-
Black Ball
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Spencer Haywood, and the Generation That Saved the Soul of the NBA
- Narrated by: Xenia Willacey
- Length: 11 hrs
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Black Ball
Buy for $21.83
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
When the Game Was War
- The NBA's Greatest Season
- By: Rich Cohen
- Narrated by: Cary Hite
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
The 1980s were a transformative decade for the NBA. The 1987–88 season was the peak of that golden era, a year of incredible drama that featured a pantheon of superstars in their prime. In When the Game Was War, bestselling author Rich Cohen tells the story of this incredible season through the four teams, and the four players, who dominated it: Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics, Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers, Isiah Thomas and the Detroit Pistons, and a young Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Phil Jackson accuses Red Auerbach of cheap tactics
- By Sean on 01-03-24
By: Rich Cohen
-
LeBron
- By: Jeff Benedict
- Narrated by: Chris Jackson
- Length: 17 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 127
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 114
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 114
LeBron James is the greatest basketball player of the twenty-first century, and he’s in the conversation with Michael Jordan as the greatest of all time. The reigning king of the game and the first active NBA player to become a billionaire, LeBron wears the crown like he was born with it. Yet his ascent has been anything but effortless and predetermined—the truth is vastly more interesting than that. LeBron tells the full, riveting saga of how a child adrift found the will to become a titan. Jeff Benedict paints a vivid picture of LeBron’s epic origin story, showing the gradual rise of a star.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Anyone could have written this book
- By Kevin Crane on 05-01-23
By: Jeff Benedict
-
In the Blink of an Eye
- An Autobiography
- By: Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Nick Chiles - contributor
- Narrated by: Corey Allen
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 90
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 76
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 76
He is perhaps most well-known for being exiled from the league for praying—instead of standing and saluting the flag–during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” before games throughout the 1995-96 season. Abdul-Rauf’s protest sent shockwaves through the NBA that can still be felt today. With wit and candor, Abdul-Rauf tells the story of how he rose to the top of his game—only to have his career taken away in the blink of an eye when he stood up for his principles.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Truth behind the legend!
- By Terry Conry on 12-03-22
By: Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, and others
-
King: A Life
- By: Jonathan Eig
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 20 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 511
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 437
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 436
Vividly written and exhaustively researched, Jonathan Eig’s King: A Life is the first major biography in decades of the civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.—and the first to include recently declassified FBI files. In this revelatory new portrait of the preacher and activist who shook the world, the bestselling biographer gives us an intimate view of the courageous and often emotionally troubled human being who demanded peaceful protest for his movement but was rarely at peace with himself.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
My Time
- By Susan on 06-18-23
By: Jonathan Eig
-
Oscar Wars
- A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears
- By: Michael Schulman
- Narrated by: Charlie Thurston
- Length: 21 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 215
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 176
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 175
In Oscar Wars, Michael Schulman chronicles the remarkable, sprawling history of the Academy Awards and the personal dramas—some iconic, others never-before-revealed—that have played out on the stage and off camera. Unlike other books on the subject, each chapter takes a deep dive into a particular year, conflict, or even category that tells a larger story of cultural change, from Louis B. Mayer to Moonlight. Schulman examines how the red carpet runs through contested turf, and the victors aren't always as clear as the names drawn from envelopes.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating and FUN
- By Peter Riley on 06-11-23
By: Michael Schulman
-
Rickey
- The Life and Legend of an American Original
- By: Howard Bryant
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 18 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 232
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 215
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 214
Few names in the history of baseball evoke the excellence and dynamism that Rickey Henderson’s does. He holds the record for the most stolen bases in a single game, and he’s scored more runs than any player ever. “If you cut Rickey Henderson in half, you’d have two Hall of Famers,” the baseball historian Bill James once said. But perhaps even more than his prowess on the field, Rickey Henderson’s is a story of Oakland, California, the town that gave rise to so many legendary athletes like him.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An All Time Grewt
- By Anonymous User on 10-09-23
By: Howard Bryant
-
When the Game Was War
- The NBA's Greatest Season
- By: Rich Cohen
- Narrated by: Cary Hite
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
The 1980s were a transformative decade for the NBA. The 1987–88 season was the peak of that golden era, a year of incredible drama that featured a pantheon of superstars in their prime. In When the Game Was War, bestselling author Rich Cohen tells the story of this incredible season through the four teams, and the four players, who dominated it: Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics, Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers, Isiah Thomas and the Detroit Pistons, and a young Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Phil Jackson accuses Red Auerbach of cheap tactics
- By Sean on 01-03-24
By: Rich Cohen
-
LeBron
- By: Jeff Benedict
- Narrated by: Chris Jackson
- Length: 17 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 127
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 114
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 114
LeBron James is the greatest basketball player of the twenty-first century, and he’s in the conversation with Michael Jordan as the greatest of all time. The reigning king of the game and the first active NBA player to become a billionaire, LeBron wears the crown like he was born with it. Yet his ascent has been anything but effortless and predetermined—the truth is vastly more interesting than that. LeBron tells the full, riveting saga of how a child adrift found the will to become a titan. Jeff Benedict paints a vivid picture of LeBron’s epic origin story, showing the gradual rise of a star.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Anyone could have written this book
- By Kevin Crane on 05-01-23
By: Jeff Benedict
-
In the Blink of an Eye
- An Autobiography
- By: Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Nick Chiles - contributor
- Narrated by: Corey Allen
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 90
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 76
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 76
He is perhaps most well-known for being exiled from the league for praying—instead of standing and saluting the flag–during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” before games throughout the 1995-96 season. Abdul-Rauf’s protest sent shockwaves through the NBA that can still be felt today. With wit and candor, Abdul-Rauf tells the story of how he rose to the top of his game—only to have his career taken away in the blink of an eye when he stood up for his principles.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Truth behind the legend!
- By Terry Conry on 12-03-22
By: Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, and others
-
King: A Life
- By: Jonathan Eig
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 20 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 511
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 437
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 436
Vividly written and exhaustively researched, Jonathan Eig’s King: A Life is the first major biography in decades of the civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.—and the first to include recently declassified FBI files. In this revelatory new portrait of the preacher and activist who shook the world, the bestselling biographer gives us an intimate view of the courageous and often emotionally troubled human being who demanded peaceful protest for his movement but was rarely at peace with himself.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
My Time
- By Susan on 06-18-23
By: Jonathan Eig
-
Oscar Wars
- A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears
- By: Michael Schulman
- Narrated by: Charlie Thurston
- Length: 21 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 215
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 176
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 175
In Oscar Wars, Michael Schulman chronicles the remarkable, sprawling history of the Academy Awards and the personal dramas—some iconic, others never-before-revealed—that have played out on the stage and off camera. Unlike other books on the subject, each chapter takes a deep dive into a particular year, conflict, or even category that tells a larger story of cultural change, from Louis B. Mayer to Moonlight. Schulman examines how the red carpet runs through contested turf, and the victors aren't always as clear as the names drawn from envelopes.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating and FUN
- By Peter Riley on 06-11-23
By: Michael Schulman
-
Rickey
- The Life and Legend of an American Original
- By: Howard Bryant
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 18 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 232
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 215
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 214
Few names in the history of baseball evoke the excellence and dynamism that Rickey Henderson’s does. He holds the record for the most stolen bases in a single game, and he’s scored more runs than any player ever. “If you cut Rickey Henderson in half, you’d have two Hall of Famers,” the baseball historian Bill James once said. But perhaps even more than his prowess on the field, Rickey Henderson’s is a story of Oakland, California, the town that gave rise to so many legendary athletes like him.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An All Time Grewt
- By Anonymous User on 10-09-23
By: Howard Bryant
-
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)
- A Memoir
- By: Sly Stone, Ben Greenman - contributor, Questlove - foreword
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 79
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 74
One of the few indisputable geniuses of pop music, Sly Stone is a trailblazer and a legend. He created a new kind of music, mixing Black and white, male and female, funk and rock. As a songwriter, he penned some of the most iconic anthems of the 1960s and ’70s, from “Everyday People” to “Family Affair.” As a performer, he electrified audiences with a persona and stage presence that set a lasting standard for pop-culture performance.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Crossword Puzzle!
- By Nigel on 10-18-23
By: Sly Stone, and others
-
The Big Time
- How the 1970s Transformed Sports in America
- By: Michael MacCambridge
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 17 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 4
Every decade brings change, but as Michael MacCambridge chronicles in The Big Time, no decade in American sports history featured such convulsive cultural shifts as the 1970s. So many things happened during the decade—the move of sports into prime-time television, the beginning of athletes’ gaining a sense of autonomy for their own careers, integration becoming—at least within sports—more of the rule than the exception, and the social revolution that brought females more decisively into sports, as athletes, coaches, executives, and spectators.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good Effort But Missed Part of the Story
- By Kevin on 11-04-23
-
Barkley
- A Biography
- By: Timothy Bella
- Narrated by: Korey Jackson
- Length: 16 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 79
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 71
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 71
He's one of the most interesting American athletes in the past fifty years. Passionate, candid, iconoclastic, and gifted both on and off the court, Charles Barkley has made a lasting impact on not only the world of basketball but pop culture at large. Yet few people know the real Charles. Informed by over 370 original interviews and painstaking research, Timothy Bella's Barkley is the most comprehensive biography to date of one of the most talked about icons in the world of sports.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great insight to the big man’s life.
- By marci rodee on 07-03-23
By: Timothy Bella
-
The Times
- How the Newspaper of Record Survived Scandal, Scorn, and the Transformation of Journalism
- By: Adam Nagourney
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 18 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
For over a century, The New York Times has been an iconic institution in American journalism, one whose history is intertwined with the events that it chronicles—a newspaper read by millions of people every day to stay informed about events that have taken place across the globe. In The Times, Adam Nagourney, who’s worked at The New York Times since 1996, examines four decades of the newspaper’s history, from the final years of Arthur “Punch” Sulzberger’s reign as publisher to the election of Donald Trump in November 2016.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent, enormously insightful!
- By Larry Kaufman on 10-31-23
By: Adam Nagourney
-
There Will Be Fire
- Margaret Thatcher, the IRA, and Two Minutes That Changed History
- By: Rory Carroll
- Narrated by: John Keating
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49
A bomb planted by the Irish Republican Army exploded at 2:54 a.m. on October 12, 1984. It was the last day of the Conservative Party Conference at the Grand Hotel in the coastal town of Brighton, England. Rooms were obliterated, dozens of people wounded, five killed. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was in her suite when the explosion occurred; had she been just a few feet in another direction, flying tiles and masonry would have sliced her to ribbons. As it was, she survived—and history changed.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
A Very British Point of View
- By CaitB on 07-25-23
By: Rory Carroll
-
Talk of Champions
- Stories of the People Who Made Me: A Memoir
- By: Kenny Smith
- Narrated by: Kenny Smith
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 113
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 101
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 101
Kenny Smith was a star at the University of North Carolina before his storied NBA run, in which he won two championships with the Houston Rockets. His popularity skyrocketed when he joined TNT’s new show, Inside the NBA, which has thrived for twenty-four years and won multiple Emmys, receiving enormous acclaim for the insight, humor, social commentary, and unrivaled basketball coverage from Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and Ernie Johnson, Jr. Kenny is known to fans for his laser-sharp analysis and eloquent observations of the basketball scene and culture.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great book. Is heavy on racial topics, but appropriate
- By Mathias Noriega on 07-09-23
By: Kenny Smith
-
Judgment at Tokyo
- World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia
- By: Gary J. Bass
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 31 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 70
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 59
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 59
In the weeks after Japan finally surrendered to the Allies to end World War II, the world turned to the question of how to move on from years of carnage and destruction. For Harry Truman, Douglas MacArthur, Chiang Kai-shek, and their fellow victors, the question of justice seemed clear: Japan’s militaristic leaders needed to be tried and punished for the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor; shocking atrocities against civilians in China, the Philippines, and elsewhere; and rampant abuses of prisoners of war in notorious incidents such as the Bataan death march.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Biased revisionist history
- By Amazon Customer on 12-31-23
By: Gary J. Bass
-
Saying It Loud
- 1966—The Year Black Power Challenged the Civil Rights Movement
- By: Mark Whitaker
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 11
In gripping, novelistic detail, Saying It Loud tells the story of how the Black Power phenomenon began to challenge the traditional civil rights movement in the turbulent year of 1966. Saying It Loud takes you inside the dramatic events in this seminal year, from Stokely Carmichael’s middle-of-the-night ouster of moderate icon John Lewis as chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to Carmichael’s impassioned cry of “Black Power!” during a protest march in rural Mississippi.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Detailed and Compelling
- By Nick on 06-26-23
By: Mark Whitaker
-
Blood in the Garden
- The Flagrant History of the 1990s New York Knicks
- By: Chris Herring
- Narrated by: Brian Hutchison
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 606
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 522
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 522
The definitive history of the 1990s New York Knicks, illustrating how Pat Riley, Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Charles Oakley, and Anthony Mason resurrected the iconic franchise through oppressive physicality and unmatched grit. Blood in the Garden is a portrait filled with eye-opening details that have never been shared before, revealing the full story of the franchise in the midst of the NBA’s golden era. And rest assured, no punches will be pulled. Which is just how those rough-and-tumble Knicks would like it.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
A Bit Disappointing
- By Justin Aultman on 11-29-22
By: Chris Herring
-
Anansi's Gold
- The Man Who Looted the West, Outfoxed Washington, and Swindled the World
- By: Yepoka Yeebo
- Narrated by: Jude Owusu
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
When Ghana achieved independence from Britain in 1957, it instantly became a target for home-grown opportunists and rapacious Western interests determined to claim whatever assets colonialism hadn’t already stripped. A CIA-funded military junta ousted the new nation’s inspiring president, Kwame Nkrumah, then falsely accused him of hiding the country’s gold overseas. Into this big lie stepped one of history’s most charismatic scammers, a con man to rival the trickster god Anansi.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Riveting
- By Agyaaku on 10-14-23
By: Yepoka Yeebo
-
The Franchise
- Building a Winner with the World Champion Detroit Pistons, Basketball's Bad Boys
- By: Cameron Stauth
- Narrated by: Matt Martucci, Jeff Martin
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 22
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 20
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 19
In January of 1989, Cameron Stauth became a fly on the office wall of Pistons General Manager Jack McCloskey. He watched day by day, crisis by crisis, as McCloskey, Coach Chuck Daly, and a handful of immensely talented and ambitious basketball players—the Bad Boys of Detroit—won the NBA championship.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Bad Boys Risen
- By Jarvis Kolen on 09-04-22
By: Cameron Stauth
-
How Basketball Can Save the World
- 13 Guiding Principles for Reimagining What's Possible
- By: David Hollander
- Narrated by: Leon Nixon, David Hollander
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 10
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 9
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 9
Whether you’re a seasoned veteran of the game or have never set foot on a court, How Basketball Can Save the World will empower you to become more resilient, tolerant, and wise in your relationship with yourself, others, and the world around you.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Now I see how basketball can actually save the world
- By Wendy on 11-13-23
By: David Hollander
Publisher's summary
A vital narrative history of 1970s pro basketball, and the Black players who shaped the NBA
Against a backdrop of ongoing resistance to racial desegregation and strident calls for Black Power, the NBA in the 1970s embodied the nation’s imagined descent into disorder. A new generation of Black players entered the league then, among them Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Spencer Haywood, and the press and public were quick to blame this cohort for the supposed decline of pro basketball, citing drugs, violence, and greed. Basketball became a symbol for post-civil rights America: the rules had changed, allowing more Black people onto the playing field, and now they were ruining everything.
Enter Black Ball, a gripping history and corrective in which scholar Theresa Runstedtler expertly rewrites basketball’s “Dark Ages.” Weaving together a deep knowledge of the game with incisive social analysis, Runstedtler argues that this much-maligned period was pivotal to the rise of the modern-day NBA. Black players introduced an improvisational style derived from the playground courts of their neighborhoods. They also challenged the team owners’ autocratic power, garnering higher salaries and increased agency. Their skills, style, and savvy laid the foundation for the global popularity and profitability of the league we know today.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Critic reviews
More from the same
Narrator
Related to this topic
-
NFL Century
- The One-Hundred-Year Rise of America's Greatest Sports League
- By: Joe Horrigan
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 114
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 95
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 95
The NFL has come a long way from its founding in Canton, Ohio, in 1920. In the 100 years since that fateful day, football has become America’s most popular and lucrative professional sport. The former scrappy upstart league that struggled to stay afloat has survived a host of challenges to produce American icons like Vince Lombardi, Joe Montana, and Tom Brady. It is an extraordinary and entertaining history that could be told only by Joe Horrigan, former executive director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and perhaps the greatest living historian of the NFL.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Details of the formation and growth of the NFL
- By Donald J. Bentley on 03-17-24
By: Joe Horrigan
-
Glory Days
- The Summer of 1984 and the 90 Days That Changed Sports and Culture Forever
- By: L. Jon Wertheim
- Narrated by: Chris Abell
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 110
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 96
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 95
The summer of 1984 was a watershed moment in the birth of modern sports when the nation watched Michael Jordan grow from college basketball player to professional athlete and star. That summer also saw ESPN’s rise to media dominance as the country’s premier sports network and the first modern, commercialized, profitable Olympics. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird’s rivalry raged, Martina Navratilova and John McEnroe reigned in tennis, and Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon made pro wrestling a business, while Donald Trump pierced the national consciousness as a pro football team owner.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A great sports summer
- By Hebern on 07-06-21
By: L. Jon Wertheim
-
The Heritage
- Black Athletes, a Divided America, and the Politics of Patriotism
- By: Howard Bryant
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 199
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 173
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 175
Today, sports arenas have been transformed into staging grounds for American patriotism and the hero worship of law enforcement. Teams wear camouflage jerseys to honor those who serve; police officers throw out first pitches; soldiers surprise their families with homecomings at halftime. Sports and politics are decidedly entwined. But as journalist Howard Bryant reveals, this has always been more complicated for black athletes, who from the start were committing a political act simply by being on the field.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazing read that is detailed and informative
- By Miller on 05-04-23
By: Howard Bryant
-
Tanking to the Top
- The Philadelphia 76ers and the Most Audacious Process in the History of Professional Sports
- By: Yaron Weitzman
- Narrated by: Yaron Weitzman
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 182
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 154
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 153
When a group of private equity bigwigs purchased the Philadelphia 76ers in 2011, the team was both bad and boring. Attendance was down. So were ratings. The Sixers had an aging coach, an antiquated front office, and a group of players that could best be described as mediocre. Enter Sam Hinkie - a man with a plan straight out of the PE playbook, one that violated professional sports' Golden Rule: You play to win the game.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great history of tanking by Sixers
- By Alan Bernstein on 03-11-23
By: Yaron Weitzman
-
Forty Million Dollar Slaves
- The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete
- By: William C. Rhoden
- Narrated by: William C. Rhoden
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 358
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 306
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 303
From Jackie Robinson to Muhammad Ali and Arthur Ashe, African American athletes have been at the center of modern culture, their on-the-field heroics admired and stratospheric earnings envied. But for all their money, fame, and achievement, says former New York Times columnist William C. Rhoden, Black athletes still find themselves on the periphery of true power in the multibillion-dollar industry their talent built. Provocative and controversial, Rhoden's Forty Million Dollar Slaves weaves a compelling narrative of Black athletes in the United States.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Book and Narrator Review
- By Leonor on 12-26-17
-
What's My Name, Fool?
- Sports and Resistance in the United States
- By: Dave Zirin
- Narrated by: Aaron Abano
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 26
Here Edgeofsports.com sportswriter Dave Zirin shows how sports express the worst, as well as the most creative and exciting, features of American society. Zirin explores how Janet Jackson's Super Bowl flash-time show exposed more than a breast, why the labor movement has everything to learn from sports unions, and why a new generation of athletes is no longer content to "play one game at a time" and is starting to get political.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting read
- By sosnows8 on 08-16-20
By: Dave Zirin
-
NFL Century
- The One-Hundred-Year Rise of America's Greatest Sports League
- By: Joe Horrigan
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 114
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 95
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 95
The NFL has come a long way from its founding in Canton, Ohio, in 1920. In the 100 years since that fateful day, football has become America’s most popular and lucrative professional sport. The former scrappy upstart league that struggled to stay afloat has survived a host of challenges to produce American icons like Vince Lombardi, Joe Montana, and Tom Brady. It is an extraordinary and entertaining history that could be told only by Joe Horrigan, former executive director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and perhaps the greatest living historian of the NFL.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Details of the formation and growth of the NFL
- By Donald J. Bentley on 03-17-24
By: Joe Horrigan
-
Glory Days
- The Summer of 1984 and the 90 Days That Changed Sports and Culture Forever
- By: L. Jon Wertheim
- Narrated by: Chris Abell
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 110
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 96
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 95
The summer of 1984 was a watershed moment in the birth of modern sports when the nation watched Michael Jordan grow from college basketball player to professional athlete and star. That summer also saw ESPN’s rise to media dominance as the country’s premier sports network and the first modern, commercialized, profitable Olympics. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird’s rivalry raged, Martina Navratilova and John McEnroe reigned in tennis, and Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon made pro wrestling a business, while Donald Trump pierced the national consciousness as a pro football team owner.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A great sports summer
- By Hebern on 07-06-21
By: L. Jon Wertheim
-
The Heritage
- Black Athletes, a Divided America, and the Politics of Patriotism
- By: Howard Bryant
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 199
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 173
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 175
Today, sports arenas have been transformed into staging grounds for American patriotism and the hero worship of law enforcement. Teams wear camouflage jerseys to honor those who serve; police officers throw out first pitches; soldiers surprise their families with homecomings at halftime. Sports and politics are decidedly entwined. But as journalist Howard Bryant reveals, this has always been more complicated for black athletes, who from the start were committing a political act simply by being on the field.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazing read that is detailed and informative
- By Miller on 05-04-23
By: Howard Bryant
-
Tanking to the Top
- The Philadelphia 76ers and the Most Audacious Process in the History of Professional Sports
- By: Yaron Weitzman
- Narrated by: Yaron Weitzman
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 182
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 154
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 153
When a group of private equity bigwigs purchased the Philadelphia 76ers in 2011, the team was both bad and boring. Attendance was down. So were ratings. The Sixers had an aging coach, an antiquated front office, and a group of players that could best be described as mediocre. Enter Sam Hinkie - a man with a plan straight out of the PE playbook, one that violated professional sports' Golden Rule: You play to win the game.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great history of tanking by Sixers
- By Alan Bernstein on 03-11-23
By: Yaron Weitzman
-
Forty Million Dollar Slaves
- The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete
- By: William C. Rhoden
- Narrated by: William C. Rhoden
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 358
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 306
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 303
From Jackie Robinson to Muhammad Ali and Arthur Ashe, African American athletes have been at the center of modern culture, their on-the-field heroics admired and stratospheric earnings envied. But for all their money, fame, and achievement, says former New York Times columnist William C. Rhoden, Black athletes still find themselves on the periphery of true power in the multibillion-dollar industry their talent built. Provocative and controversial, Rhoden's Forty Million Dollar Slaves weaves a compelling narrative of Black athletes in the United States.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Book and Narrator Review
- By Leonor on 12-26-17
-
What's My Name, Fool?
- Sports and Resistance in the United States
- By: Dave Zirin
- Narrated by: Aaron Abano
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 26
Here Edgeofsports.com sportswriter Dave Zirin shows how sports express the worst, as well as the most creative and exciting, features of American society. Zirin explores how Janet Jackson's Super Bowl flash-time show exposed more than a breast, why the labor movement has everything to learn from sports unions, and why a new generation of athletes is no longer content to "play one game at a time" and is starting to get political.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting read
- By sosnows8 on 08-16-20
By: Dave Zirin
-
Raise a Fist, Take a Knee
- Race and the Illusion of Progress in Modern Sports
- By: John Feinstein, Doug Williams
- Narrated by: John Feinstein
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 92
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 82
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 80
Based on dozens of shocking interviews with some of the most influential names in sports, this is the urgent and revelatory examination of racial inequality in professional athletics America has been waiting for. With an encyclopedic knowledge of professional sports, and shrewd cultural criticism, John Feinstein uncovers not just why, but how, pro sports continue to perpetuate racial inequality.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Another Feinstein triumph
- By Glenn Canning on 12-06-21
By: John Feinstein, and others
-
Indentured
- The Inside Story of the Rebellion Against the NCAA
- By: Joe Nocera, Ben Strauss
- Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 54
The National Collegiate Athletic Association has come under fire. Fans have begun to realize that the athletes involved in the two biggest college sports, men's basketball and football, are little more than indentured servants. Millions of teenagers accept scholarships to chase their dreams of fame and fortune - at the price of absolute submission to the whims of an organization that puts their interests dead last.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An Armament agnst NCAA: Enlightening, Infuriating
- By W Perry Hall on 03-15-16
By: Joe Nocera, and others
-
From Darkness to Dynasty
- The First 40 Years of the New England Patriots
- By: Jerry Thornton
- Narrated by: Chris Andrew Ciulla
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 133
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 120
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 121
From Darkness to Dynasty tells the unlikely history of the New England Patriots as it has never been told before. From their humble beginnings as a team bought with rainy-day money by a man who had no idea what he was doing, to the fateful season that saw them win their first Super Bowl, Jerry Thornton shares the wild, humiliating, unbelievable, and wonderful stories that comprised the first 40 years of what would ultimately become the most dominant franchise in NFL history.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
great narration, great book
- By BenRias on 01-25-18
By: Jerry Thornton
-
Players
- The Story of Sports and Money - and the Visionaries Who Fought to Create a Revolution
- By: Matthew Futterman
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 43
For fans of Michael Lewis, the astounding untold story of how professional sports transformed, in the span of a single generation, from a cottage industry into a massive global business. In the cash-soaked world of contemporary sports, where every season brings news of higher salaries, endorsement deals, and television contracts, it is mind-boggling to remember that as recently as the 1970s elite athletes earned so little money that many were forced to work second jobs in the off-season to make ends meet.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Starts slow...
- By John on 08-09-16
-
The League
- How Five Rivals Created the NFL and Launched a Sports Empire
- By: John Eisenberg
- Narrated by: Daniel Thomas May
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 278
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 253
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 253
The National Football League's current dominance has obscured how professional football got its start. In The League, John Eisenberg reveals that Art Rooney, George Halas, Tim Mara, George Preston Marshall, and Bert Bell took an immense risk by investing in the professional game. At that time, the sport barely registered on the national scene. The five owners succeeded only because at critical junctures in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, each sacrificed the short-term success of his team for the longer-term good of the League.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
what a great book. loved it completely.
- By Daniel Mosca on 11-08-18
By: John Eisenberg
-
King of the Court
- Bill Russell and the Basketball Revolution
- By: Aram Goudsouzian
- Narrated by: J. D. Jackson
- Length: 17 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 54
Bill Russell was not the first African American to play professional basketball, but he was its first Black superstar. From the moment he stepped onto the court of the Boston Garden in 1956, Russell began to transform the sport in a fundamental way, making him, more than any of his contemporaries, the Jackie Robinson of basketball. In King of the Court, Aram Goudsouzian provides a vivid and engrossing chronicle of the life and career of this brilliant champion and courageous racial pioneer. Russell's leaping, wide-ranging defense altered the game's texture.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Portrait of a Basketball Revolutionary
- By Susie on 01-28-13
By: Aram Goudsouzian
-
The Breaks of the Game
- By: David Halberstam
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 17 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 304
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 266
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 265
A New York Times best seller, David Halberstam's The Breaks of the Game focuses on one grim season (1979-80) in the life of the Bill Walton-led Portland Trail Blazers, a team that only three years before had been NBA champions. The tactile authenticity of Halberstam's knowledge of the basketball world is unrivaled. Yet he is writing here about far more than just basketball. This is a story about a place in our society where power, money, and talent collide and sometimes corrupt, a place where both national obsessions and naked greed are exposed.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This book is a must read for all NBA junkies.
- By Kyle on 06-13-18
By: David Halberstam
-
You Herd Me!
- I'll Say It If Nobody Else Will
- By: Colin Cowherd
- Narrated by: Colin Cowherd
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 506
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 459
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 457
In this age of billion dollar athletic marketing campaigns, “feel good” philosophy with no connection to reality, and a Sports Media echo chamber that’s all too eager swallow whatever idiotic notion happens to be in vogue at the moment, it’s tough to find people who aren’t afraid to say what they’re really thinking.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great book, Repeats majority of themes from radio
- By Troy on 01-20-14
By: Colin Cowherd
-
Three Ring Circus
- Kobe, Shaq, Phil and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty
- By: Jeff Pearlman
- Narrated by: Brian Hutchison
- Length: 16 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 872
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 772
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 769
In the history of modern sport, there have never been two high-level teammates who loathed each other the way Shaquille O’Neal loathed Kobe Bryant and Kobe Bryant loathed Shaquille O’Neal. From public sniping and sparring, to physical altercations and the repeated threats of trade, it was warfare. And yet, despite eight years of infighting and hostility, by turns mediated and encouraged by coach Phil Jackson, the Shaq-Kobe duo resulted in one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Ok I've finished it and have more thoughts
- By Bobby S on 09-24-20
By: Jeff Pearlman
-
Boys Among Men
- How the Prep-to-Pro Generation Redefined the NBA and Sparked a Basketball Revolution
- By: Jonathan Abrams
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 86
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 81
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 81
When Kevin Garnett shocked the world by announcing that he would not be attending college - as young basketball prodigies were expected to do - but instead would enter the 1995 NBA draft directly from high school, he blazed a trail for a generation of teenage basketball players to head straight for the pros. That trend would continue until the NBA instituted an age limit in 2005, requiring all players to attend college or another developmental program for at least one year.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Bad pronunciation
- By K. Spearman on 07-03-16
By: Jonathan Abrams
-
America's Quarterback
- Bart Starr and the Rise of the National Football League
- By: Keith Dunnavant
- Narrated by: Jay Snyder
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 30
No one can touch Bart Starr's record setting 5 NFL Championships including 3 straight. America's Quarterback tells the story of the man who helped create the legend of Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers. This biography traces Starr’s life from childhood in Alabama to stardom in Green Bay and beyond. Not a simple sports story, Dunnavant traces the story of one man reaching for the American dream while professional football emerged from the shadows to capture the nation’s imagination.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
awesome
- By Anthony nyman on 03-30-15
By: Keith Dunnavant
-
Barkley
- A Biography
- By: Timothy Bella
- Narrated by: Korey Jackson
- Length: 16 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 79
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 71
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 71
He's one of the most interesting American athletes in the past fifty years. Passionate, candid, iconoclastic, and gifted both on and off the court, Charles Barkley has made a lasting impact on not only the world of basketball but pop culture at large. Yet few people know the real Charles. Informed by over 370 original interviews and painstaking research, Timothy Bella's Barkley is the most comprehensive biography to date of one of the most talked about icons in the world of sports.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great insight to the big man’s life.
- By marci rodee on 07-03-23
By: Timothy Bella
What listeners say about Black Ball
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Christopher
- 03-24-23
Important book
This is an important book, offering a critical and engaging analysis of race and the NBA in the 1970s. Highly recommended to those interested in either or both of those subjects.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!