If you are a fan of Bill Simmons and a fan of basketball, you probably are thinking that you can't go wrong with this book. Then you notice that it's longer than 600 pages, and you have second thoughts.

Go with your first instinct. Despite its length, the book manages to be readable and entertaining for nearly its entirety. We all know that Simmons is a hilariously talented writer, and we all know that he has a great knowledge of basketball. But in this book we see that his knowledge goes well beyond statistics and history; he has a true and deep appreciation of the game and what makes it great. As a "casual" to "mildly intense" NBA fan, I feel as if my knowledge of the game has skyrocketed after getting through this book, and I'm currently craving watching old games and looking forward to the new season.

There are a few caveats to the book, and it's clearly not for everyone. I mentioned already that it's long. In fact, more than half of the length is comprised of Simmons's list of the (just under) 100 players of all time, with each player getting anywhere from a couple to about 10 pages to himself. I confess that I skimmed a few of these players' sections. It should also be noted that a better title than "The Book of Basketball" would be "The Book of the NBA;" Simmons says nothing about college ball, women's ball, international ball, and only mentions the ABA in its relationship to the NBA. Then there is the usual Simmons shtick that can be alternately amusing or annoying: his egregious pro-Bostonism, his sincere belief that he would be a better general manager than just about anyone who holds that job now or has ever held it in the past, and his insistence that referees are routinely and unfairly affecting the outcomes of games (although he doesn't spend too much time in this book with that last complaint).

Having said that, I was surprised by how much I liked this book, and by how infrequently I found myself un-entertained. I'd recommend it to anyone with a good sense of humor and a stronger-than-passing interest in the NBA.

Finally, it must have won the award for most Boogie Nights references in any published work, possibly beating even the screenplay for Boogie Nights itself.

I think Bill Simmons is a greatly talented and funny writer. But this book was something of a letdown for me, a fan of his overall.
"The Secret" - that to succeed as a basketball team, you must have players who care more about teamwork and chemistry than pure talent - is kind of like "The Secret to great tomato sauce is to have good tomatoes."
It was a contrivance that killed the book for me. I think I learned "The Secret" in about 1969 or so, after the Celtics won their 11th title in 13 years and talked about how it was all about teamwork, like, all the time.
The book is also too long, plain and simple. The length almost, in the end, seems to be an "Eff You" statement to reader sensibilities that Simmons didn't need to make.

It was a gift for basketball junkie - don't know if the person read it yet.