The tactile authenticity of Halberstam' s knowledge of the basketball world is unrivaled. As Halberstam follows this collection of men through the months, through the losing streaks and occasional victories, the endless trips and the brutal schedules, we come to know them and their world-the other players, coaches, and owners the competition, drafts, trades, and traditions the wives, the fans, the media connections-a world of grand dreams, impossible expectations, and bracing realities. 'The Breaks of the Game' focuses on one grim season (1979-80) in the life of the Bill Walton-led Portland Trail Blazers, a team that only three years before had been NBA champions. 'synopsis' may belong to another edition of this title.īook Description Paperback. It's about the influence of big media, the fans and the hype they subsist on, the clash of ethics, the terrible physical demands of modern sports (from drugs to body size), the unreal salaries, the conflicts of race and class, and the consequences of sport converted into mass entertainment and athletes transformed into superstars-all presented in a way that puts the reader in the room and on the court, and The Breaks of the Game in a league of its own. This is a story about a place in our society where power, money, and talent collide and sometimes corrupt, a place where both national obsessions and naked greed are exposed. Yet he is writing here about far more than just basketball. The tactile authenticity of Halberstam's knowledge of the basketball world is unrivaled. The New York Times bestseller, now with a new introduction! The Breaks of the Game focuses on one grim season (1979-80) in the life of the Bill Walton-led Portland Trail Blazers, a team that only three years before had been NBA champions.

His work has stood the test of time and has become the standard by which all journalists measure themselves.

A Pulitzer Prize-winner for his ground-breaking reporting on the Vietnam War, Halberstam wrote more than 20 books, almost all of them bestsellers. More than 6 years after his death David Halberstam remains one of this country's most respected journalists and revered authorities on American life and history in the years since WWII.

Halberstam breaks of the game