Heroes of the Hardcourt: Ranking Pro Basketball's 100 Greatest Players, and introducing a whole new way of looking at the game (Paperback)

~ Keith Thompson (Author)
Key Phrases: regular season, greatest players, total rebounds, All-Star Awards, Heroes of the Hardcourt, Second Team (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Upon its establishment in 1946 the NBA – via its forerunner the Basketball Association of America – became the 21st professional basketball league to be formed in the U.S., and the one that would outlast all the others. In addition, since 1896 when professional basketball began in Trenton, New Jersey thousands of players have competed in a pro game, and generated countless hours of debate as to who the best players are in the history of the sport. In fact, precisely 3572 players and 439 All-stars have graced the courts of the NBA and the American Basketball Association when it was in operation between 1967 and 1976. And until now there has never been a truly scientific method of evaluating their performances on a basketball court, and determining who is the all-time best. Finally, after 109 years, such a measure has been created.

This book, Heroes of the Hardcourt: Ranking Pro Basketball’s 100 Greatest Players identifies and profiles the 100 greatest players to play professional basketball since 1946, and ranks them by utilizing a scientific methodology known as the Performance Efficiency Rating (PER) System developed by the author, a former economics professor. This is the most comprehensive measure ever devised to accurately measure basketball performance and answer the question of who is the greatest basketball player ever. This methodology has accurately forecasted the annual regular season MVP in three of the last four NBA seasons, and predicted which team is most likely to win the NBA championship (forecasted the eventual champion in seven of the last ten years).

This book will cause you to rethink your own top 50 greatest players; and the top 10 players, let’s just say it’s sure to raise a few eyebrows. Without doubt this is the most scientific basketball book ever written and should end all debates as to the game’s all-time greats. Heroes of the Hardcourt, in addition to profiling the top 100 players also provides an historical summary of the one hundred-plus years of professional basketball in the U.S., and concludes with an explanation of how to better link productivity with pay among professional athletes. It shows that the PER can accurately forecast which rookies drafted in a particular year are indeed the best selections, and follows that up with an analysis of the 1984 NBA draft in which four of the best players to ever compete were drafted. It concludes that not only did the Portland Trailblazers make a poor decision in selecting Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan, but so did the Houston Rockets who also drafted Hakeem Olajuwon over MJ. A knowledge of the PER methodology, the author asserts, would have created a better draft selection then, as it clearly will do now. Heroes of the Hardcourt will finally lay to rest all the debates as to who the best players are in the history of professional basketball, and who is the all-time greatest.

About the Author

Keith Thompson is a graduate of Columbia University's Graduate School of Business, and possesses graduate degrees in both Economics and Business Strategy. His professional experiences include over five years as a Researcher and Business Analyst, and nearly a decade as a College Professor teaching Economics and Business courses to undergraduates at Mercy College and Bronx Community College, both in New York. His life-long research interests include accurately measuring performance, and after creating the Performance Efficiency Rating (PER) sports methodology in 1996 to better measure athletic performance, and consult on player draft and free-agency acquisition strategies - he established PER Sports, Inc. He is currently President of this sports analytics-consulting firm Keith Thompson has also written numerous freelance articles in various economic and business newspapers, as well as a number of unpublished articles on social, financial, educational, and sporting concerns. In addition, he has developed an extensive methodology covering two other major American professional sports (both based on the PER system), thus underlining his comprehensive understanding of the sporting environment. Books based on those sports are expected to be published next year in the form of Diamond Defenders: Ranking the Major League's 100 greatest baseball players of all-time, and Gridiron Gladiators: Ranking the 100 greatest football players of all-time. Finally, drawing upon his strong economic and business background, and coupling that with his extensive knowledge of sports he expects to complete a book in early 2007 entitled Play Ball: The Business and Economics of Sports in America today, to analyze the current business environment of professional sports.

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: AuthorHouse (December 7, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1425903991
• ISBN-13: 978-1425903992
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,092,070 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Without doubt this book has finally got it right, January 13, 2006

By	Sports_Guru - See all my reviews

There are so many books out there with their own opinions on just who are the greatest basketball players ever yet most of them are based on someone else's opinion or the other. This is the only book I've seen that goes beyond the opinions and beyond the numbers and looks at everything. For eg, I always thought that the Big O' was one of the best ever (like in the top 10) until I read this book. Now I'm more than convinced that he doesn't belong even in the top 20. Here's a guy who had great numbers in the regular season but totally tanked in the playoffs. And on top of that he only won 1 championship. I'm sorry but you can't be all that great if you could only win one title.

I agree that people can disagree on who are the top ten greatest players, and I do differ from this author on some of those ranks, but in the end I can see where his rankings are coming from and whose to say mine is any better than his. I can't say for sure that George Mikan was better than Kareem (in fact I doubt it) but I do agree that he won more titles than Kareem, and maybe Kareem would not have won all those championships had Magic not landed in LA. So in the end I really like this book. It has made me think, really think about why I had some guys ranked higher than others. The author uses a whole list of factors, not just statistics, but also MVP awards, the number of championships won and category titles (scoring, rebounding, blocks, steals) to better determine just who is the best ever. Kudos to a book well written. I am now firmly a believer that MJ is the best ever and this book helps confirm why.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MJ is the all-time best for sure, January 14, 2006

By	Rodney Sachs - See all my reviews

Just finished reading this book and it is great. It proves that MJ is the best player ever. That is something many if us knew but just couldn't explain as well as this book.

What I also like about this book is how to compare the current stars with many of the older players. For eg. I never saw Wilt Chamberlain play but after reading this I can better compare Wilt vs Shaq, or even against Kareem.

Great book. Sensational work on it. Every true basketball fan should own their own copy.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best basketball books ever written, January 13, 2006

By	Zeus - See all my reviews

Over the years I have read numerous sports books and articles, watched countless numbers of games, listened to scores of commentators and I must say I have NEVER read a book that captures the full spectrum of sports analysis like this book. Heroes of the Hardcourt is such a great book in that it takes the reader through a history of professional basketball in very clear and concise manner, before launching into the most scientific explanation of evaluating basketball players that I have ever read. I thought it would be a highly scientific and technical book but it was a surprisingly easy read for a book this detailed.

Secondly, though the book differed from my initial views of the top five greatest players of all-time I have actually come to recognize that my top five was probably now not correct. My top five was as follows:

1. Michael Jordan
2. Wilt Chamberlain
3. Bill Russell
4. Magic Johnson
5. Larry Bird

After reading the book I am now more convinced that the true top five are:
1. Michael Jordan
2. Magic Johnson
3. Wilt Chamberlain
4. Bill Russell
5. Shaquille O'Neal

Because the author used not just regular season stats but also playoff and All-Star statistics, and included such things as MVPs won, scoring titles, rebounding titles, etc., and championships won he is able to show the overall performance of each player and compare them accordingly.

Simply the best book out there dealing with this topic.