PositiveThe Boston GlobeA scholarly look at 1970s pro basketball and how the NBA became synonymous with being a Black league ... lthough she could have provided more historical background on Black labor movements, Runstedtler makes a convincing argument that Black players’ successful labor battles should be considered part of the long freedom struggle of Black Americans ... Deeply researched, and grounded in Black thought from the period, relying in particular on Black Sports magazine as an essential resource ... Overall, Black Ball is an intriguing look at professional basketball in the 1970s.
David Maraniss
RaveBoston Globe... a masterful, in-depth portrait of a monumental figure ... All myths aren’t made the same. We like legends. They make us feel unstoppable. Other myths, however, are used to control the subject. Maraniss understands this delicate balance. He corrects the record of some of the biggest myths in Thorpe’s career — he didn’t hit three home runs into three states in one game — but Marannis doesn’t take out his hammer and smash Thorpe’s legacy. Instead, he uses the facts to restore order. Readers still come away believing Thorpe is one of the greatest ever ... As Maraniss magnificently details over the next 300 pages, even after his lowest moment, Thorpe continued to have a stellar athletic career but, like a hurdler who tripped during a race, he never fully recovered ... A dogged researcher, Maraniss leaves nothing unturned. Using federal records and newspapers, he gives equal treatment to Thorpe’s Carlisle days, his baseball career, and his pioneering pro football career, while at the same time complicating the myths that made the legend. Thorpe was more than an athlete. He was a man of the Sac and Fox Nation who spent his life searching for independence in a country designed to confine him and his people.
