Loose Balls is one of basketball’s best books. It’s the story of the original ABA and how the dunks, 3-point-shots, ballgirls and red, white and blue basketballs revolutionized the game. Originally published in 1990, Terry Pluto’s text is the oral history of the American Basketball Association and, is really, the sub-plot to the story of how the NBA became the global power it is today.
As Will Ferrell’s movie, Semi-Pro, is set to hit screens soon, it should come as no surprise to see Loose Balls released in a new package. With the addition of a fresh cover design and equally crispy introduction from the author, Loose Balls returns to bookshelves better than ever. What makes the book so special is the fact that most of the information in it would have surely been lost or forgotten had Pluto not done a colossal job reporting on the facts of the league’s long-since ceased history.
At 450 pages, Loose Balls is a positively essential read for anyone who loves the history of hoops or anyone that reads slow and exclusively while on their toilet bowl.
