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Breaks of the Game | 
 enlarge | Author: David Halberstam
Publisher: Knopf
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy Used: $5.00
You Save: $10.00 (67%)
New (2) Used (62) Collectible (6) from $5.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 543022
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 362
ISBN: 0394513096
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.323640979549
EAN: 9780394513096
ASIN: 0394513096
Publication Date: October 12, 1981
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
The Breaks of the Game is sports reporting at its finest--basketball's equivalent to Roger Kahn's The Boys of Summer. Join David Halberstam on his yearlong journey with the 1979 Portland Trail Blazers and witness professional basketball from the inside, where front-office egos, big-money contracts, and the colorful personalities of coaches and players collide, and winners and losers emerge. This insightful account is evidence of how much basketball has--and hasn't--changed since 1979, before the money really started rolling in.
Product Description
"Among the best books ever written on professional basketball." The Philadelphia Inquirer
David Halberstam, best-selling author of THE FIFTIES and THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST, turns his keen reporter's eye on the sport of basketball -- the players and the coaches, the long road trips, what happens on court, in front of television cameras, and off-court, where no eyes have followed -- until now.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
Must Read for NBA fans September 30, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I've been an NBA fan since I was a kid and I read this for the first time in summer of 2007. As someone who considers himself a knowledgeable NBA fan, I'm embarassed to say it took me so long to read this primer to the modern-day NBA.
Breaks of the Game is as well-written and thoroughly researched as any sports book you'll find. Halberstam presents fact after fact on why the NBA game has been shaped by big money and TV moreso than any player, coach, or team. He does a tremendous job exposing the conflict between the league's big money sponsors and its actual product--a game predominantly being played and dominated by black athletes.
Halberstam's excellence isn't limited to the politics and power struggles taking place in NBA front offices. His reporting on the actual game played between the lines is insightful and intriguing. Many of the complaints about today's NBA game--too much one-on-one play, ballyhooed rookies not paying their dues, primadonnas, lack of fundamentals, etc-- are covered in-depth by Mr. Halberstam. Keep in mind, this was written in 1978-79.
It's a great book that can easily be appreciated by anyone--hoops fan or not. And if you consider yourself an NBA fan, then you need to get on this ASAP. Although I wouldn't pay the prices here on Amazon. $59 for a paperback book? Strange. Like another reviewer said: Check your local library. Good luck and enjoy!
Why is this not in print? November 28, 2004
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
This book is really one of the best sports books of all time. Halberstam goes all over the map to show that basketball is "more than a sport." Sure, that's a cliche at this point, but everything is incorporated seamlessly: race, TV, finances, a fickly city, hippies, violence, free agency, college. You can't help but realize that all of the problems in the book still exist today in not just the NBA but all major sports (except for the hippies). What is most amazing about the book is that Halberstam constructed it around what can only be considered a run of the mill team. After reading the book, you get the sense that Halberstam could have written just as good a book had he followed any of the NBA teams.
If you can't get it used, then look at your local library. And if you are a book publisher, put it back in print, if for no other reason than the astounding quote by OJ that opens the book.
all that and O.J. too May 31, 2003
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you're an NBA fan, I guarantee you'll enjoy this book - especially if you're familiar with late 70s teams and players. I think even non-fans might find the business angle and personal stories interesting. The other great thing about it is the quote at the beginning -- about how money, fame, etc are fleeting and "the only thing that endures is character" -- by O.J. Simpson! I wonder how Halberstam feels about including that quote now...
More than a Sports book,a chronicle of Life in the spotlight August 17, 2001
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
David Halberstam takes us here in to the life of a sports franchise, the lives of it's players and of the environment surrounding them in the late seventies world of sport, following the merger of the two basketball league. The exposion of television coverage and of a team in the aftermath of a championship. Halberstam is more than fair in his depiction of all the personalities involved with and on the periphery of the team. His exhaustive research is in evidence. The players are not shown to be charming charismatic larger than life heroes but human beings with stories of their own, interesting ones at that. Mr. Halberstam successfully conveys how the personalities all combined to make up this team. The thing about this book is that Mr. Halberstam always presents a new take even on well covered topics. He makes you consider what you may not have considered otherwise. Interestingly this book covers the team in something of a decline not the championship year. That in itself gives a unique view at the end of this book you have an idea of not only why they won but of the difficulty of repeating as champions, of the tenuous relationships formed between players, the slights, the friendships, the business of sports and those behind. Vivid and rich with color and power. This book doesn't disappoint. Everyone from the rather unique owner to the 12th man. From preseason to playoff. An excellent read.
A Wonderful Account of the Politics and Forces of the NBA April 4, 1999
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book delves into the personal lives of the NBA players (at least the NBA players in 1978). Halberstam expresses a great ability to decipher and put on paper the racial tension and often awkward interaction between white and black athletes of that day. He also holds an uncanny ability of clearly stating the emotions and interests of all the players on that Portland Trailblazers team.
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