Tall Tales - Terry Pluto

Tall Tales is an oral history of the first 20 or so years of the NBA, spanning from when it was created through the fusion of two existing pro leagues, up to the end of the Bill Russell-led Celtics' dynasty. Pluto interviewed former players, coaches, owners, referees, and weaves it into a coherent story. He devotes a chapter to a particular topic, from the earlier days to the later, and lets the participants' memories lay things out. Occasionally he'll add something to either clarify or correct someone's assertion (such as Wilt Chamberlain's claim that Jerry West and Elgin Baylor's scoring both increased after he joined the Lakers, while his took such a step back.)

There are a lot of good stories in there, most of them related to how much of a shoestring sports league the NBA was in the early days. Owners having to book college teams or the Globetrotters as parts of double-headers to get enough fans in the door to pay the bills. Players debating whether they'd make more money selling cars than playing basketball. There are a lot of stories about fights, which is funny considering the players will insist they weren't dirty like the Bad Boys Pistons, just tough. But clean! Then the next sentence out of a players' mouth is about knocking guys teeth out with an elbow.

That is one thing that can get tedious, the number of the players who throw shade at the current (when the book was published, which is the early '90s) players, their style of play, level of play, etc. Lots of guys talking about how they could put up ridiculous numbers if they got to play in the environment the players did in the '90s, that they wouldn't be dunking on people because they'd get clotheslined, so on. Which isn't anything new or unusual; players from the '90s like Barkley threw similar disrespect at the Warriors a few years ago. It happens all the time in baseball (although it's usually the sportswriters talking about how current players ain't shit compared to the Mick or whoever.)

Mostly it's just too one-sided, because the players whose skills or reputations are being impugned don't get to fire back. When it's the people interviewed taking shots at each other, or disputing claims, that's more interesting, because Pluto can get both sides' perspective. When the topic is Wilt vs. Russell, for example, you can hear from people on both sides, and not just about them as a player. Wilt seems to be pretty well-regarded as a nice and generous guy, and Russell less so. Or Russell is just more reserved, less outgoing with people he doesn't know.

'Hot Rod Hundley: I look at my NBA career and I realize that I lost my outside shot and my confidence in it. I don't know why. I do know there were things I should have done differently. But I don't dwell on that. What the hell, I went into the NBA making $10,000 dollars and came out making $11,000, and in between I made two All-Star teams. I was like a guy who goes into the army as a buck private and six years later he comes out as still a buck private, but he's got some great stories to tell.'