Tall Tales: The Glory Years of the NBA

by Terry Pluto

Using a lively oral history format, Terry Pluto provides the best look yet at the glory days of the NBA. Tall Tales is essential reading for any fan who understands that the history of the league does not begin and end with Michael Jordan.

Genres: Basketball, Sports, Nonfiction

413 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Terry Pluto is a sports columnist for the Plain Dealer. He has twice been honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors as the nations top sports columnist for medium-sized newspapers. He is a nine-time winner of the Ohio Sports Writer of the Year award and has received more than 50 state and local writing awards. In 2005 he was inducted into the Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame. He is the author of 23 books, including The Curse of Rocky Colavito (selected by the New York Times as one of the five notable sports books of 1989), and Loose Balls, which was ranked number 13 on Sports Illustrateds list of the top 100 sports books of all time. He was called Perhaps the best American writer of sports books, by the Chicago Tribune in 1997. He lives with his wife, Roberta, in Akron, Ohio."

Reviews

[Dovydas Pancerovas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Malonus, netikėtas atradimas. Labai įtraukiantis ir gyvas dokumentinis pasakojimas apie pačius pirmuosius NBA metus (ir apie krepšinio persikėlimą iš gatvių į sales). Bemaž visa istorija sukonstruota iš liudininkų citatų, todėl nepabosta.

Rokenroliški laikai buvo. Krepšininkai po kiekvienų rungtynių išgerdavo bent po 5 alaus (Pistons garsėjo tuo, kad atnešdavo alaus ir į treniruotes), rūkydavo pusė komandos, valgydavo tik nesveiką maistą, o lygoje nebuvo nė vieno krepšininko, kuris turėtų visus dantis.

Įdomu, kad pirmieji NBA žaidėjai, būdami visiški marozai ir buduliai, paradoksaliai tapo pionieriais modernaus požiūrio į žmogaus teises ir realiai kovojo su rasizmu Amerikoje.

[Eric Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is exactly the type of book that I really enjoy. It's about the history of the early NBA (from it's inception until the retirement of Bill Russell in 1970) done in an oral history style. This is a companion to Pluto's Loose Balls about the history of the ABA. This book was great but the one thing that was obviously missing was Russell. I don't know why he didn't participate but it was pretty glaring, as he was one of the most important elements of this time period. Pluto had quotes from most of the other great players of that era, but missing Russell was pretty major. Despite that there ware some amazing stories in the book. It's quite the comparison to the NBA of today, although that was a but of a let down, having all the superstars of that era bad mouthing today's NBA. It is definitely different but that doesn't make it worse. It was a bit disheartening to hear them all give the old line "back in my day..." Despite these couple of knocks this was still an amazing book and I loved learning about a lot of the stars that made the early NBA great.

[Paulo · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Tall Tales” is a book about the NBA before 1970, an insight told by its protagonists. This means a not so common format; we read an oral -not narrative- history. Pluto begins each chapter with a short description, just an introduction, and then he mixes statements from players, coaches, referees, journalists and owners. One person one paragraph, and so we'd know the whole story.

In my opinion the main default is that Pluto expends too much time with Chamberlain and Russell, throughout the last part of the book is exclusively about them. I'd prefer more statements about first years back in 40s and early 50s.

Why I'd recommend it is closeness: it really seems you are talking with all those protagonists, it's like you are in a bar and they are taking all those memories, and you sharing this time with them, listening and learning.

[Daniel]

The Book “Tall Tales, The Glory Years of the NBA” by Terry Pluto, many things go on that excite the reader and encourages them to continue on. The reader gets some help info about events that happened on and off the court. The Book starts out by saying how the NBA was formed. The books chapters move as if you were looking at a timeline. In between one big event, there are many sub events. An example in this book is when it talks about the use of big men, and then the author would talk specifically about a certain player that impacted the NBA. Also, it’s not only the author that talks, he uses quotes throughout a majority of the book. I gave this book four stars because, as a basketball fanatic and player, the author really does show how much the game has changed and how it was played at the beginning of the NBA. Another reason being that the author wasn’t just spilling information, like a Wikipedia page. What he would do is give a paragraph summary at the beginning of each new topic, and then, he would interview different players, owners, and coaches who experienced the events topic he was talking about. I would recommend this book to a reader who loves to learn about the history of sports. The reason I say this is because the author does a very good job in both entertaining the reader, while still being able to relay information to the reader.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a book of narrative or even written prose by the author. Rather, it is a collection of short quotes and stories from several dozen players, coaches, referees and executives from the NBA of the 1950s and 1960s. The style is oral history.

I would normally not be inclined to rate a book in this style/format higher than 3 stars, since it was not really 'authored' or written. However, the men who were interviewed are most of the best of the best of that early NBA era, and the insight and stories are pretty often amazing, interesting, and unique. I've read a lot about the early NBA, and Tall Tales has wonderful material you will not find anywhere else. If you have interest in the early NBA, I highly recommend this book and I gladly rate it 4 stars! Now on to the Pluto oral history book about the ABA, Loose Balls !

[Gerry Schultz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A model basketball sports book. Recounts the great, rising years of the NBA with all the related great figures. A must-read for true sports fans.

[Paxton Holley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this back in college. Similar to Pluto's Loose Balls, it's a comprehensive history of the NBA including interiews with a bunch of the stars. Really well researched and a great read.

[Chet Wydrzynski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book about the early NBA. Told by the guys who were there.

[John Seals · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sort of a sequel to “Loose Balls” this book is damn near as funny.

[Angelo sanchez · Rating 3 out of 5]

cool

[Phil Overeem · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's only the best book on the first quarter-century of the NBA. As told by the men who were there. I had already read it twice, loaned it, lost it, bought it again for a friend who has gotten hooked and wants to know the whole story, and started flipping through it again. 100 pages later, I'm gonna claim it as read for the month. A must.

[Patrick O'Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pluto steps aside as an author in order to let the players and coaches talk about the nascent NBA in their own words. A must read for any sports fan, as it includes quotes from Auerbach, Russell, Chamberlain, Pettit, Cousy, West, Baylor, Robertson, and many other basketball luminaries.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Terry Pluto's oral history of the glory days of the NBA isn't quite as much fun as his earlier ABA book, but it's still mighty entertaining.

[Matt Comito · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like basketball

[Tony Romine · Rating 4 out of 5]

An oral history of the NBA is great, but some players chose not to participate that really should have been involved. Highly recommended.