Hoop Atlas - by Kirk Goldsberry

About the Book

"Every few years a talent comes along that disrupts everything we think we know about how the NBA should work. Whether it's scoring, playmaking, or shooting, these are players and tactics that fundamentally challenge how the game is played and what greatness looks like on a basketball court. For a period of time, these players each become an "Atlas" for the league, carrying the weight of the NBA on their shoulders, but also providing the roadmap that points the way to the future of the sport. In tandem, they map out the modern NBA's creation. Goldsberry returns with a highly visual, electrifying tour through the last three decades of NBA history, showing the "Atlas" players that have led us out of the brutishness of 90s hoops and into the wide open spaces of the most skilled era in NBA history. Charting the course from Jordan to Jokic-with plenty of stops along the way for Iverson, Kobe, Curry, and of course Lebron-Goldsberry, who was instrumental in helping spur the NBA's statistical revolution, has designed a vibrant new way to compare and debate the contributions of the best NBA players of all-time. Masterfully connecting NBA past and present through incisive writing and stunning visual statistical analyses, he shows how we've come to this unprecedented moment, a time when offensive efficiency and shooting percentages are higher than ever. Using beautifully designed, four-color shot maps and illustrations, Goldsberry offers a graphic journey through the last thirty years of the NBA that covers up to the 2023 season and is as much fun to look at as it is to read. The end result offers stories and analyses of a select group of NBA superstars that open up lively debates, reveal just how singular their talents truly are, and characterize the dramatic 21st-century metamorphosis of the best basketball league in the world"--

Book Synopsis

"When discussing greatness, we have too often distilled it down to how many rings someone has won, neglecting to celebrate the incredible influence that players have had on the evolution of basketball. Kirk's book beautifully explains this other side of greatness--how one player's skill and style of play can change the game forever."

--JJ Redick

The bestselling author of Sprawlball, Kirk Goldsberry returns with a visual feast of a book--equal parts Book of Basketball and Shea Serrano--that uses sharp writing, his signature graphics, and cutting-edge statistical analyses to unpack how a handful of NBA superstars --MJ to Lebron to Jokic--have reshaped pro basketball and charted the course to the future of the NBA.

Every few years a talent comes along that disrupts everything we think we know about how the NBA should work. Whether it's scoring, playmaking, or shooting, these are players and tactics that fundamentally challenge how the game is played and what greatness looks like on a basketball court. For a period of time, these players each become an "Atlas" for the league, carrying the weight of the NBA on their shoulders, but also providing the roadmap that points the way to the future of the sport. In tandem, they map out the modern NBA's creation.

Goldsberry returns with a highly visual, electrifying tour through the last three decades of NBA history, showing the "Atlas" players that have led us out of the brutishness of 90s hoops and into the wide open spaces of the most skilled era in NBA history. Charting the course from Jordan to Jokic--with plenty of stops along the way for Iverson, Kobe, Curry, and of course Lebron--Goldsberry, who was instrumental in helping spur the NBA's statistical revolution, has designed a vibrant new way to compare and debate the contributions of the best NBA players of all-time. Masterfully connecting NBA past and present through incisive writing and stunning visual statistical analyses, he shows how we've come to this unprecedented moment, a time when offensive efficiency and shooting percentages are higher than ever.

Using beautifully designed, four-color shot maps and illustrations, Goldsberry offers a graphic journey through the last thirty years of the NBA that covers up to the 2023 season and is as much fun to look at as it is to read. The end result offers stories and analyses of a select group of NBA superstars that open up lively debates, reveal just how singular their talents truly are, and characterize the dramatic 21st-century metamorphosis of the best basketball league in the world.

Review Quotes

"When discussing greatness, we have too often distilled it down to how many rings someone has won, neglecting to celebrate the incredible influence that players have had on the evolution of basketball. Kirk's book beautifully explains this other side of greatness--how one player's skill and style of play can change the game forever." -- JJ Redick, ESPN and The Old Man and the Three

"Kirk Goldsberry has done here what only Kirk Goldsberry seems to be able to do, which is: make statistics and cartography not only interesting but fun. I wish this book was 800 pages longer." -- Shea Serrano, bestselling author of Basketball (and Other Things)

"Few have done more than Goldsberry to help fans visualize the changes in basketball and shape the way we think about the game. That continues in Hoop Atlas--a fun, digestible love letter to the game's greatest innovators. In vivid detail, Goldsberry outlines how basketball got here and where it's going next." -- Zach Lowe, ESPN

"You don't have to be a stats geek to enjoy the ESPN writer's new book, which pairs digestible analysis of basketball analytics with instructive data visualizations. The result is a vivid portrait of the NBA's stylistic evolution." -- Sports Illustrated on Sprawlball

"This is a fascinating read for today's NBA fans, and the jaunty illustrations by Aaron Dana add both depth and fun." -- Booklist on Sprawlball