Since I have been on a basketball kick lately with both watching more basketball games and wanting to read more books on the sport, I thought I would give this book to be published in March a try when the ARC became available for review. Having read Jonathan Abrams previously and enjoying his work, I was certainly interested. This was one of the best books I have read on the game, and it covered a controversial topic with balance and much information. Here is my review of his "Boys Among Men."
Title/Author:
“Boys Among Men: How
the Prep-to-Pro Generation Redefined the NBA and Sparked a Basketball
Revolution” by Jonathan Abrams
Tags:
Basketball,
professional, draft, youth
Publish date:
March 15, 2016
Length:
336 pages
Rating:
5 of 5 stars (outstanding)
Review:
In 1995, the Minnesota
Timberwolves shook up the culture of the NBA by selecting Kevin Garnett with
the fifth pick of the draft. The reason
that this was highly unusual was that Garnett never played a second of college
basketball – he was drafted straight out of high school. While Garnett was not
the first player to have ever gone from high school to the pros, he was the
first of a new generation of players that would make the transition. This
generation of players and what it did to the game is the subject of this
outstanding book by Jonathan Abrams.
Drawing from
interviews from hundreds of sources, including players, coaches, executives and
many other people involved in the development or lives of these teenagers,
Abrams paints a balanced picture of what this trend has done to both the game
and the young players who either made the transition or attempted to do so and
fell short of their dreams.
When this topic is
discussed on sports channels or talk shows, the two extremes are usually given
as why this trend is either good or bad.
Those who claim it helps the game and provides a means for young
African-American men to escape poverty point to the very successful careers of
Garnett, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Dwight Howard. The naysayers will state that these players
are exceptions and more of them are doomed to be forgotten with no basketball
career, no education and no hope like Leon Smith, Lenny Cooke, and Ndudi Ebi.
While these are the
two extreme ends of the argument, there is a lot of middle ground to cover and
that what sets this book apart. It isn’t
just about the superstars mentioned above who went from high school to the
pros. The book also portrays players who
carved out decent professional careers even after the hype showered upon them
made them seem like they fell short.
Players like Kwame Brown, Tyson Chandler and Sebastian Telfair fit this
category. Abrams not only tells of their
stories and struggles to adapt to the professional basketball lifestyle – he explains
how their decisions and successes and failure affect many other people and the
game itself.
Not only are the players’ stories told, but insight from people like former NBA
commissioner David Stern, under whose watch this transformation took place, add
a sense of balance and completeness to the discussion of the book’s
subject. The exasperation of coaches who
see that one of these young players don’t have the type of skills and ability
to play in the NBA yet was illustrated time and time again. The legality of challenging this rule and the
eventual development of a rule making the minimum age to enter the draft at
19 was also discussed from every possible angle. Every possible piece of information that
could be used to prove or disprove that allowing high school players to play
professionally is covered.
This book is highly
recommended for any basketball fan, player or coach. It reads almost like a thriller with many
characters involved and has twists and turns that will make the reader decide
for himself or herself if this new generation and chapter in professional
basketball is good for the game and players.
I wish to thank Crown Publishing for providing an advance review copy of the book through NetGalley in
exchange for an honest review.
Book Format Read:
E-book (Kindle)
Buying links (for
pre-order at time of review):
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/boys-among-men-jonathan-abrams/1122186922?ean=9780804139250
