Nelson George is a former columnist for Billboard and the Village Voice. His most recent book, Hip Hop America, was a finalist in the 1998 National Book Critics Circle Awards.

From Publishers Weekly

Black players have remade basketball, becoming the very soul of the game; such is the thesis of George ( The Michael Jackson Story ) in this notable history of the role of African Americans on the court. He shows that as early as the 1920s, Marques Haynes revolutionized dribbling, a skill advanced even further by Robert Davies in the 1940s. George also attributes the origin of what he characterizes as "urban ball" to the games played around the housing projects of New York City and Chicago, urban ball being a theatrical game that puts a premium on flash, guile and recklessness in contrast to the more conservative white version. The book bows in the direction of coach John McLendon of Tennessee A & I with his fast-break strategy; Elgin Baylor with his exceptional hang-time (carried to its zenith by Michael Jordan); Julius Erving with his dunking; and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with his sky-hook. Yet the author adamantly urges young black males not to aspire to careers in professional sports, because, he cautions, jobs do not exist in any reasonable quantity. Photos not seen by PW. Author tour.

Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

The role played by blacks in basketball has evolved, according to this resolute and profoundly perceptive history, from blacks' depiction ``as clowns, role models, and threats to its survival [to], ultimately, the game's very soul.'' George (The Death of Rhythm and Blues, 1988; Where Did Our Love Go?, 1985) traces the history of African-Americans in the sport from 1916, with the founding of the first black intercollegiate conference, through the renowned Harlem Rens of the 1920's and on to the schoolyards and projects of the inner cities and the modern era of Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. Over the years, George argues, the game sometimes ``buttressed the battle for educational access.'' School desegregation in Indiana and elsewhere in the late 1950's arose, he points out, at least in part as an attempt to break up basketball powerhouses like the all-black Crispus Attucks High School, which starred the great Oscar Robertson. The dichotomous situation for blacks is most evident, the author notes, in the origin and history of the Harlem Globetrotters. Based in Chicago, that team was founded by promoter Abe Saperstein, and playing for the Trotters from the 20's to the early 60's was the pinnacle for black cagers--but given ``the way the comedy was used to reinforce prejudice, the Trotters were a definitive example of white paternalism and Black male submission.'' By examining the careers of Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Connie Hawkins, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and others, George develops what he calls the ``Black athletic aesthetic,'' embodied in the in-your-face ``intimidation through improvisation'' style of play. Drawing frequently on music--particularly jazz and blues--as metaphor, he remembers Earl ``The Pearl'' Monroe as a stylist who ``employed tempo changes only Thelonius Monk would understand.'' A sharp, bold, on-the-money appraisal of an underexamined phenomenon. (Eight pages of b&w photographs--not seen.) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

New York Times Book Review :

“‘These were philosophers out there,’ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar once wrote of black schoolyard players of basketball, the city game that is beloved all over the country. He and many others who have played the game over the last 50 years form the foundation of Nelson George’s Elevating the Game. . . . [George] has brought his own love of basketball to this folksy yet scholarly study. . . . [He] examines the sport’s origin . . . and charts its evolution from a kind of indoor football to an American passion. Basketball has been called life in short pants, and Mr. George recounts how, for the first black players in a game once reserved for whites, the phrase was no idle bromide. The author tells how black players from colleges around the nation advanced the game, sometimes in cities where people were opposed to the integration of basketball. Understanding the way in which black cultural expressions often knit together, Mr. George even likens basketball to jazz and to the nervous, insistent rhythms of rap. It all makes for a rich and welcome addition to sports literature.”—New York Times Book Review