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Kadir, Nelson

Basket Ball: The Story of the All-American Game

112 pp. | Little | January, 2026 | Trade ISBN 9780316209403 $21.99
(2) 4-6 Nelson (We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball, rev. 5/08, among many others) brings his sports fandom and verve -- and always impressive oil paintings -- to the history of basketball. Organized into four “quarters,” plus pregame, halftime, overtime, and postgame sections, the text is wide-ranging and enthusiastic; the (fictional) narrator speaks “from the firsthand experiences of a former basketball player who’s witnessed the game evolve from its humble beginnings...into a flashy athletic spectacle on the world stage.” Beginning with Dr. James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891, Nelson describes the new sport’s rules, equipment, popularity, and challenges, providing primary-source quotes and historical context around issues such as racial and financial inequities, skill-building, showmanship, and teamwork. Moving through the twentieth century, he arrives at perhaps the liveliest chapter: “Third Quarter: The Revolutionaries,” which provides snapshots of fourteen of the most influential (and playfully contestable/debatable) male players. Women are largely relegated to the engaging “Overtime” section, with Nelson’s author’s note acknowledging a greater story to be told. Every spread of this dazzlingly illustrated work includes dynamic imagery -- over sixty original paintings. All are helpfully ­captioned, though many of the subjects are iconic and will need no identification for fans. A ­timeline, a glossary, notes and sources, and an index are appended.
Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2026

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