Book Review: The Art of a Beautiful Game

by Matt Lawyue It looks easy on TV. Ray Allen’s flawless jumpshot. Steve Nash’s one-handed skip pass. Shane Battier’s hand-in-your-face defense. All of it. Every three pointer, every rebound and every dunk. It appear’s so carefree, especially to the highly skilled. It’s almost like a Basketball God blessed Iverson with supreme handle and Kobe with the killer instinct of a lion stalking in the brush. Only, it doesn’t work this way. Otherwise, we would read stories of would-be ballers sacrificing animals for a mid-range J. Yikes. In Chris Ballard’s new book, The Art of A Beautiful Game: The Thinking Fan’s Tour of the NBA, which went on sale this week, the components of the game become deconstructed and analyzed, from Allen’s perfect form to Battier’s ridiculous game time preparation. Ballard, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, discusses all of the major aspects of the game in frightening detail: rebounding, shooting, conditioning, dunking, shot blocking, free throw shooting and ...