One of the many valuable things about Theresa Runstedtler’s Black Ball: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Spencer Haywood, and the Generation That Saved the Soul of the NBA is that it serves as a reminder of many forgotten or never known facts about the sport, among them that basketball players were not always known for the ability to jump.
The title and cover of the book are slightly misleading, suggesting that the reader will be brought into close contact with the game as it was played during its magical transformation in the 1960s and especially the 1970s, when the players, and the game, took flight. The style, grace, and bravado for which the N.B.A. is still known was formed in this era. An era, not coincidentally, when Black players became a majority.
