The Art of a Beautiful Game: The Thinking Fan’s Tour of the NBA by Chris Ballard is a definite read for any fan of the NBA. It is a great insight to the game, far beyond what you just see on TV.

It’s actually taken me a few days and I’m still not really sure how to review this book.. it has a lot of good elements to it, I think too many to explain really. I kind of wasn’t sure what to initially expect when I purchased the book, as I haven’t read a basketball related book in a while, but lets just say it’s quite engaging and I had many late nights.

Chris Ballard → who is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated takes us behind what we see the players do on TV. In his book, he breaks down and provides analysis of the games fundamental components. From shooting to dunking, blocking and even facets many people may not really care about; rebounding, assists. Sure, players in the NBA are they’re for a reason; they’re skilled. However, skill can only take you so far. Chris also goes as far as explaining the conditioning and training players go through to maintain they’re high level of skill and fitness.

The book also looks to provide analysis of certain players traits, such as Kobe Bryant’s ‘Killer Instinct’ (which I hope gives all the haters some insight), LeBron James’ ‘Athletic abilities’ (which are quite crazy absurd) and Steve Nash’s ‘unselfishness on the court’ to name some.

After finally finishing the book, whilst watching games I actually found myself looking for what was written about, and traits of certain mentioned players were quite evident. I guess if the book actually makes you think and pay attention to details whilst watching a game, it succeeds right?