The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac

This is not your grandpa's basketball book.

As they write in the Freedarko Manifesto at the beginning of the book...

We discount mere wins and losses

The Old Wisdom hold that Winning is the essential function of an NBA team. But we ask: Is there no such thing as a beautiful Loss? A noble Failure? A compelling Tran Wreck? The collapse of the 2000 Portland Trail Blazers in the fourth quarter of Game 7 was tragicomic and memorable; it confirms that Victory need not be the most prized outcome. We assert our right to be amused by non-Champions. Some of the most masterful moves to the basket yield not points and die a replayless death, excluded forever from the Kingdom of Highlight Posterity. These we reclaim in the name of the People.

We find rooting for the home team spiritually and emotionally limiting

In an age less advanced, man's allegiance was determined by proximity alone. Tribalism and peer pressure conspired to make the fan see only "us" and "them," no matter what genius wore the color of the enemy. We believe that these are the ways of provincials and fascists, and in this brave century man must stand on his own and open his fandom to new possibilities.

Therefore:

We embrace the primacy of the individual

The feelings of liberated fandom begin with Respect for the individual player. The League is strengthened by its most compelling Personalities, including: Players with inscrutable Superstitions; Players with genetically improbable Body Types; Players whose Emotional Baggage is visible during Play; and other Interesting Players: those whose time has yet to come, and those who, through no curse of their own, find themselves stranded on the margins of visibility.

This book is a celebration of the player, not the team. The Freedarko Collective would rather watch and appreciate a Kobe Bryant drive to the basket than see the same man hoist a trophy at the end of the current finals series because every drive, every move by Kobe reveals something about the man making the move. As they write about Kobe in his profile (the opener of the book):

He plays with unquenchable fire, skirting the fine line between craft and artistry. Once Bryant was a propulsive slasher with an uncommon mid-range game. Now, when he's met by a defender, the curtain rises on an interaction of frightening detail and determination. Only Tim Duncan is as adept at milking every single square inch of space in a precise, Terminator-like assessment of complex obstacles. But for Duncan, the action's near the basket, and the shots - aided by his height - tend to resolve into something fairly routine. Kobe, operating all over the floor, doesn't take the simple shot, throw up prayers, or gamble on his pride. He figures out how to to make the impossible shot viable, going out of his way to demonstrate his superiority. It's frustrating enough to see someone excel with no apparent effort; Kobe infuriates by working hard in an effortless manner.

The entire Kobe profile can be found online as a free excerpt.

In exploring and celebrating each player as an individual instead of within the context of his team, this book presents an entirely different view of the players - Gilbert Arenas, LeBron James, Tim Duncan, Joe Smith, Ron Artest, and a dozen others - celebrating them for all their flaws and shortcomings as well as their talents.

The book's writing is outstanding and hilarious and surprisingly insightful.

In addition to the words, we're treated to marvelous graphics of each player - showing his various moods throughout a typical play - see below for an image of LeBron on a drive - as well as beautifully designed presentations of some rather odd statistics for each player - how closely Tim Duncan's numbers fit the Fibonacci series, for example.

This book actually has me intrigued to see some of these players when the NBA season rolls around next falls - something that certainly isn't an easy task.