How to Watch Basketball Like a Genius: What Game Designers, Economists, Ballet Choreographers, and Theoretical Astrophysicists Reveal About the Greatest Game on Earth

Written by Nick Greene

Narrated by Michael Butler Murray

A brilliant, entertaining deconstruction of basketball, drawing on the expertise of board-game creators, magicians, therapists, and more.

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. How to Watch Basketball Like a Genius 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. There's a reason it has conquered the world, and every game is a chance to learn about pop culture, fashion, history, science, art, and anything else that bounces our way.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Jul 20, 2021
• ISBN: 9781666130669

Nick Greene

Nick Greene & Megan Reid have been friends, brunch companions, and lifestyle co-conspirators since they met as book publishing assistants in 2011. A graduate of Brown’s creative writing program, Nick has worked on the editorial and product development teams at Atavist, n+1, McSweeney’s, and BuzzFeed. Most recently, he joined the biometric identity company CLEAR. Meg acquired and edited several bestselling and award-winning books after receiving her master’s degree in English literature, and now works in television development. Nick and Meg live and write in Brooklyn, New York, where their dogs, Ogden and Luna, are frequent playmates and diligent pwoofreaders. 

Reviews for How to Watch Basketball Like a Genius

[Dan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the best books I've read in a long time. Full of interesting facts about the history and evolution of basketball, and many other things. Light-hearted, entertaining, and effortlessly humorous.

[mike french · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great insight into the world of professional basketball and how it came to be.