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The First Tip-Off: The Incredible Story of the Birth of the NBA

"Charley Rosen has undertaken the challenge of documenting the latest and greatest history of the game professionally — and has done so to great success... . When I finished the book it seemed as if I had gone through another season, injuries and all... Rosen skillfully leads readers through the NBA's first steps along its journey toward what it has become today."

— Phil Jackson, from the Foreword

"Rosen, a wonderful sportswriter ... had forgotten more basketball history than the best fans will ever know."

Booklist, on No Blood, No Foul

Go back to a time when basketball players wore knee pads and itchy cotton jerseys. When even the team's leaders were grateful for dry towels, hot showers, and $60 paychecks. When winning was all that mattered.

In this vividly rendered and meticulously researched book, endorsed with a Foreword by Los Angeles Lakers head coach Phil Jackson, sportswriter Charley Rosen takes you on a rollicking tour of the NBA's first season. Filled with rare archival photographs and exclusive interviews, The First Tip-Off brings to life a cast of unforgettable characters — including Chuck Connors, clown prince of the BAA, and Jumping Joe Fulks, ex-Marine turned basketball's first superstar — as Rosen deftly unfolds the dramatic events of that formative season.

It's enough to make you believe once again in the spirit of the sport.

  • Format
  • hardcover
  • Pages
  • 244
  • Language
  • english
  • ISBN
  • 9780071487856
  • Genres
  • basketball, sports
  • Release date
  • 2008