Taking Shots: Tall Tales, Bizarre Battles, and the Incredible Truth About the NBA [Hardcover]

Keith Glass (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 27, 2007

NBA agent Keith Glass shoots and scores in his hilarious look at the NBA behind the scenes, from a guy who has been in the middle of some of the NBA's most controversial stories. The NBA is in trouble. And as NBA agent Keith Glass describes it - he's part of the problem! If team owners are willing to throw millions of dollars his way for marginal players, why should he be the only one with the self-restraint to say "no"? In his insightful, funny, and often mind-numbingly bizarre tales of life in the NBA, Keith Glass lets it fly from half-court. Glass shatters the myth of NBA marketing: that everything about the game is great, that tickets are worth over $100 apiece, and that as long as the fans in the luxury boxes are happy and weighed down with jerseys and merchandise, all is well. But have no fear! Keith Glass will not preach about the evils of highlight film slam-dunks and gang star rap tattoos - he'll just have you falling down laughing as he flagrantly fouls the league that was once the home of Jordan, Magic, and Bird - not to mention Wilt, Russell, Kareem and all the greats in between.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“...a wild ride from start to finish.” (Asbury Park Press )

“Glass is deliciously passionate about things. …Strong opinions make for good reading.” (Orlando Sentinel )

“Taking Shots should be required reading for anyone who cares about the game.” (Fran Fraschilla, ESPN college basketball analyst )

“…It’s a good read, a rollicking ride, and bodes well for Glass’s retirement job as a stand-up comedian…” (Montreal Gazette )

“Part memoir, part purist manifesto...a winding tour of everything right and wrong with the NBA.” (New York Times )

“Arguably the best basketball book that came out in 2007. …For those looking to get into the industry…this book is basically a must-read. It’s all told in a pointy, cynical tone… …Extremely informative and entertaining.” (draftexpress.com )

“...insightful and at times very funny.” (Sports Illustrated )

“I found myself only reading 20-25 pages at a time, because I didn’t want it to end too soon.” (Phil Jasner, Philadelphia Daily News )

“For an irreverent look at NBA life from an insider, consider the new book Taking Shots by Keith Glass.” (Good Times )

“Glass displays a razor-sharp wit and an amazing capacity to tell a story. …fans will love this book…” (The Tennessean )

“Through humor, he expresses a fairly weighty opinion… Keith may have outsmarted us all with his covertly brilliant writing style.” (Paul Shirley, Phoenix Suns, author of Can I Keep My Jersey? )

“Glass has had some intriguing experiences as an agent for NBA players…he has some stories to tell…” (Bill Littlefield, WBUR )

“I thought Keith Glass’s book was terrific. Taking Shots will now be required reading at St. Anthony’s.” (Bob Hurley, St. Anthony High School )

“…Entertaining and enlightening.” (Chicago Tribune )

“Interesting, insightful, humorous and factual—Taking Shots has it all! A must read for any and all basketball or sports fan.” (Jud Heathcote, former coach, Michagan State )

About the Author

Keith Glass has coached basketball at the high school and college levels (he was an assistant coach at UCLA) and has been a longtime agent for NBA players and coaches.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: HarperEntertainment (February 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061231851
• ISBN-13: 978-0061231858
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,157,467 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So Good !, March 16, 2007

By 

D. Mandel (Malibu, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Taking Shots: Tall Tales, Bizarre Battles, and the Incredible Truth About the NBA (Hardcover)

As a lifelong basketball fan, I was really pleased to read Keith Glass's view of today's NBA. This is a thoughtful, informative and personal look at the treatment and mistreatment of young athletes and their relationships with the public and their agents. I particularly enjoyed reading Mr. Glass's first hand experiences with professional basketball players and his telling of stories with humor and insight. Glass is direct, courageous and clearly unafraid to critique the organization that he has worked with for years. I found the chapter on his "Greek" player revealing and interesting; it showed how the draft operated, especially in connection with young, talented European players and how commitments were given and then ignored. Mr. Glass's chapter about Mahmoud Abdul Rauf was extremely informative and portrayed a different point of view from what I had read in the media. I appreciated Mr. Glass's insight (although his disagreement) with Rauf's position on the National anthem, and the problem of his relationship with Rauf because Glass was Jewish and Rauf a Muslim. I was touched by the airline tickets/ auction story, which presented a different image of Rauf and suggested that he could step up for the seemingly small and personal things that mattered. If you grew up with basketball as part of your life or are interested in today's world of the professional athlete, I recommend this book. You couldn't find a better read.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars NBA ON FULL DISPLAY: THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE GREEDY!!, March 18, 2007

By 

RBSProds "rbsprods" (Deep in the heart of Texas) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Taking Shots: Tall Tales, Bizarre Battles, and the Incredible Truth About the NBA (Hardcover)

Four FASCINATING Stars!! Keith Glass portrays the NBA as a multi-million dollar business like no other in the world. In "Taking Shots" we get a real insider's view of the NBA, the players, coaches, and the entire system. He may well have burned a few bridges in the process of writing this book, such is the level of detail and the abundance of inside stories. Although not exhaustive, this book is interesting and informative as it is.

We also get some information on John Wooden, the rise of Larry Brown and his current fate (on which the book ends) and much on Mr Glass, his family and the athletes he represents. Keith Glass' unfavorable comparison of NBA basketball with the game that Dr Naismith invented was an easy layup, the author sees that the game "has become a selfish, tedious, and colossal bore" at times. As such, it cycles between truly exciting games and 'going through the motions' games, between one-on-one post ups on the left and on the right sometimes dominating the action and true team play exhibited by some of the teams.

The litmus test for any insider NBA book is Latrell Sprewell's career and antics and here Mr Glass does not fail, giving the lowdown on what happened before, during, and after the 'choking incident'. Other stories recount players who, unbelievably, refused trades and others who refused to go into the game, and one injured player who, as a true sportsman, retired rather than just play for the money. There are many cases of head coaches and officials being sacrificed for the sake of the team by management, over and over. The anthem "If you can play, you get paid" regardless of your many personal troubles, reverberates across the landscape of this book and the NBA. Maybe I shouldn't have said "greedy" in the review title, maybe they're worth every penny of what they make in their short, frantic careers. Definitely Recommended! Four REVEALING Stars!!

(This review is based on an unabridged digital download in secure eBook format.)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Heart-felt Examination of What the NBA Has Become, October 6, 2007

By 

Andrew Hutchinson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Taking Shots: Tall Tales, Bizarre Battles, and the Incredible Truth About the NBA (Hardcover)

Keith Glass tells a great tale, and his many years of experience representing NBA players has given him many to tell. Glass' book is a great insight into the other side of the NBA that the general public would otherwise have no access to. But one of the greatest elements of this book is Glass' true passion for the sport, and for the part he has played in it.

The book looks at Glass' upbringing, with basketball in his life from a very young age. Glass discusses how Larry Brown ended up living with his family, how Glass saw the evolution of basketball, and how he became a coach at UCLA. There's a very nostalgic and homely feel to these earlier chapters, and they definitely show a man who really loves the game and loves the relationships he has been able to establish through it.

The book then looks at Glass' adventures in representing top level NBA stars and how he came into this career. The greatest stories in here are the tale of Mahamoud Abdul-Rauf, the making of Scott Skiles (current head coach of the Chicago Bulls) and the sad story of Thomas Hamilton. It really is the stories like Hamilton's, a seven-foot-four giant with exquisite skills who could never get his NBA career started due to personal problems, that make this book. The power this story has is it makes you look at how some people can throw their God-given talent away, which gives you perspective to appreciate what you have in your life.

The latter chapters lack the same level of interest, as Glass discusses the various ways he NBA could improve the league and take it back to it's roots more, and further away from the greed-driven monster it has become. Glass makes some great points, but they could have been better illustrated through his stories, rather than telling the reader, point-blank. His various tales deliver this message through subtlety and through reading between the lines of what's going on, so to have this opinion forced onto the reader in the end weakened the overall tone of the writing a bit.

It also plays down some of Glass' other failings, in that he makes little to no mention of his previous marriages and doesn't discuss things he has done that he has regretted. It seems, at times, that Glass is a little too ethical in a world of no ethics, and to survive in this arena, Glass says himself, you can't always hold to your morals. There would appear to be a level of censorship and restraint at times. The book could have had more effect if there were no barriers, no holds barred.

There are also two times that Glass refers to the story of Lloyd Daniels, and says that he would need an entire book of it's own to tell Daniels' story. Lloyd Daniels was shot three times in the late eighties and still, to this day, has a bullet lodged in his right shoulder. He never played in college, yet went on to play for five NBA teams. Now that's a story I want to hear. Daniels' story should have made the book, even in brief form.

At the end of the book you get the sense that this is the story Keith Glass wanted to tell in exactly the way he wanted to tell it, which is not so bad, but it felt like it could have explored so much more about the dark side of the glamourous life of pro-ballers. As it stands, it's an interesting read, great at times, but overall more focussed on presenting a portrait of a man who loves the game and who holds a special place in his heart for 'his' players. Again, this is not so bad, but a but more controversy and a couple more first-hand accounts of back-room dealings would have made this a more important and compulsive book.