Basketball is the second-most popular sport in the world--an insanely complicated game built on a combination of athleticism, craftiness, rules, intangibles, and superstardom. However, while it's enjoyable to watch, the real reason it works is because it's a game of culture, art, and all the things that make us human. This book deconstructs the sport from top to bottom and then puts it back together again, detailing its intricacies through reporting and dozens of interviews with experts. These experts, however, are a diverse group: wine critics weighing in on LeBron's ability to delegate on the fly, magicians analyzing Chris Paul's mystifying dribbling techniques, cartographers breaking down Steph Curry's deadeye three-point shooting. Every chapter treats basketball to a multi-disciplined study that adventures far beyond the lines of the court, examining key elements of the sport from some surprising and revealing angles.

Prologue: it comes in peace -- Section One: The shape of the game. An introductory class: Naismith's original thirteen rules of basketball -- Making a bad rule disappear: Dribbling's outlaw illusionist -- Counting down the seconds: Saving a sport in the nick of time -- You've got to draw the line somewhere: The delayed insurgency of the three-pointer -- Section Two: Putting the ball in the basket. The cost of free throws: Loneliness at the line -- Jumping past conclusions: Breaking the surly bonds of bad coaching -- Dawn of flight: Dreaming about dunking -- Section Three: Making that dream work. Stout, resolute, and somewhat invisible: Defense flies under the radar -- A passing interest in assists: The selfessness and selfishness of sharing -- The phenomenal shape of chemistry: When things work -- Epilogue: Bouncing back.