their upbringing, their fears, their motivations, their biases, their strength. And Thomsen shows us the humanity of players (stars and subs), yes, but also of coaches, referees, owners, scouts...everyone involved in the making of the 2010-11 edition of the annual NBA drama.
There's also an angle to the book that places all of what is happening in a historical context. The NBA was trying to find its way in the post-Jordan era and LeBron was supposed to be that guy, but he had just botched The Decision. You also have the influx of AAU-influenced players and a lot of questions about how the league is going to succeed. (For more on what the AAU is and what's wrong with it, check here or here.)
There were a couple parts that really stood out to me. I found the Gregg Popovich sections especially interesting. He's a guy I admire and I admire how his teams play. Turns out, he built the concept by focusing on foreign players who had not been infected by AAU mentality.
I also really enjoyed the stuff with Kobe Bryant and didn't expect to. I have often heard people say that a certain team doesn't "know what it takes to win." I always kind of scoffed at that, but the way NBA basketball is played, a star player has to be able to shoulder the burden in key moments and the team has to be really tough to win a title, not just good.
Anyway, this is an outstanding book. It is not great sportswriting, it is great writing and will make a great companion for the NBA playoffs, when the league really puts on its best show.
Full disclosure: I received this book from NetGalley for a fair and honest review. (Thanks NetGalley!)
June 4, 2018
The Soul of Basketball tells the story of the 2010-2011 NBA season – the season after LeBron James ‘Decision’ to move to Miami. It paints that year as a pivotal season – the changing of the guard as LeBron’s generation seized control of the NBA.
It isn’t simply a book about the season, but rather about the changing role of the NBA in American life as a new generation of players build on Jordan’s legacy and capture the public’s imagination. The NBA was trying to find its way in the post-Jordan era but LeBron had turned himself into public enemy number 1 with his handling of the Decision and his promises of a decade of glory in Miami. Players were arriving in the NBA already famous and already entitled.
Thomsen paints a compelling and illuminating portrait of the key individuals in that season’s NBA. He takes readers inside the Heat, the Lakers, the Celtics, the Spurs, and the Mavericks and focuses on a key individual in each of those teams. For me the most compelling figures throughout the book are Dirk Nowitzki, Greg Popovich and Kobe Bryant. Dirk Nowitzki was much less well-known to me and emerges as the most fascinating figure in the book.
Thomsen shows us who the players, coaches, scouts and executives really are, what motivates and drives them to succeed. Thomsen’s ability to get key people to open up and share revealing insights is a real asset to the book. There is also extensive and fascinating detail on the inside workings of team’s front office. Thomsen also captures the between old-school owners and the newer generation of owners like Mark Cuban at the Mavericks.
It is arguable that LeBron is treated a bit harshly at times in the book although the epilogue does recognise his achievement in returning successfully to Cleveland. By detailing LeBron’s toughest year, Thomsen attempts to show some of what LeBron went through before becoming a champion.
It’s a detailed, engrossing and brilliant read which I highly recommend. If there has been a better book written about the modern NBA, I’d be delighted to find it.
You can read all of my sports book https://allsportsbooks.reviews
It isn’t simply a book about the season, but rather about the changing role of the NBA in American life as a new generation of players build on Jordan’s legacy and capture the public’s imagination. The NBA was trying to find its way in the post-Jordan era but LeBron had turned himself into public enemy number 1 with his handling of the Decision and his promises of a decade of glory in Miami. Players were arriving in the NBA already famous and already entitled.
Thomsen paints a compelling and illuminating portrait of the key individuals in that season’s NBA. He takes readers inside the Heat, the Lakers, the Celtics, the Spurs, and the Mavericks and focuses on a key individual in each of those teams. For me the most compelling figures throughout the book are Dirk Nowitzki, Greg Popovich and Kobe Bryant. Dirk Nowitzki was much less well-known to me and emerges as the most fascinating figure in the book.
Thomsen shows us who the players, coaches, scouts and executives really are, what motivates and drives them to succeed. Thomsen’s ability to get key people to open up and share revealing insights is a real asset to the book. There is also extensive and fascinating detail on the inside workings of team’s front office. Thomsen also captures the between old-school owners and the newer generation of owners like Mark Cuban at the Mavericks.
It is arguable that LeBron is treated a bit harshly at times in the book although the epilogue does recognise his achievement in returning successfully to Cleveland. By detailing LeBron’s toughest year, Thomsen attempts to show some of what LeBron went through before becoming a champion.
It’s a detailed, engrossing and brilliant read which I highly recommend. If there has been a better book written about the modern NBA, I’d be delighted to find it.
You can read all of my sports book https://allsportsbooks.reviews
April 2, 2018
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review.
"The Soul of Basketball" is an extremely entertaining look at the 2010-2011 NBA season, especially from the lens of 2018. Over the last few years, the NBA has undergone a radical change in style of play and in terms of player activism, and we can start to see the seeds of it here in this book. Thomsen goes in depth into a large number of players, coaches, and executives throughout the book, and his in depth reporting on each of them made me want a full length book on a great deal of the people he talks about. Thomsen did an excellent job of connecting players to the past, especially Kobe and the Celtics. When I first started, I was a little skeptical of Thomsen's tone, because he seemed to be vilifying LeBron and sanctifying Kobe and the big three of the Celtics. However, it turned out to be a pretty even handed look at all characters involved, and demonstrated in a few ways how much some of the players have changed over the years. One thing that seemed to be missing was a more in depth look how that season connected to the current basketball climate, and how it caused some of the people involved to change. The last chapter did this extremely briefly, but from the title and description, I was expecting more of a connection to the current day, and how the look of the NBA now would be totally different if it weren't for that season. If nothing else, the book does an excellent job of describing the NBA during the late 2000s, and helps us to see how some of the players have changed and developed over the last few years, particularly LeBron. Very good read, and I recommend it to others!
"The Soul of Basketball" is an extremely entertaining look at the 2010-2011 NBA season, especially from the lens of 2018. Over the last few years, the NBA has undergone a radical change in style of play and in terms of player activism, and we can start to see the seeds of it here in this book. Thomsen goes in depth into a large number of players, coaches, and executives throughout the book, and his in depth reporting on each of them made me want a full length book on a great deal of the people he talks about. Thomsen did an excellent job of connecting players to the past, especially Kobe and the Celtics. When I first started, I was a little skeptical of Thomsen's tone, because he seemed to be vilifying LeBron and sanctifying Kobe and the big three of the Celtics. However, it turned out to be a pretty even handed look at all characters involved, and demonstrated in a few ways how much some of the players have changed over the years. One thing that seemed to be missing was a more in depth look how that season connected to the current basketball climate, and how it caused some of the people involved to change. The last chapter did this extremely briefly, but from the title and description, I was expecting more of a connection to the current day, and how the look of the NBA now would be totally different if it weren't for that season. If nothing else, the book does an excellent job of describing the NBA during the late 2000s, and helps us to see how some of the players have changed and developed over the last few years, particularly LeBron. Very good read, and I recommend it to others!
December 11, 2019
As a fervent fan of basketball and the NBA, I have greatly enjoyed watching LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Dirk Nowitzki dominate opponents on the court. However, before reading this book, I had never thought too deeply into their actions and impacts off the court, or about their long-term legacies on the game. I consistently take pleasure in reading articles, books, and texts about sports, and this book was no exception.
Beginning with "The Decision" by LeBron James in the summer of 2010, Thomsen eloquently illustrates the pivotal effects of the 2010-2011 NBA season into the future of basketball as a whole. Exploring the year from the perspective of four top teams, the Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, and Boston Celtics, Thomsen explores the history of each organization and the stories of the key players, officials, and owners connected to them. Insightful and entertaining, the paths of these teams and players help carve out a fundamental identity for the NBA that is no longer solely motivated by money and fame, but by a deeper desire for fulfillment and success.
A through and contemplative piece of sports journalism, The Soul of Basketball is an engaging and entertaining book casting light on the NBA and its players that is sure to appeal to sports fans. I would particularly recommend it to basketball devotees interested in the modern development of the NBA.
Beginning with "The Decision" by LeBron James in the summer of 2010, Thomsen eloquently illustrates the pivotal effects of the 2010-2011 NBA season into the future of basketball as a whole. Exploring the year from the perspective of four top teams, the Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, and Boston Celtics, Thomsen explores the history of each organization and the stories of the key players, officials, and owners connected to them. Insightful and entertaining, the paths of these teams and players help carve out a fundamental identity for the NBA that is no longer solely motivated by money and fame, but by a deeper desire for fulfillment and success.
A through and contemplative piece of sports journalism, The Soul of Basketball is an engaging and entertaining book casting light on the NBA and its players that is sure to appeal to sports fans. I would particularly recommend it to basketball devotees interested in the modern development of the NBA.
May 28, 2025
I should have loved this book, as it ostensibly is about how my favorite team of all time, the 2011 Dallas Mavericks, won the NBA championship over the Miami Heat.
And since the Heat were the NBA equivalent of the Evil Empire, the Mavs' win was also a victory for the good guy and building an NBA team through hard work instead of free agency (that Mavs team was almost completely constructed via free agency, though. It's just that Cuban and Nelson couldn't get an A-listers to join, so he had to rely on aging veterans and role players).
But while there are some great nuggets in here, the lack of focus made it very hard to enjoy. It wasn't a comprehensive look at the 2011 season or the Dallas Mavericks or even Dirk Nowitzki. It was a hodgepodge of fairly interesting insights into basketball players and the various paid and unpaid staffers/volunteers that surround them, interspersed with some fairly generic descriptions of games.
The book isn't really chronological, it bounces around a lot and is fairly hard to follow. Even after Thomsen gets to the NBA Finals, which takes forever, he interrupts what was becoming a decently interesting recount of a fascinating series to give us Game 5 through Joey Crawford's eyes, which no one asked for.
Thomsen has some punchy paragraphs/chapters in here, and it's worth a read for hardcore NBA/Mavericks fans. But it's held back by a lack of focus.
And since the Heat were the NBA equivalent of the Evil Empire, the Mavs' win was also a victory for the good guy and building an NBA team through hard work instead of free agency (that Mavs team was almost completely constructed via free agency, though. It's just that Cuban and Nelson couldn't get an A-listers to join, so he had to rely on aging veterans and role players).
But while there are some great nuggets in here, the lack of focus made it very hard to enjoy. It wasn't a comprehensive look at the 2011 season or the Dallas Mavericks or even Dirk Nowitzki. It was a hodgepodge of fairly interesting insights into basketball players and the various paid and unpaid staffers/volunteers that surround them, interspersed with some fairly generic descriptions of games.
The book isn't really chronological, it bounces around a lot and is fairly hard to follow. Even after Thomsen gets to the NBA Finals, which takes forever, he interrupts what was becoming a decently interesting recount of a fascinating series to give us Game 5 through Joey Crawford's eyes, which no one asked for.
Thomsen has some punchy paragraphs/chapters in here, and it's worth a read for hardcore NBA/Mavericks fans. But it's held back by a lack of focus.
June 21, 2018
Very insightful
Lot of information dating from the start of the league and all the changes that had happened along the way.
I lived the miami heat situation very close, was living in west palm beach, this nba lost against dallas was and still very painful but at least now, i discovered more reasons why they won.
The Miami heat situation was very complex, because the big 3 almost took all the salary, so Miami had to look for old, almost washed players for 2 or 3 millions/year, these players could not keep up with very young physical teams. ..and at some point it was nit really a big 3 bc Wade spent more time sick than healthy after the first 2 years, Lebron was doing it all...And it very painful to see that miami never had a real pointgaurd.
Now i respect Pat Riley a little more by admitting so e of his mistakes. Very proud of him.
.One of the biggest difference is the Kobe mentality financially and Duncan, Dirk. The last 2 years of kobe s carrer, he got payed 48.5 M while being sick most of the time, i don't blame him because the lakers has the money and kobe was the only only lakers player that people went to see play but Duncan and Dirk accepted way less money to help their teams.
I enjoyed to see how the league has changed,how the referrees see the game, the growth of some players and the complications having to do with running a team.
Lot of information dating from the start of the league and all the changes that had happened along the way.
I lived the miami heat situation very close, was living in west palm beach, this nba lost against dallas was and still very painful but at least now, i discovered more reasons why they won.
The Miami heat situation was very complex, because the big 3 almost took all the salary, so Miami had to look for old, almost washed players for 2 or 3 millions/year, these players could not keep up with very young physical teams. ..and at some point it was nit really a big 3 bc Wade spent more time sick than healthy after the first 2 years, Lebron was doing it all...And it very painful to see that miami never had a real pointgaurd.
Now i respect Pat Riley a little more by admitting so e of his mistakes. Very proud of him.
.One of the biggest difference is the Kobe mentality financially and Duncan, Dirk. The last 2 years of kobe s carrer, he got payed 48.5 M while being sick most of the time, i don't blame him because the lakers has the money and kobe was the only only lakers player that people went to see play but Duncan and Dirk accepted way less money to help their teams.
I enjoyed to see how the league has changed,how the referrees see the game, the growth of some players and the complications having to do with running a team.
August 13, 2020
While the title of this book may have been a bit inflated, the execution of it is pretty close to flawless.
It's obvious that Ian Thomsen cares a lot about basketball, and has succeeded in writing about this moment of it in a way that makes heads nostalgic, and also serves to be a complete snapshot for someone who wasn't there.
I like the details that I did not know, like Pop could've been a spy, or Paul Pierce was shot multiple times (I still don't trust him now that he's pro-Raptors, after all that BK/Washington shit), and I recommend this one to anyone-whether or not you feel good about Bubble Ball.
I did cry when I saw the Pheonix Suns getting their players' families to do their introductions. But still-I think doctors should have the 'Rona rings and that Disneyworld should not be open.
It's obvious that Ian Thomsen cares a lot about basketball, and has succeeded in writing about this moment of it in a way that makes heads nostalgic, and also serves to be a complete snapshot for someone who wasn't there.
I like the details that I did not know, like Pop could've been a spy, or Paul Pierce was shot multiple times (I still don't trust him now that he's pro-Raptors, after all that BK/Washington shit), and I recommend this one to anyone-whether or not you feel good about Bubble Ball.
I did cry when I saw the Pheonix Suns getting their players' families to do their introductions. But still-I think doctors should have the 'Rona rings and that Disneyworld should not be open.
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January 21, 2026 Okay so this book is called the soul of basketball by Ian thomsen And it's mainly about what LeBron Kobe Doc Rivers and Derek did in the NBA and the NBA playoffs and why they made it pretty special today And also Like for example in one of the pages it talked about like how derek beat LeBron in the NBA finals with LeBron having three very good teammates because everyone originally thought LeBron was going to win He didn't do Him Having his first NBA finals in Miami. So overall this book is pretty good i think that the people that love basketball should read this book because there are good players in this book and maybe if there is a favorite player that they like and he was in the nba finals before you would probably read about him and maybe some background on the nba finals and how he got there. And maybe also a couple of plays that were going up and down the court.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 22, 2019
So I have to admit that this was the first book I read since college time 7-8 years ago. I heard about it on an podcast (the Lowe post) and really liked the whole backstory an bigger meaning of it!
The book didn’t disappoint, it really sucked me in and had so much great anecdotes of this era of basketball, which I followed very closely at the time. It brought back great memories and also new stories and nuggets i didn’t know. Huge plus to me was the view from different angles!
Really recommend it! Sucked me back into reading. I didn’t realize how much i missed it and how it brings a certain balance to my life.
The book didn’t disappoint, it really sucked me in and had so much great anecdotes of this era of basketball, which I followed very closely at the time. It brought back great memories and also new stories and nuggets i didn’t know. Huge plus to me was the view from different angles!
Really recommend it! Sucked me back into reading. I didn’t realize how much i missed it and how it brings a certain balance to my life.
November 4, 2019
The rare well written book on sports. Starts slow, a bit too slow. But doesn't assume familiarity for the reader unlike many others of players and takes a sort of Michael Lewis reminscent style of key characters to shape the narratives.
Surprisingly counter intuitively deepest on Dirk's background and inner circle than the others. One would've presumed the other two would've been far easier to research and thus, express. But in fairness they serve more like pillars creating a house for the story of Dirk than they do to necessary elucidate the reader to better grasping how they came to have be what they've become to do what they've done.
Would recommend. Which is a rarity.
Surprisingly counter intuitively deepest on Dirk's background and inner circle than the others. One would've presumed the other two would've been far easier to research and thus, express. But in fairness they serve more like pillars creating a house for the story of Dirk than they do to necessary elucidate the reader to better grasping how they came to have be what they've become to do what they've done.
Would recommend. Which is a rarity.
March 20, 2018
I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Are you a casual basketball fan? Read this book. Are you a hardcore basketball fan? Read this book.
Thomsen does an excellent job of capturing the vibe and essence of the NBA and its culture by showcasing four superstars (three players, one coach), are various levels of their careers. By weaving together the impacts of each man on the NBA, and culture overall, Thomsen is able to highlight the key factors that have led to the 2010-2011 season being so pivotal for the NBA and its influence on the sports landscape.
Are you a casual basketball fan? Read this book. Are you a hardcore basketball fan? Read this book.
Thomsen does an excellent job of capturing the vibe and essence of the NBA and its culture by showcasing four superstars (three players, one coach), are various levels of their careers. By weaving together the impacts of each man on the NBA, and culture overall, Thomsen is able to highlight the key factors that have led to the 2010-2011 season being so pivotal for the NBA and its influence on the sports landscape.
September 8, 2018
If football is war and aggression, and baseball is peace and apple pie, what is basketball? Ian Thomsen argues convincingly that it is the American Dream - equality, justice, and opportunity for all who are willing to work hard and love to win. One of the great ironies of the book is that it took a foreigner, Dirk Nowitzki, to get the NBA to find and embrace its identity. From this macro perspective down to the micro level (there's an entire chapter devoted to the officiating of one key play in one key game) this book does not disappoint.
June 3, 2020
I rarely find a book dedicated to a specific basketball moment in sports history in recent times that isn't about the 3-1 Finals comeback by the Cavs in 2016. Usually books are about players, coaches, dynasties, and title runs.
In this book, Ian Thomsen identifies the soul of NBA: the epic 2011 championship run of the Dallas Mavericks. How a lone superstar in Dirk Nowitzki beat Miami's recently formed Big 3 of Wade, LBJ and Bosh. Interesting thesis, too.
As a Mavs fan myself, this goes high up on my list of sports books. Highly recommended.
In this book, Ian Thomsen identifies the soul of NBA: the epic 2011 championship run of the Dallas Mavericks. How a lone superstar in Dirk Nowitzki beat Miami's recently formed Big 3 of Wade, LBJ and Bosh. Interesting thesis, too.
As a Mavs fan myself, this goes high up on my list of sports books. Highly recommended.
July 10, 2021
Very nice.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, even if I should have saved it for after the season when I usually suffer from basketball withdrawal. I didn't expect to be wildly pleased by Mr. Thompson's work because I was spoiled long ago by David Halberstam's writing, but this made me nearly as happy. I am astounded by the access the author must have had to basketball luminaries like Pat Riley, and this made for a heck of a book. Also, the snark about Jason Terry was entertaining, because I am petty.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, even if I should have saved it for after the season when I usually suffer from basketball withdrawal. I didn't expect to be wildly pleased by Mr. Thompson's work because I was spoiled long ago by David Halberstam's writing, but this made me nearly as happy. I am astounded by the access the author must have had to basketball luminaries like Pat Riley, and this made for a heck of a book. Also, the snark about Jason Terry was entertaining, because I am petty.
June 30, 2022
This book is really great overall, I just disagree with the author that the NBA players and personal speaking out about social justice is good, not everyone wants political stuff in sports. I love how after 9/11 and after the Maverick players and staff always stood with their hands on their hearts for the national anthem. Dirk especially because he appreciates everything the USA has done for him as a immigrant from Germany. I also have more respect for Pat Reilly now after reading the book. Overall very insightful.
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