Tip Off: How the 1984 NBA Draft Changed Basketball Forever (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. It's not the worst mistake in sports history, but it's among the most famous-with the second pick in the 1984 NBA draft, the Portland Trailblazers selected Sam Bowie instead of several future stars, including Michael Jordan. In this tremendously readable book, Bondy tells the full story of that draft, which most experts consider the best ever. Bondy follows six draftees-Bowie, Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, Sam Perkins, and John Stockton. With commentary from scouts, general managers, coaches, and the players themselves, Bondy draws a portrait of each player, from just before the draft to the present day. Bondy perfectly synthesizes exactly why each player landed where he did, examining prevailing draft philosophies, recent roster blunders and the possibility that teams lost on purpose. While not as revelatory as Michael Lewis' Moneyball (Bondy's post-mortem of Portland's mistake focuses on familiar themes, particularly the fetishism of height), this book is every bit as enjoyable as the baseball bestseller. Bondy delves deeper into the character of Bowie than anyone has before, revealing a likeable man with terrible luck, and gives the reader a sense of how profoundly Jordan, Barkley and Olajuwon reshaped the league. It may not be transcendent enough to breakthrough with non-basketball fans, but anybody with a cursory interest in the game is in for a treat.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

The 1984 NBA college draft produced Michael Jordan, Akeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley and John Stockton--all future Hall-of-Famers. Bondy, a New York Daily News columnist, explores the draft and its far-reaching impact with analysis and interviews of the principals--coaches, scouts, and general managers. Rod Thorn, the Chicago Bulls general manager who selected Michael Jordan, reveals that he came close to trading the man who would become the face of the NBA to Houston for a package that included the previous season's rookie of the year, Ralph Sampson. League history would have been a bit different without Chicago's six championships in the 1990s. Bondy also offers a thoughtful portrait of Sam Bowie, the Kentucky center selected by Portland immediately before Jordan. His career was destroyed by injuries, and as a result he's become the poster child for poor draft choices. Also included are profiles of Barkley, Olajuwon, and Stockton as well as some of the next tier of players from the draft. This mother lode of wouldas, couldas, and shouldas will make very entertaining and informative reading for NBA fans. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (April 21, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306816121
• ISBN-13: 978-0306816123
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #323,257 in Books (See Bestsellers 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 The '84 draft really did change the NBA - Filip Bondy tells you how, May 17, 2007

By	Andy Orrock (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Tip-Off: How the 1984 NBA Draft Changed Basketball Forever (Hardcover)

It's quite a privilege to be the first amazon.com reviewer to weigh in on Filip Bondy's excellent book about the 1984 NBA Draft, a seminal event in league history in which four sure-fire Hall of Famers were drafted: Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and John Stockton. To a lesser extent, the Bondy's book also covers Sam Perkins, another class of '84 draftee whose nice career fell a bit short of Hall standards.

The best part of the story though is Bondy's inclusion of the famous pick #2: Sam Bowie. Famous for the wrong reason because MJ was pick #3. The nice part of the book is Bowie's cooperation with the author. I was very pleased to see and read of his gentle manner, his happiness in life and his "no regrets" look back to his injury-prone career. He seems unperturbed by naysayers who term his pick as "the NBA draft's biggest historic blunder." Because, as Bondy skillfully points out, this is revisionist history. This was 'before Michael was Michael.' Dean Smith kept Jordan's breakout talents well-concealed with the UNC team system. Barkley, speaking in Bowie's defense, says (in typical Barkley hyperbole) "No one but me knew how good Michael was."

Moreover, the prevailing wisdom in the NBA back in those days was that you win with a big man. And, in the draft, given the option between a good big man and a good playmaker, you always went with the big man. Portland, with its reverie of Bill Walton's glory days culminating in the 1977 Association championship, was certainly very susceptible to that thinking...especially with Dr. Jack still at the helm.

That's the reason why Bondy subtitles his book "How the 1984 NBA Draft Changed Basketball Forever." Post-Jordan, there was no longer second-thinking in going for a playmaker if there was even the slightest chance they'd turn into a Jordan. That new mindset generated a new game and rejuvenated the league (vs. the moribund 1970s) which then proceeded to put forth a brilliant product starting in 1984 and ending with the last of MJ's titles in 1998. In between, dominance shifted from Lakers/Celtics, to the Pistons and then to the Bulls (with the Rockets capitalizing on Jordan's two-year 'retirement').

If you're an NBA fan, you've got to have Filip Bondy's book. It's a fantastic read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read, July 19, 2007

By	N. Verhoeven (Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Tip-Off: How the 1984 NBA Draft Changed Basketball Forever (Hardcover)

If you are looking for an anthology on Michael Jordan, then stop reading now. But if you are looking for a definite history on the NBA, its clubs and some of the Top 50 greatest players, this is a must. It not only provides insights into the NBA draft and how it changed the landscape of the game, but it also provides a behind the scenes look into what teams were thinking and trying to achieve. Probably the best basketball book I have ever read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for any NBA junkie, June 1, 2008

By	jmhard (Fort Worth, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tip-Off: How the 1984 NBA Draft Changed Basketball Forever (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed this book. It was a very fast read for me. The author focuses on several of the top picks from this draft: Olajuwon, Bowie, Jordan, Barkley, Stockton, and Perkins. He spends a lot of time on each of these players and gets very in-depth, and that alone made the book a worthwhile read to me.

Also, the author talks about some of the fall out from this draft: The NBA draft lottery, salary cap changes, and the globalization of the league. I enjoyed the author's style, lots of quotes from major players at the time and reflecting on the time later. The bibliography is quite extensive. So I felt like the author pulled a lot of info from lots of different articles and books I might have read separately anyway. I felt he did a nice job sorting through the material.

Again, I really enjoyed the book. If you love the NBA and love this particular era, I think you'll enjoy the book.