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to believe that he wrote the book just for me. I plowed through it in one weekend. A few months later, I read it again. Eventually, I read the book so many times that the spine of the book crumbled, so I bought the paperback version to replace it. Through college and grad school, as I was slowly deciding on a career, I read it every year to remind myself how to write – how to save words, how to construct a sentence, how to tell someone's life story without relying on quotes, how to make anecdotes come alive. It was my own personal writing seminar. When the paperback suffered a tragic beach accident from an unexpected wave, I bought a third copy at the used books store on
Newbury Street for $ 5.95. Best deal of my life. Every two years, I read that book again to make sure that my writing hasn't slipped too much. Like a golfer visiting his old instructor to check on his swing.
249:
contains extensive discussion on race in the NBA. Portions also discuss the growing pains the NBA experienced expanding from a game that was rarely featured on television in the 1960s to one that had a lucrative network contract by 1979. The television money and increased fan support brought with it with the advent of lucrative "no-cut contracts" for the players. Halberstam argues that because of this, the league has reached a point where the players often have more power than the coach. Woven into the narrative are biographical passages for Ramsay, Walton, and
Washington (among others) and the misfortunes they each suffered in recent seasons. The Blazers made the playoffs behind the play of Washington and others, but are eliminated in the first round.
270:'s personal story was used to display the manner in which owners and teams dealt with worker's rights, or in this case, player's rights, specifically in regards to their health. Walton was chronically injuring his feet and legs. He suffered a foot injury that he felt was not dealt with appropriately by the Blazers' training and medical staff. Walton felt he was being forced to play through pain and that his body and eventually his career would suffer for it. He sued the team after being traded. The message within this story is the struggles of team and player's to earn each other's trust and work with each other prolong the player's careers and make sure the team's are getting max return on their "investments", so-to-speak.
275:
extension of him – his mind, his skills, his passing, his rebounding, his unselfishness, his enthusiasm, his everything. When his fragile feet betrayed him while they were defending their first title, a member of the team's medical staff convinced him to try a painkiller injection for the playoffs. Didn't work. He blamed the organization and signed with another franchise for a ton of money, obliterating the perfect team and suffering an especially painful divorce with his coach. What he didn't know was that basketball wouldn't make him happy again for another seven years. Eventually, you could say he was haunted.
263:
redhead – they were perfect together, just like everything else about that team – he never forgot for a second that the big redhead was making four times as much money. He couldn't get past it. When the team fell apart, so did he. Eventually, they traded him for 40 cents on the dollar and he finally got paid, only he never played for another great team. You could say he got what he deserved. Or, you could say he was justified all along.
285:"Just as the camera had caught and transmitted the true intensity of old-fashioned rivalries in the earlier days of the league, so it now caught with equal fidelity the increasing lethargy and indifference of many players in regular season games, a lethargy and indifference now seen by a largely white audience as at least partially racial in origin."
326:
More importantly, I didn't understand how to write. I had written short stories as a little kid, read every book in sight, even finished every Hardy Boys book before I turned ten. But I didn't know how to write. "Breaks of the Game" was the first big-boy book I ever loved. Within a few pages, I came
262:
The rebounder grew up in the worst part of
Pittsburgh, had his life saved by basketball, then spent much of his professional career hoping to extricate himself from bad contracts and bad advice. He just wanted to get paid. He deserved to get paid. Instead of feeling fortunate for playing with the big
313:
New York Times: "Few subjects come to mind that can provide a better overall view of
America in the 1960s and 1970's than pro basketball does. That's why it has attracted as restless an intelligence as David Halberstam's. And that's why 'The Breaks of the Game' is at the very least one of the best
274:
The big redhead anchored the perfect team in college, then spent his professional career wondering if it would ever happen again. Slowly, he watched the right nucleus form around him, quick guards and heady players who intrinsically understood where to go and what to do. The entire team became an
252:
The story of each players' and coaches' lives act as the track upon which
Halberstam advances his themes of racism in America, class-ism, white privilege, and labor rights and disputes. Put within the context of the sports world, especially ABA and NBA which saw the influx of black players at the
257:
who came to be known as the "Enforcer" for his rough play on the court and aggressive nature, honed his skills on East coast play grounds. He was a product of the ghetto, and felt he was wronged when he felt he should earn as much money as other, white, players in his same position. The friction
248:
struggle from illiterate small town player who bounced around the fringes of the NBA for several years to playoff starter is also chronicled. Halberstam provides background by discussing the history of the
Portland Trail Blazers franchise. The book also puts basketball into a social context and
27:
204:
of the league for that season. Before the next season Walton was disgruntled because he felt that the
Portland medical staff should not have cleared him to play in the playoffs. He sat out the following season in protest. He was traded to the
279:
Throughout the entire book, the overarching narrative is of personal and professional redemption, of the importance of peeling back the layers of some of the more vulnerable people in contemporary society, and to marvel at what can be found
200:. After winning the championship they started the 1977–78 season with a league best 50–10 record before Walton broke his foot, and when he came back to play in the playoffs, he re-injured the foot. Walton was nonetheless named
321:
has repeatedly praised the book. Simmons stated that he considers it the best book ever written on basketball, a template for good sports writing, and the force that propelled him into a career as a sportswriter:
240:
after his 1977 suspension. The book describes
Washington's difficult upbringing and his struggles with the stigma that has become attached to him and his family because of that incident. Late season
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Halberstam worked as an embedded reporter and traveled with the team during the season. Apart from the central discussion of the 1979–80 Blazers season,
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same time the US civil rights issues were happening, race and worker's rights are especially prevalent and easily comprehended. Tracking the life of
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caused much turmoil for the
Blazers and was indicative of the struggle many black athletes experienced across the league during the 1970s.
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provides a history of the NBA, discusses the 1977 Portland Trail
Blazers NBA championship squad, the life of departed star
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called it "one of the best books I've ever read about American sports." The book was also given a positive review by
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141:(NBA). Aside from a recap of the Blazers' season, the book attempts to give a detailed history of the NBA, the
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Kermit Washington arrived on the Blazers in the trade that sent Walton out. While with the
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listed the book number 17 in their list of the top 100 books ever written on sports.
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list of best sports books ever written. Popular sportswriter and television producer
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The 1977 NBA championship Blazers team was a young team built around Bill Walton,
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gave it high praise. The book was also given a positive review by
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Journalist, podcast host, and New York Times best-selling author
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Everything You Will Ever Want To Know About The Blazers—and More
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552:, espn.com, August 14, 2010, accessed October 12, 2010.
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championship team, the injuries faced by departed star
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in 1977, Washington threw a punch which nearly killed
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has repeatedly talked of his admiration for the book.
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172:upon its release, and later listed number 17 in
624:, November 19, 1981, accessed October 12, 2010.
611:, December 16, 2002, accessed October 17, 2010.
572:, November 12, 1981, accessed October 12, 2010.
856:The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War
592:, December 7, 1981, accessed October 12, 2010.
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314:books I've ever read about American sports."
153:after his two-month suspension for punching
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121:is a 1981 sports book written by
160:At the time of its release, the
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139:National Basketball Association
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143:1976–77 Portland Trail Blazers
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16:1981 book by David Halberstam
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564:Lehman Haupt, Christopher.
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808:The Best and the Brightest
660:Halberstam, David (1981).
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474:POR 1978/79 Pts/Reb/Ast
350:POR 1981–82 Pts/Reb/Ast
694:Best Sports Book Series
550:Magic and American Myth
471:POR 1977/78 Pts/Reb/Ast
468:POR 1976/77 Pts/Reb/Ast
408:POR 1977–78 Pts/Reb/Ast
405:POR 1976–77 Pts/Reb/Ast
402:POR 1975–76 Pts/Reb/Ast
399:POR 1974–75 Pts/Reb/Ast
347:POR 1980–81 Pts/Reb/Ast
344:POR 1979–80 Pts/Reb/Ast
236:, and the struggles of
20:The Breaks of the Game
1353:Portland Trail Blazers
1333:1981 non-fiction books
1280:Trail Blazers Trumpets
1221:The Breaks of the Game
924:Portland Trail Blazers
824:The Breaks of the Game
662:The Breaks of the Game
639:"Farewell to a Friend"
622:The Breaks of the Game
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131:Portland Trail Blazers
118:The Breaks of the Game
1338:Alfred A. Knopf books
880:Michael J. Halberstam
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1285:Memorial Day Miracle
202:Most Valuable Player
174:Sports Illustrated's
1290:Blaze the Trail Cat
708:"Kermit Washington"
31:First edition cover
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1358:Books about Oregon
1079:G League affiliate
874:Elżbieta Czyżewska
816:The Powers That Be
680:The New York Times
609:Sports Illustrated
590:Sports Illustrated
570:The New York Times
566:Books of the Times
308:Sports Illustrated
304:Sports Illustrated
296:The New York Times
242:Continental League
214:Los Angeles Lakers
207:San Diego Clippers
169:Sports Illustrated
149:, and the life of
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1022:Memorial Coliseum
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238:Kermit Washington
196:, and coached by
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125:winning reporter
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1295:Portland Indians
1198:Culture and lore
1070:Chauncey Billups
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1251:Bill Walton
1210:Blazermania
1137:30 (Porter)
1028:Moda Center
935:Founded in
840:The Fifties
392:Bill Walton
268:Bill Walton
234:Bill Walton
198:Jack Ramsay
147:Bill Walton
1327:Categories
1306:Portlandia
1275:The Schonz
1132:30 (Gross)
1066:Head coach
1062:Joe Cronin
1048:Jody Allen
743:XML Team.
728:XML Team.
706:XML Team.
516:References
184:Background
129:about the
1312:Dame Time
1265:Mike Rice
1182:Rivalries
1052:President
1038:Personnel
960:Franchise
945:Based in
882:(brother)
750:March 29,
713:March 29,
290:Reception
100:Paperback
63:Publisher
1215:Rip City
1044:Owner(s)
645:18 March
280:beneath.
96:Hardback
47:Language
999:Seasons
989:Records
967:History
867:Related
244:pickup
224:Content
94:Print (
50:English
1015:Arenas
859:(2007)
851:(1998)
843:(1993)
835:(1986)
827:(1981)
819:(1979)
811:(1972)
641:. ESPN
230:Breaks
192:, and
98:&
58:Sports
37:Author
676:"NYT"
496:10.4
485:20.4
438:13.2
424:18.9
107:Pages
67:Knopf
55:Genre
1263:and
1235:Duck
1173:1977
982:1970
939:1970
752:2018
715:2018
647:2011
507:3.1
490:11.4
482:16.4
479:20.2
452:5.0
435:14.4
432:13.4
429:12.6
421:18.6
418:16.1
415:12.8
383:1.5
372:5.9
366:10.5
361:5.0
358:11.4
355:13.4
78:1981
504:2.5
501:2.9
493:9.1
449:3.8
446:4.3
443:4.8
380:2.0
377:2.1
369:9.4
110:362
1329::
1157:77
1152:45
1147:36
1142:32
1127:22
1122:20
1117:15
1112:14
1107:13
678:.
629:^
607:,
597:^
588:,
577:^
568:,
557:^
524:^
133:'
1237:"
1233:"
1102:1
915:e
908:t
901:v
785:e
778:t
771:v
754:.
732:.
717:.
682:.
664:.
649:.
102:)
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