Underbelly Hoops
Adventures in the CBA - A.K.A. The Crazy Basketball Association
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Underbelly Hoops
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Narrated by:
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Paul Boehmer
About this listen
Carson Cunningham was a top college basketball player for Oregon State and Purdue and a native of Hoosierland Indiana who believed he could one day play in the NBA, but instead wound up in the minor leagues of professional basketball- the storied and now defunct CBA. It’s a league that has turned out a record-setting number of NBA players and coaches, such as Phil Jackson and George Karl, but it wasn’t glamorous. Near-empty arenas, interminable bus rides to nowheresville, oddball coaches, little loyalty from management, and meager pay were a few realities of CBA life. Yet, it drew players in with the allure of action and the prospect of an NBA call-up.Carson writes honestly and hilariously of his running and gunning days in the CBA, with flashbacks to his college days where the future seemed brighter than a new pair of Nikes. A top recruit with superior ballhanding and shooting skills along with a sixth basketball sense, in 1997 Carson was a Sporting News All-American freshman who broke Gary Payton's freshman scoring record and a few years later helped his team at Purdue get within a game of the Final Four.
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