Best Nonfiction Sports Books

They tell stories of tragedy and triumph. Not just wins and losses.

They create characters out of real people that already seemed larger than life. Then they add layers we didn’t know existed, taking sports and games we love and spinning them into something more epic than we could’ve imagined.

There’s the season-with-the-team chronicle. The biography. The tell-all. Even true crime brilliance. What they all have in common is an author at the wheel that spares no one, including themselves.

These are the greatest nonfiction sports books of all time.

50. Out of Control

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Author: Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson

Year published: 1987

Publisher: Pocket Books

What readers think: “If you are going to read one book about the dark side of professional football this is the one. It is the story of Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson and his fall from glory—years spent playing football and the game of life too fast and too hard. It chronicles his one field exploits as an all pro for the Dallas Cowboys and his fall from grace due to use of alcohol and drugs, on and off the field.” — Bill Smith (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Hollywood Henderson was the original trash-talking, NFL bad boy, and when he was good, he was very good, helping lead the Dallas Cowboys to a Super Bowl victory. When he was bad, it became one of the darkest stories in NFL history, including Henderson admitting he sniffed liquid cocaine out of an inhaler during games. He lays it all out in this book.

49. The Sweetest Thing: Inside the World of Women’s Boxing

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Author: Mischa Merz

Year published: 2010

Publisher: Seven Stories Press

What readers think: “I really enjoyed “The Sweetest Thing.” It was a fascinating look into the world of female boxing (and men’s too, in a way) that I knew nothing about. If you are interested in the sport, and hopefully have a little background in boxing, you should pick this up.” — dawnhighhouse (Amazon)

Bottom line: Mischa Merz got wrapped up in the dream of being a semi-professional boxer and traveling the United States, training and fighting in tournaments. Her insights into the women she trains with and boxes against provide a compelling backdrop to her own journey.

48. You’re Okay, It’s Just a Bruise

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Author: Rob Huizenga

Year published: 1994

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

What readers think: “Huizenga’s book allowed me to see what NFL team physicians dealt with in 80s. I think it is brilliant to know the sports medicine perspective in professional sports knowing that every medical decision pulls and pushes on every business decision.” — Phillip Ting (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Rob Huizenga was the Los Angeles Raiders team doctor for eight years, and reportedly resigned after the team refused to disclose to a player that he had a heart condition. His book, an inside look at what the players go through physically, was a revelation, and partly became the basis for Oliver Stone’s 1999 film “Any Given Sunday.”

47. Dust Bowl Girls: The Team That Barnstormed America

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Author: Lydia Reeder

Year published: 2017

Publisher: Algonquin Books

What readers think: “There was just enough detail about each of the people involved and the history of the school to enrich the story and not bog it down. The history of women’s basketball in and of itself was fascinating, I just had no idea of any of it at all!” — Ann (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Lydia Reeder’s story is told in a cinematic manner, with Oklahoma Presbyterian women’s basketball coach Sam Babb recruiting a team of mostly farm girls and turning them into a national championship-winning team 40 years ahead of Title IX. In the process, the girls became celebrities in Oklahoma and beyond.

46. Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation

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Author: John Carlin

Year published: 2008

Publisher: Penguin Press

What readers think: “As a child of segregation, this book brings back some very real memories and emotions. It also shows the greatness that lives within all men. Nelson Mandela has always been one of my heroes and this book shows his understanding of human nature as well as his political acumen.” — Neha Mehta (Goodreads)

Bottom line: John Carlin, a longtime South African journalist, blends together Nelson Mandela’s deft handling of a potent mix of politics, sports and race that turns on his support of the nation’s national rugby team, the Springboks. What happens next is the stuff of sporting legends.

45. Out of Bounds

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Author: Jim Brown

Year published: 1989

Publisher: Zebra Books

What readers think: “Excellent book. This is a very interesting and honest account of a man who has lived life his own way. He has been a significant figure in the civil rights movement and contributed greatly to the community. Jim pulls no punches and you’ll enjoy his accounts of his playing days and beyond.” — Lee Witt (Amazon)

Bottom line: If you’re not used to Jim Brown’s unfiltered approach to life, which includes a lot of hard truths, this book will surprise you because of its candor. He lays everything bare about being a superstar athlete, famous and black in the 1960s and 1970s, including the rampant racism he and his contemporaries had to deal with every single day.

44. Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman

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Author: Jon Krakauer

Year published: 2008

Publisher: Doubleday

What readers think: “In a perfect world, everyone would have their biography written by Jon Krakauer after their death, and that book could be passed down through the generations, and people would truly understand who you were, and they would learn something and be inspired by your story. Unfortunately, we live in a less than perfect world, and if Jon Krakauer writes a book about you, then your death was untimely, tragic, and undeserved.” — Paul Eckert (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Jon Krakauer, the famed author of “Into Thin Air” and “Into the Wild” turns his eye to the life of Pat Tillman, who left behind his NFL career to join the military after 9/11. He treats Tillman’s story like a Greek tragedy, following every twist and turn to a tragic end.

43. Without Apology: Girls, Women and the Desire to Fight

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Author: Leah Hager Cohen

Year published: 2005

Publisher: Random House

What readers think: “She writes a lot about her own fears, misconceptions and anxieties watching teenage girls beat each other for fun. As a blackbelt who teaches at a martial arts club with two other women, I have never heard someone speak so clearly about those fears, misconceptions and anxieties.” — Jessica (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Leah Hager Cohen starts as an outsider and ends as an insider when it comes to boxing, literally throwing herself in the ring to spar and train with the girls she is writing about. Her exploration of the girls’ individual issues and motivations includes turning the mic on herself, which pushes the book to another level.

42. Running for My Life: One Lost Boy’s Journey From the Killing Fields of Sudan to the Olympic Games

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Author: Lopez Lomong

Year published: 2012

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

What readers think: “The beginning of this book was so heart-wrenching and hit so close to home as Lopez was about the same age as my boys when he was kidnapped that I didn’t think I could get through it. But I am so glad I pushed through. There is so much joy and hope within as well.” — Michell8 (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Sudanese rebels kidnapped Lopez Lomong when he was just 6 years old, snatching him out of Catholic mass. Assumed dead by his family, he escaped from his captors with three older boys, and they ran, barefoot, for three days until they hit the Kenyan border. Somehow, someway, he became an American citizen and has run in two Olympics.

41. The Boys of Dunbar

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Author: Alejandro Danois

Year published: 2016

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

What readers think: “Excellent book on not just basketball, but growing up in the ghetto; the tough street life of Baltimore, and the adults who push the kids to excellence.” — T. Sullivan (Goodreads)

Bottom line: There are a lot of bad neighborhoods to grow up in across the U.S. Not much are worse than the area in Baltimore around Dunbar High. And there was never a worse time to be there than in the early 1980s. Out of that chaos, Alejandro Danois tells the story of how Dunbar produced one of the greatest high school boys basketball teams of all time, including four players (Muggsy Bogues, Reggie Williams, Reggie Lewis and David Wingate) who would one day play in the NBA.

40. When Pride Still Mattered

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Author: David Maraniss

Year published: 1999

Publisher: Simon Schuster

What readers think: “Every Football coach for the last 50 years has tried to imitate this man. so who was he? This book shows you. It leaves no corner of his life unexamined, good and bad.” — Eric Ryan (Goodreads)

Bottom line: David Maraniss, who won the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting, wrote this biography of legendary football coach Vince Lombardi. What we know about Lombardi on the surface (the old films and pictures) versus the actual man he was, who didn’t get his big break until he was 46 years old, are a good example of the myth not matching the actual truth. Maraniss might be one of the best ever at uncovering those truths.

39. Life on the Run

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Author: Bill Bradley

Year published: 1976

Publisher: Vintage

What readers think: “I first read this like 40 years ago, as a kid. Right or wrong, a lot of the stories stuck with me all these years. Life on the road sucks, big cities can be scary as hell, for less grief-keep your mouth shut.” — Dave (Goodreads)

Bottom line: This glimpse into the life of Bill Bradley, a future U.S. senator, tells a raw tale of his time playing for the New York Knicks. The press is ruthless. The pressure to win at all costs never stops. The lives of him and his teammates seem pulled into chaos because of their fame, which they cling to at all costs.

38. Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life Of The American Basketball Association

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Author: Terry Pluto

Year published: 1990

Publisher: Fireside Books

What readers think: “Warren Jabali deliberately stomped on a dude’s head during an ABA game. Also the Spurs held a Dime Beer Night that ended in a riot. These are the things that are sorely missing from modern basketball.” — James Lambert (Goodreads)

Bottom line: There’s something to be said for turning a story over to the people that lived it, and Terry Pluto follows that mold almost to a fault. The ABA’s best get their say in his book, including Rick Barry, Julius Erving, Bob Costas, Cotton Fitzsimmons and Dan Issel, among others. The real star, though, is St. Louis Spirits forward Melvin “Bad News” Barnes, who always seemed to live up to his name.

37. The Junction Boys

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Author: Jim Dent

Year published: 1999

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

What readers think: “This is rip roaring story telling based on old fashioned shoe leather reporting. You feel like your in camp with the Junction Boys, which is no easy feat. Dent has a wonderful voice and nails the telling detail.” — Joe Drape (Goodreads)

Bottom line: The legend of famed coach Paul “Bear” Bryant didn’t begin at the University of Alabama. It all started at Texas A&M, where Bryant turned a moribund program into a winner. How he did it — a hellish training camp that whittled the roster from 115 to 35 — became the stuff of legend. And a really good book.

36. Heaven Is a Playground

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Author: Rick Telander

Year published: 1976

Publisher: Bison Books

What readers think: “An exceptional ethnography of mid-70s playground basketball in Brooklyn that becomes so much more than Telander ever thought it would. People whose lives you come to care immensely about having never met them. I don’t think I have ever read the epilogue before now. … The Subway Stars forever, man.” — Zach Moats (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Rick Telander, a former All-Big Ten cornerback at Northwestern, meant to spend a week or so in Brooklyn writing a freelance story on the city’s playground basketball stars. He ended up staying for the whole summer and became part of the games himself. Telander’s embedded approach pays off in big ways.

35. Making My Pitch

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Author: Ila Jane Borders

Year published: 2017

Publisher: University of Nebraska Press

What readers think: “A courageous memoir from a baseball pioneer. I started and finished this book in one sitting because it was so compelling. … This story should enhance our appreciation of what she was able to accomplish on and off the field.” — Jacob (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Ila Jane Borders is a trailblazer — the first woman to earn a college baseball scholarship, the first female pitcher to win a college game and the first woman to win a professional game since the Negro Leagues era. While the book is a sports story on the surface, Borders doesn’t shy away from confronting her personal problems, either, which makes her work that much more honest and compelling.

34. Boys Will Be Boys

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Author: Jeff Pearlman

Year published: 2008

Publisher: Harper

What readers think: “If you’ll excuse the cliché: this is one of those true stories that, if it had been fiction, would have been universally regarded as too absurd and over-the-top to be believable. Yet here we are!” — Brendan Curran (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Jeff Pearlman tells the real story behind the Dallas Cowboys’ dynasty of the 1990s. That’s every juicy detail on Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith and the surrounding cast. Most famously, he told the story of the Cowboys’ “White House,” a suburban hideaway in the shadow of the team’s training facility the players used for parties full of sex, drugs and rock-star debauchery.

33. Bloomer Girls: Women Baseball Pioneers

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Author: Debra A. Shattuck

Year published: 2017

Publisher: University of Illlinois Press

What readers think: “[Shattuck] illustrates how a hostile media lampooned the women’s game at every opportunity in order to try to drive women’s ball away, despite massive crowds at women’s games (which often ended in riots.) Any student of the history of baseball and social/cultural understandings of American history through gender lenses must read this book.” — James (Goodreads)

Bottom line: We should all feel a little uncomfortable when we read Debra A. Shattuck’s book. Women loved playing baseball, and society was allowed to drum them out of the sport over several decades around the turn of the century. No tactic from their opponents was too low to try, and it’s a sad chapter in our collective sports history.

32. The Book of Basketball

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Author: Bill Simmons

Year published: 2009

Publisher: ESPN Books

What readers think: “I’m so grateful a book like this exists about basketball. It’s the basketball bible. Any hardcore basketball fan should read this ASAP. It’s an in depth view of the history of the league and contains fun lists and comparisons to different eras and teams and players. It’s just a lot of fun to read.” — Markus Molina (Goodreads)

Bottom line: It’s strange to think the 10-year anniversary of Bill Simmons’ epic is upon us. Part of its appeal was the time it came out, 2009, was when the world began to really discover social media’s powers and turned this book into a word-of-mouth bestseller that reached a much larger audience than, say, before Twitter.

31. The Jordan Rules

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Author: Sam Smith

Year published: 1992

Publisher: Pocket Books

What readers think: “Finally read this book, you know, 25 years after it was relevant, but it’s a great look into that Bulls first championship team of the 90s. At first I thought it was amazing that it didn’t harm Jordan’s reputation more, but then I realized that books are for nerds, and there’s no place for nerds in sports.” — Joe Loncarich (Goodreads)

Bottom line: This was the first book that showed us the Michael Jordan that we all know now — the fiery competitor who was ruthless to opponents and teammates alike, including reportedly punching teammate Will Perdue. The book ends with Jordan winning his first NBA title in 1991. Smith’s controversial book ended up on The New York Times bestseller list.

30. Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks

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Author: Mick Foley

Year published: 2000

Publisher: ReganBooks/WWE Books

What readers think: “This isn’t a biography. This is epic, a novel concept. This is about a seemingly ordinary man and his dreams. How he let his body be crushed but not his dreams. He kept them alive as much as they kept him alive. … This isn’t a biography. This is literature, as close to literature as biographies can get. Bravo.” — Asghar Abbas (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Ignore the WWE’s decision to make the cover look like a coloring book. Foley, a professional wrestler known as “Mankind,” puts professional wrestling in a no-holds-barred blender. What sets this book apart is Foley’s writing process. Unlike his compatriots, he eschewed a ghostwriter and wrote his autobiography longhand, which reportedly clocked in at 760, single-spaced pages. And Foley doesn’t spare himself. That’s the best part.

29. Ali: A Life

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Author: Jonathan Eig

Year published: 2017

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

What readers think: “I’m the furthest thing from a sports fan you could imagine, but I approached this as a book about a cultural icon and read it with a spirit of curiosity about how Eig would shape this life story and separate the facts from the legend. It’s a riveting account of outliving segregation and developing a personal style and world-beating confidence; it’s a sobering tale of facing consequences and having your own body fail you. I loved it.” — Rebecca (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Jonathan Eig is meticulous in detailing Ali’s life, and his book is remarkable because it’s the first one written after Muhammad Ali’s death. It gives a complete picture of a complicated man that highlights not just his successes, but his failures, too. The author digs deep and goes past reasonable expectations in researching a subject, including over 500 interviews and uncovering long-hidden FBI and Justice Department files.

28. Sum It Up

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Authors: Pat Summitt and Sally Jenkins

Year published: 2013

Publisher: Crown Archetype

What readers think: “This memoir is a lasting testament to the legacy that she will leave behind for the game, and for the University of Tennessee. It is deeply thought provoking, as well as personal. I have always had tremendous respect for Summitt, but this book brought out more than just the coach in her.” — Ryan Splenda (Goodreads)

Bottom line: As Alzheimer’s disease began to take over the mind of legendary Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt, she points out that her prevailing life philosophy didn’t revolve around games or scores. It always was about the people she surrounded herself with. This book is the best of the three Summitt and venerated sportswriter Sally Jenkins wrote together, and the only one that made it to No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller lists.

27. Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits and How Baseball Got Big

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Author: Jose Canseco

Year published: 2005

Publisher: It Books

What readers think: “This character is facing external conflict because the fans hate on him for many reasons but the big one is a huge standout. Steroids. He used and experimented with steroids so much, he was known as the Chemist in the MLB. This character is mostly dynamic because he stays true to himself and never changes his image on what he does.” — Dylan M. (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Jose Canseco is insufferable. That’s not even in question. But his book is an unbelievable look into the steroid era of baseball and tears down every lie told by Major League Baseball and its players during that time. From an objective point of view, the truth of Canseco is what makes the book as compelling as it is. He tells the story matter-of-factly and without sentimentality, which endears itself to a discerning reader.

26. Meat Market

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Author: Bruce Feldman

Year published: 2007

Publisher: ESPN Books

What readers think: “One of the best college football books I’ve read. Deals with Ole Miss back when they were straight awful. Then Ed ‘Crazy’ Orgeron comes to coach. Having just left USC, he is pumped to get his first head coaching job. All he does is act like a fool to get recruits and it works. Sure he bends the rules, but come on.” — Greg (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Bruce Feldman’s tome brought the world up to speed on how modern college football recruiting works. The best part, hands down, is Feldman telling former Ole Miss head coach Ed Orgeron’s story, which ends up being more about a resilient, flawed and determined man than a football coach. Also of note is the amount of Red Bull Orgeron consumes. Just reading about it will accelerate your heart rate.

25. The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul

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Author: Phil Jackson

Year published: 2004

Publisher: Penguin Press

What readers think: “couldn’t put it down … almost angry how it just consumed 4-5 hours of my only free afternoon of the week … love shaq more than i did before, hate kobe more than i did before … awesome (insight) into the insane egos of top professional athletes … I can’t believe I just gave 5 stars to a book about the lakers.” — John (Goodreads)

Bottom line: After the 2003-04 Los Angeles Lakers season — Phil Jackson’s last as head coach — he spilled all the beans on Kobe Bryant. The result is a magnificent, nuanced look at an NBA team. The deconstruction of Bryant’s ego and how it impacts the team’s chemistry is written in an almost clinical way. Somehow, Jackson found his way back to the Lakers and Bryant a few years later, and won two more championships.

24. Paper Lion

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Author: George Plimpton

Year published: 1966

Publisher: Lyons Press

What readers think: “This behind the scenes look at a training camp from back when players weren’t multimillionaires made me feel like I was right there with them, sharing in their training camp escapades and in Plimpton’s struggles to not embarrass himself while pretending to be a pro. I really cannot do it justice.” — Icarus (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Credit every book or article ever written about journalists inserting themselves into sports they cover to George Plimpton. It’s funny because Plimpton tries to play quarterback and can’t throw more than 15 yards. It’s poignant because he looks at the players as people, not athletes. Especially compelling are the passages about his “teammates” and their day-to-day struggles, including a look at superstar defensive tackle (and future television star) Alex Karras.

23. Under the Lights and in the Dark

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Author: Gwendolyn Oxenham

Year published: 2017

Publisher: Icon Books

What readers think: “I’m not much of a non-fiction guy, but Oxenham is such a good storyteller, I got caught up in each chapter’s topic. Highly recommended for sports fans. Or for fans of women trying to succeed in a difficult field.” — C.I. DeMann (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Gwendolyn Oxenham captures the itinerant existence of professional women’s soccer with brilliance. She bounces around the globe like a pinball, chasing her dream to play pro ball as her experience frames a bigger narrative of the sport’s struggles and the uphill battle for the best players in the world. Oxenham’s book isn’t a rah-rah piece, either. Many times, the heroes in the book end up with a bounced paycheck from the team’s owner or come to practice to find out the team they played for folded overnight.

22. I Am Zlatan

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Author: Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Year published: 2013

Publisher: Random House

What readers think: “I have to say, this is a surprisingly good and honest bio. You might need to be into soccer to appreciate it, but if you are this is fun. Ibrahimovi? is a cocky guy who is aware of being who he is: he admits it right away. On the other hand he is fearless, always gives 100% and tells people off no matter who they are.” — Ettore Pasquini (Goodreads)

Bottom line: One of the greatest soccer players in the world, Zlatan Ibrahimovic spins a great tale. He sets the tone with his parents’ immigrant story — a Bosnian Muslim father and a Croatian Catholic mother living in Sweden — and how his life split between the two after their divorce. On the field, sportswriters who cover Zlatan and try to properly describe his goals have nothing on hearing what it’s like from the man himself.

21. Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson

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Author: Geoffrey C. Ward

Year published: 2004

Publisher: Vintage

What readers think: “Writing and fighting might seem unlikely bedfellows, but boxing often produces great literature — and this book is a prime example of that. It’s partly down to the subject-matter and partly down to the author.” — Jack Strange (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Jack Johnson was one of the most famous athletes in the world after becoming the first African-American heavyweight champion in 1908. And that’s when his problems really started, as white America turned its vitriol toward the outspoken, uncompromising boxer. Geoffrey C. Ward’s work as a storyteller and researcher are a gift to us all, as he uses his expertise to document a life that could have been lost to history.

20. Basketball and Other Things: A Collection of Questions Asked, Answered and Illustrated

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Author: Shea Serrano

Year published: 2017

Publisher: Harry N. Abrams

What readers think: “I loved this book and I may or may not love Shea Serrano despite him not knowing me. This is the kind of trouble you’re stirring up by writing a book like this one.” — Benoit Lelievre (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Shea Serrano hits a home run with this book, which turned into a New York Times No. 1 bestseller and should be a great Christmas present for the hoops head in your family for years to come. The book has 33 chapters, and each chapter’s number is an illustration of a famous player whose jersey number corresponds with the chapter, including one fictional character. Serrano, who writes for The Ringer, has the gift of being able to identify the myths surrounding the best basketball players and put his own eclectic spin on them. Old stories told anew.

19. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption

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Author: Laura Hillenbrand

Year published: 2010

Publisher: Random House

What readers think: “If you could rate this book with 100 stars I don’t think it would be enough. Unbroken is probably the best book I have ever read. This extraordinary story of Louis Zamperini through his life as a boy, his Olympic dream and World War Two .. his strength, and will to survive in concentration camps in japan. This really is an amazing book…I felt many things when I finished it but a great sadness was definitely one of them.” — Aishling Murphy (Goodreads)

Bottom line: The story of Olympic track star and World War II hero Louis Zamperini proves that truth can be more heroic than fiction. Zamperini survived crash-landing his plane in the Pacific Ocean, drifted 47 days on a raft, then was tortured for two-and-a-half years in a series of hellish Japanese prison camps. Laura Hillenbrand’s book spent four years on The New York Times nonfiction bestseller list. Films based on “Unbroken” and another HIllenbrand novel, “Seabiscuit,” have been nominated for 10 Academy Awards and made $311.3 million at the box office.

18. The Inner Game of Tennis

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Author: W. Timothy Gallwey

Year published: 1974

Publisher: Random House

What readers think: “A short concise friendly and profoundly powerful book. It describes the dynamics of our own mind and how to make it work to our favor. I absolutely loved it.” — Carlos Xavier (Goodreads)

Bottom line: W. Timothy Gallwey’s publisher was ecstatic when he read the first galleys because he thought the book would sell a whopping 20,000 copies. Over 40 years later, the book’s main idea, that we have more potential than we think, is still important — and has sold millions of copies. Gallwey’s idea that we’re all capable of much more than we can imagine has transcended tennis over the years and is most often cited by Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, one of only three football coaches who’s won a Super Bowl and a national college football championship.

17. The Damned Utd

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Author: David Peace

Year published: 2006

Publisher: Faber Faber

What readers think: “That the story would read as brilliant as it is to a stubbornly romantic football fan like me, was expected. That Peace’s writing would go all the way down a dark, haunting, decadent poetic road with such elegance and soul, such music, was not.” — Eleni (Goodreads)

Bottom line: The main subject of the book, legendary English soccer player and manager Brian Clough, said David Peace took “liberties” in telling his story. But it’s like that line from an old western: “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” And Clough is a legend, but not ultimately a heroic one. He’s tremendously flawed, and Peace lays all of that bare.

16. When the Game Was Ours

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Author: Jackie McMullan with Earvin Johnson and Larry Bird

Year published: 2009

Publisher: Mariner Books

What readers think: “Wow. I didn’t want this book to end, because that would mean Magic and Larry weren’t playing any more. Which is silly, since they haven’t played in years. I wish I had paid more attention to basketball while these two were playing. I had no idea of their significance to the game. Their leadership and rivalry remains unmatched today.” — Staci (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Jackie McMullan’s book served as the inspiration for the award-winning HBO documentary “Courtship of Rivals” about the Magic-Bird rivalry and the things that led to the two NBA superstars becoming lifelong friends. MacMullan’s depth of knowledge shines through after covering the biggest Lakers-Celtics games of the 1980s as a journalist for The Boston Globe. She knows she has an epic tale to tell and delivers a unique, nuanced understanding of basketball and the role her subjects played in the history of the sport.

15. The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game

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Author: Michael Lewis

Year published: 2006

Publisher: W.W. Norton Company

What readers think: “I’m a slow reader but finished this book in 3 days. It has a lovely rhythm and goes between the Michael Oher story and changes in the NFL that played a part in his success. The amount of reporting and research Lewis must have done is astounding to me, but he weaves it together nicely. An amazing story expertly told.” — Tracy (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Michael Lewis traces the change in NFL offenses to NFL Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor and his elite pass-rushing skills. Then he ties football’s evolution to the story of Michael Oher in a Dickens-like saga of a rags-to-riches football superstar in Memphis. Brilliance on the page and par for the course for Lewis. Sandra Bullock won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2010 for her portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy in the film version of the book. Tuohy’s family adopted Oher when he was a teenager after his family had abandoned him and he was homeless.

14. The Basketball Diaries

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Author: Jim Carroll

Year published: 1978

Publisher: Penguin Books

What readers think: “Beautifully haunting, set in the 60’s with the horror of addiction and fear of nuclear war in the forefront, Jim Carroll poetically writes about a gritty New York we will never see again. A tragic, yet gorgeous and sometimes funny read.” — Mary (Goodreads)

Bottom line: As Jim Carroll’s star began to rise as a teenage basketball star for Upper Manhattan’s elite Trinity School, he hid a terrible secret. Carroll had begun using heroin at age 13 and was becoming a full-blown addict. He spins a Kerouac-esque tale of that time, pulled right from the words of his actual diaries. Carroll got sober in the 1970s, around the time “Diaries” came out, and also had a lengthy career as a musician and spoken-word poet. He died of a heart attack in 2009 in New York City.

13. Open: An Autobiography

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Author: Andre Agassi

Year published: 2009

Publisher: Knopf

What readers think: “If someone would have told me I’ll end up crying over a book on Agassi’s life and tennis… I would have laughed. However, the writing is so intense, the feelings so straight expressed and so raw I was blown away. Wonderful book, definitely one of the best I’ve read this year. I fully recommend it.” — Oana Kovacs (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Andre Agassi’s utter contempt for the game he mastered swelters off the page. Like all great biographies, the author doesn’t spare himself from that contempt. If Agassi calls someone out, he’s going to be even more harsh when it comes to his own missteps. The redemption he finds in second wife Steffi Graf is inspiring.

12. String Theory: Essays on Tennis

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Author: David Foster Wallace

Year published: 2016

Publisher: Library of America

What readers think: “As real as it can get. For those who’ve played tennis at some level or the other, you’ll appreciate this book more than you would your own playbook. For those of you who haven’t, this is a true window to the real world of tennis.” — Mallika Saharia (Goodreads)

Bottom line: The Great American Novel? Some people believe David Foster Wallace wrote one. It’s called “Infinite Jest,” and it’s laced with tennis references and subplots. Wallace committed suicide in 2008, but his writing here on the sport itself, published after his death in a series of essays, was unparalleled and brings into account his youth, when he was a regionally ranked tennis player. Wallace’s final novel,”The Pale King,” was released posthumously in 2011 and nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

11. Little Girls in Pretty Boxes

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Author: Joan Ryan

Year published: 1995

Publisher: Warner Books

What readers think: “This is the best sports book I have ever read. Reading it now, after the harrowing USA Gymnastics saga came to light, is creepy and fascinating in its prescience. If you want a well-written sports expose, this is your book.” — wordgirly (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Joan Ryan’s central argument — that the abuse that occurs in women’s gymnastics and figure skating is unacceptable and criminal — rings just as true 24 years after its publication. As a massive sexual abuse scandal in women’s gymnastics continues to unfold, Ryan’s book seems like it has never been more timely than it is now. We should’ve paid heed to the world she was telling us existed 24 years ago.

10. A Season on the Brink

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Author: John Feinstein

Year published: 1986

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

What readers think: “A great basketball book. If you are a true fan of the game of basketball then you need to read this book. Even if you are a casual fan, you will enjoy this. You may not like Bobby Knight, but you will develop a respect for him and realize how influential Coach Knight is in the game of college basketball.” — Bill (Goodreads)

Bottom line: John Feinstein earned Bob Knight’s trust by not excoriating him in a column after a chair-throwing incident. The result was unprecedented access to the University of Indiana men’s basketball team during the 1985-86 season. Feinstein’s work single-handedly changed the way media is granted access to NCAA teams, not just in basketball but in all sports. All told, the book sold more than 2 million copies.

9. Ball Four

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Author: Jim Bouton

Year published: 1970

Publisher: Howell Book House

What readers think: “This is probably the most controversial book and the most honest book ever written about baseball. It is interesting how the words honest and controversial seem to travel together like a Harley Davidson with a sidecar.” — Jeffrey Keeten (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Jim Bouton, a pitcher for the New York Yankees, pulled back the curtain on American myths surrounding pro baseball players with his inside look at drug use, sex and drinking in Major League Baseball. This diary of the 1969 season made people mad. What he wrote about Mickey Mantle made them really, really mad. Part of Bouton’s story is depicted in the excellent Netflix documentary “The Battered Bastards of Baseball,” about the Portland Mavericks, a defunct minor league baseball team owned by actor Bing Russell.

8. Days of Grace

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Author: Arthur Ashe

Year published: 1993

Publisher: Knopf

What readers think: “I read this back in 94 and I must say I didn’t think I could hold this hero of American sports and life in higher esteem until I read this book. My regard for him and his patient understanding life redoubled.” — Charly (Goodreads)

Bottom line: The only African-American man to win singles titles at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open, Arthur Ashe finished the manuscript for his memoir one week before his death from AIDS-related symptoms in 1993. For his activism, Ashe was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Much more than a book about tennis, this story details the struggle to achieve something that’s never been done before, and do so in a world where the color of your skin seems to be the way most of society judges your character.

7. The Game

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Author: Ken Dryden

Year published: 1983

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

What readers think: “Nothing short of brilliant. It is certainly the best sports related biography I have ever read to this point in my life. As much as I enjoy Baseball biographies of former players of years gone by; this book by far outdoes them all.” — Gerry (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Legendary sports columnist Scott Young put it best about Hall of Fame goalie Dryden’s book, which was a recap of the Montreal Canadiens’ 1978-79 season that culminated in winning the Stanley Cup. “A hockey book so rare there is actually nothing to compare it to,” Young wrote in his review. Dryden, who would eventually become the president of the Toronto Maple Leafs, comes across as intelligent and insightful and turns an endearing (and sometimes critical) eye on the fame and challenges he and his teammates deal with.

6. In These Girls, Hope Is a Muscle

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Author: Madeline Blaise

Year published: 1995

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

What readers think: “I read this book when it came out and have read it every few years since. It is a great inspirational story and although it is over a decade old, I recommend to any girl that plays team sports. … When you complete this book, you feel like you truly know the girls and are cheering for them during the entire book and have almost established a friendship with them.” –Kristin (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Madeleine Blais, a Pulitzer Prize winner for her work at the Miami Herald, turns her acerbic eye on the Amherst (Mass.) High girls basketball team’s pursuit of a state title during the 1992-93 season. This book defines an era when communities across the U.S. began to support girls teams just like they did for boys’ sports. One of the book’s main subjects, Jamila Wideman, is the daughter of famed author John Edgar Wideman and went on to become an All-American guard for Stanford.

5. Seabiscuit: An American Legend

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Author: Laura Hillenbrand

Year published: 1999

Publisher: Ballantine Books

What readers think: “I’m jealous of this woman, because she writes better than I do. I’ve always been a little snobby towards Seabiscuit, as I’m a devoted War Admiral fan, but this is probably the best book out there that really captures the essence of horse racing, and she picked the right horse to do it with.” — Swaps55 (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Laura Hillenbrand, despite battling a debilitating disease that only let her write in spurts, turned Seabiscuit into an American masterpiece about triumph — on two legs and on four. At its heart, the trio of humans and one horse who come together to carve out an iconic piece of American sports history are all outsiders, bucking against the status quo. And that’s why the story is so great. Combined with Hillenbrand’s second book, “Unbroken,” she has sold over 13 million books.

4. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game

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Author: Michael Lewis

Year published: 2003

Publisher: W.W. Norton Company

What readers think: “I know next to nothing about baseball, and less than that about statistics, but this book about applying new statistical thinking in baseball to the selection of a winning team (the Oakland A’s) was absolutely riveting reading for me. Michael Lewis is just that good.” — Nancy (Goodreads)

Bottom line: It’s about more than the Oakland Athletics and general manager Billy Beane telling 100 years of baseball expertise to kick rocks. It’s about Outsiders vs. Insiders and bucking the establishment. The book changed the way the game is evaluated and played to this day, and is one of two books by Lewis, along with “The Blind Side,” that eventually became Oscar-nominated films.

3. The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson

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Author: Jeffrey Toobin

Year published: 1997

Publisher: Touchstone Books

What readers think: “Good golly, is this a fantastic true crime book. Jeffrey Toobin is one of those rare people who can take complex legal issues and explain them to laypeople, while also writing fantastic descriptions and crafting a good narrative.” — Diane (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Toobin gained access to both the defense and prosecution camps during the O.J. Simpson trial in 1994. The lawyer and legal analyst did so with the understanding that nothing would be written until after a verdict and envisioned a book published in late 1995, following what would be a lengthy, three-month trial. The book didn’t come out until 1997. What he did get, in the end, was more than a run-of-a-mill book on the latest salacious trial. It was a deep dive into the lives of the characters who populated the trial, from the attorneys to the judge to the victims to the man on trial.

2. Those Guys Have All The Fun: Inside the World of ESPN

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Author: James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales

Year published: 2011

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

What readers think: “Once again, Miller and Shales have hit this one out of the park. I completely adored their look into the halls of Saturday Night Live with “Live From New York.” I completely adore this. Their look into the history, the present, and even the future of ESPN was done with a deft hand.” — Amanda Griggs (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Where to begin with this one? Every little bit of dirt that can be pulled from over three decades of gargantuan-building television is encompassed in this book, which runs almost 800 pages. It’s so long because the authors give an actual perspective to 30-plus years of the network and the personalities that defined it, and it’s not always pretty. Want a good guy to root for? Pay close attention to the section on Kirk Herbstreit and the rise of ESPN’s mega-hit show “College GameDay.”

1. Friday Night Lights

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Author: H.G. “Buzz” Bissinger

Year published: 1990

Publisher: Da Capo Press

What readers think: “If you love football, Friday Night Lights likely will be the best sports book you’ve ever read. If you don’t love football, and aren’t an avid nonfiction reader? FNL likely will be the best nonfiction book you’ve ever read.” — Carol (Goodreads)

Bottom line: Buzz Bissinger conceived the idea for a book about the role high school football plays in America during a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard. He returned to the Philadelphia Inquirer and won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting the next year. Then, he moved his entire family to Odessa, Texas. What he got from that time isn’t really a book. It’s a thunderclap disguised as a book. A perfect account of one year in the lives of the Permian High football team, deep in the heart of Texas. The last 100 pages read like a runaway freight train, rambling down the tracks with you on board, clinging to dear life. Don’t let go.