Big Game, Small World: A Basketball Adventure

In Bhutan the King has his own hoops tutor- and basketball helped ward off war. In Florida a three-on-three tournament draws the best schoolyard players in America. From China to New York and beyond, the quaint little sport that James Naismith invented in 1981 has leapt over boundaries and swept across language barriers around the globe. To capture this amazing phenomenon, Alexander Wolff traveled the world and chronicled the personalities, histories, tradgedies, and comedies spinning around the sport of basketball- and shows how ferocity, power, and grace appeal to the human passions in everyone.

From basketball's origins in Canada to modern China--with stops in Iowa, Italy, Arizona, and Angola--Big Game, Small World: A Basketball Adventure ably tracks the international growth and popularity of basketball. Alexander Wolff simply (and convincingly) explores basketball's reach as a driving force and saving grace.

Some countries mimic the NBA to the last detail, while the game provides a symbol of freedom and opportunity in more restrictive countries. Interviews with players, coaches, and local legends provide insight into how the sport has evolved, and what it means, in their respective countries. Perhaps most importantly, we see that, like soccer, basketball is a part of the social fabric, played everywhere by children, sometimes with little more than the rocks Dr. James Naismith had. Although Wolff covers much ground, he covers it quickly; details beyond the game are relatively sparse, as though he had a tight schedule. Still, the book is thoughtfully prepared, the interviews engaging, and Wolff a sure-handed writer.

So why the drive in small countries to play basketball? As a Lithuanian noted: "In Lithuania today, if you have money, you have no reputation, because your money is black [market] money. If you have reputation, you are teacher, scientist, artist--but you have no money. Only basketball player has money and reputation." True, this observation applies to many sports worldwide, but Big Game, Small World stands as part of the proof. --Michael Ferch