One of professional basketball's most iconic franchises, the Boston Celtics—along with the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots, both of whom have been the subject of "50 Greatest" treatments by sports historian Robert W. Cohen—represent a multistate region rather than just a city or state. Many of the sport's very best have played for the Celtics, including Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, John Havlicek, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Paul Pierce. But who is the greatest of them all? In The 50 Greatest Players in Boston Celtics History, Cohen attempts to determine just that. Using as measuring sticks the degree to which these players impacted the fortunes of the team, the extent to which they added to the Celtics legacy, and the levels of statistical compilation and overall dominance they attained while wearing a Celtics uniform, this book ranks, from 1 to 50, the top 50 players in team history. Quotes from opposing players and former teammates are provided along the way, as are summaries of each player’s greatest season, most memorable performances, and most notable achievements.

Celebrate seventy-five years of the NBA in this exciting and beautifully illustrated middle grade account of the legendary athletes, coaches, and teams that changed basketball forever and created a national phenomenon enjoyed by millions today. The National Basketball Association is the biggest league for one of the nation’s most beloved sports. Played in massive stadiums by athletes who are now household names, with millions of fans around the world, basketball has truly become a global phenomenon. But it didn’t always exist the way we know it now. Follow basketball from its humble beginnings as a casual indoor pastime played in gyms and colleges through its evolution for seventy-five years of hardcourt history. The NBA gained legions of fans thanks to the introduction of rules like the three-point line and the twenty-four second clock, and teams such as the Harlem Globetrotters, who paved the way for desegregated teams. Discover the story of the legendary Olympic Dream Team of 1992 and beloved players like Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, and LeBron James, along with the early game-changers who made basketball what it is today. With the expert storytelling of veteran sportswriter Fred Bowen and stunning full-page illustrations from award-winning artist James E. Ransome, experience the biggest and best basketball league in the world, the NBA.

Starting Five: Basketball’s Best...Both Real and Imagined chronicles the history of professional basketball like nothing ever has before. With a unique and creative format, it will take readers on a cover-to-cover journey of the sport’s best teams, players, and moments from the past seventy-five years. High school, college, and the ABA also get their fair share of exposure in addition to the most enjoyable and comprehensive analysis of the NBA and its superstars that you’ll find anywhere. Young fans will learn all about the history and evolution of the sport, while older readers will appreciate the author’s focus, recognizing so many of the great starting fives of all-time—both real and imagined. Filled with stories, statistics, and something for everyone, this book is the perfect gift and resource for anyone who loves the game of basketball.

Alongside both historic and recent photographs, readers will learn about each NBA team's history, greatest seasons, greatest players, and team records. In addition, the book offers an in-depth introduction about the sport's history, a section on star players, and information on the statistical leaders in various categories. Features include a glossary, additional resources, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Abdo Reference is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

Welcome to the G League--the official minor league of the National Basketball Association. Life in the G is about the arduous quest to achieve an improbable goal: making it to the NBA. Zeroing in on the Birmingham Squadron and four of its players--Jared Harper, Joe Young, Zylan Cheatham, and Malcolm Hill--Alex Squadron details the pursuit of a dream in what turned out to be the most remarkable season in the history of minor league sports. Life in the G League is far from glamorous. Players make enormous sacrifices and work unimaginable hours in the hope that someone in the NBA will give them a chance. To this day, very few fans--even the most passionate followers of the NBA--know much about the G League. In the fall of 2021, the Birmingham Squadron granted author Alex Squadron complete access to the team to capture the experience of playing in the league. That year, with hundreds of NBA players sidelined by the highly contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19, the G League saw a record number of call-ups. Sports Illustrated labeled it "the year of the NBA replacement player." Many of those players stayed in the NBA, earning life-changing contracts and taking on significant roles for their new teams. In addition to recounting the organization's inaugural season, Squadron's access to the Birmingham Squadron enabled him to document the incredible journeys of G League players and to tell the larger story of life in the G. This is the inspiring tale of an unforgettable season and the emotional roller coaster for everyone involved in the chase for an NBA dream.

A memoir of hard lessons learned in the racially segregated and sometimes outright racist NBA of the early ‘60s by celebrated NBA player and the first Black Coach of the Year, Ray Scott. Introduced by Earl "the Pearl" Monroe. “There’s a basic insecurity with Black guys my size,” Scott writes. “We can’t hide and everybody turns to stare when we walk down the street. … Whites believe that their culture is superior to African-American culture. ... We don’t accept many of [their] answers, but we have to live with them.” Ray Scott was part of the early wave of Black NBA players like Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who literally changed how the game of professional basketball is played—leading to the tremendously popular financial blockbuster the NBA is today. Scott was a celebrated 6’9” forward/center after being chosen by the Detroit Pistons as the #4 pick of the 1961 NBA draft, and then again after he was named head coach of the Pistons in October 1972, winning Coach of the Year in the spring of 1974—the first black man ever to capture that honor. Scott’s is a story of quiet persistence, hard work, and, most of all, respect. He credits the mentorship of NBA player and coach Earl Lloyd, and talks about fellow Philly native Wilt Chamberlain and friends Muhammad Ali and Aretha Franklin, among many others. Ray has lived through one of the most turbulent times in our nation’s history, especially the time of assassinations of so many Black leaders at the end of the 1960s. Through it all, his voice remains quiet and measured, transcending all the sorrows with his steadiness and positive attitude. This is his story, told in collaboration with the great basketball writer, former college player and CBA coach Charley Rosen.

No sport has evolved more over the past century than basketball, growing from small time to a global game featuring some of the most talented athletes on the planet. This title explores the achievements of the men and women who have taken and continue taking the sport to new heights. The title features exciting stories, engaging photographs, informative sidebars, honorable mentions, a glossary, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. SportsZone is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

During the late 1990s, eminent basketball journalist Alexander Wolff traveled the globe to determine how a game invented by a Canadian clergyman became an international phenomenon. Big Game, Small World presents Wolff’s dispatches from sixteen countries spread across five continents and multiple US states. In them, he asks: What can the game tell us about the world? And what can the world tell us about the game? Whether traveling to Bhutan to challenge its king to a pickup game, exploring the women’s game in Brazil, or covering the Afrobasket tournament in Luanda, Angola, during a civil war, Wolff shows how basketball has the power to define an individual, a culture, and even a country. This updated twentieth anniversary edition features a new preface in which Wolff outlines the contemporary rise of athlete-activists while discussing the increasing dominance within the NBA of marquee international players like Luka Dončić and Giannis Antetokounmpo. A loving celebration of basketball, Big Game, Small World is one of the most insightful books ever written about the game.

The popular All Star series is back! This time with more players, more detail, more statistics and more excitement for NBA fans of all ages! Over 50 of today's hottest stars! More than 75 player pages! All Team Logos! Slam Dunk Contest Greats like Kobe Bryant, Nate Robinson, Michael Jordan and more! Players Include: Stephen Curry, LeBron James, James Harden, Joel Embiid, Kawhi Leonard, Luka Doncic, Kemba Walker, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Klay Thompson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Blake Griffin, Damian Lillard, Kevin Love, Rudy Gobert, Ben Simmons, Zion WIlliamson and over 20 more! 128 Pages, printed on thick white paper to help prevent bleed. Ages 4+ A wonderful gift idea! This book is guaranteed to bring a smile to any basketball fan, young or old!

The CEO of Anaplan explains how a company’s character is a critical driver of sustained success In his career as an executive at IBM, Cisco, and now as CEO of Anaplan, Frank A. Calderoni discovered that character is just as vital for companies as it is for individuals. In Upstanding: How Company Character Catalyzes Loyalty, Agility, and Hypergrowth, the author explores the powerful link between corporate strategy, company culture, and individual character, and how activating this link is essential to realizing strong company character—and an essential ingredient for organizations to achieve hypergrowth, agility, and loyalty. This innovative resource features real-life examples of how today’s most successful companies are building upstanding character while increasing employee engagement, happiness, and performance. The book is written to help executives, company founders, managers, and other leaders develop strategies that supercharge organizational performance while building a strong and high-engagement culture—providing real-world insights from the author’s own career along with a diverse cross-section of business thought leaders and CEOs of companies both small and large, local and global. The author draws upon his experience leading a $10 billion hypergrowth software company to explain how the fusion of culture and strategy, driven by a company’s character, leads to sustained internal and external success. Designed to empower leaders to make character the cornerstone of corporate culture, this invaluable resource: Explores what “upstanding character” means for an organization, and how building a culture based on empathy, courage, authenticity, integrity, respect, and other factors drives higher performance and value creation for employees, customers, partners, and shareholders Reviews research on how culture drives performance, and operational practices for building upstanding organizational character and driving value-aligned behavior Features original interviews with Shantanu Narayen, Cy Wakeman, Eric Hutcherson, Kellie McElhaney, Geoffrey Moore, and other leaders inside and outside the tech sector Provides practical tools and approaches for increasing inclusion and belonging, improving communication, strengthening engagement, and rewarding upstanding character in employees Discusses the “Big 9” cultural values that are essential to creating upstanding company character, such as agility, collaboration, diversity, integrity, and respect With a foreword by Shantanu Narayen, Chairman and CEO of Adobe, Upstanding: How Company Character Catalyzes Loyalty, Agility, and Growth is essential reading for executives and business leaders interested in strategy, leadership, organizational culture, and management innovation, as well as leadership teams and HR professionals who are responsible for guiding their organization’s culture and developing its character.