03682cam a2200385 4500 889083002 TxAuBib 20230706120000.0 220623s2023||||||||||||||||||||||||eng|u 2022029151 9781645036951 hardcover 1645036952 hardcover 40031704175 (OCoLC)1334884690 TxAuBib Runstedtler, Theresa, author Black ball. Black ball : Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Spencer Haywood, and the generation that saved the soul of the NBA / Theresa Runstedtler. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Spencer Haywood, and the generation that saved the soul of the NBA. First edition. New York, NY : Bold Type Books, 2023. ©2023. vii, 355 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm. Includes bibliographical references (pages 303-339) and index. Part 1: battling monopoly -- Exile: Connie Hawkins's long journey to the NBA -- Hardship: Spencer Haywood vs. the white basketball establishment -- Bondage: overthrowing the option clause -- Part 2: the black tide -- Troubled: Black Players flood the league -- Professional: Simon Gourdine and the NBA's white ceiling -- Part 3: backlash -- Criminal: Kermit Washington's infamous punch -- Undisciplined: The NBA's "cocaine crisis" -- Epilogue -- Acknowledgments. Against the backdrop of ongoing massive resistance to racial desegregation and increasingly strident calls for Black Power, the NBA in the 1970s embodied the nation's imagined descent into disorder. The press and the public blamed young Black players for the chaos in the NBA, citing drugs, violence, greed, and criminality. The supposed decline of pro basketball became a metaphor for the first decades of integration in America: the rules of the game had changed, allowing more Black people onto a formerly white playing field, and now they were ruining everything. But Black Ball argues that this much-maligned period was pivotal to the rise of the NBA as the star-laden powerhouse we know today, thanks largely to the efforts of Black players in challenging the white basketball establishment of owners, coaches, and spectators. Spotlighting legendary players like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bernard King, and Connie Hawkins, scholar Theresa Runstedtler expertly rewrites basketball's "Dark Ages," weaving together her deep knowledge of the game's key icons and institutions with incisive social and political analysis of the era. Black ballers created an aerial, improvisational, and creative style derived from the playground courts of their neighborhoods, laying the foundation for the explosive popularity and profitability of the league in subsequent decades. They also transformed labor in the pro-basketball world, filing lawsuits and organizing unions to demand better salaries and greater autonomy. Without their skills, style, and savvy, there would be no Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson, or LeBron James today-- Provided by publisher. 20230706. Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem, 1947- Haywood, Spencer, 1949- National Basketball Association History 20th century. African American basketball players History 20th century. Basketball Social aspects United States History 20th century. Discrimination in sports United States History 20th century. Race relations History 20th century. Sports Social aspects United States.