Customer Reviews:
 NBA glory days December 26, 2001
Cobra (Faribault, MN USA)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
Excellent book on the NBA of the 50s and 60s. All the big names are here, Wilt, Russell, West, the Big O and also many names that have been forgotten but shouldn't have been. Bob Pettit, Lenny Wilkens (as a player not coach), Tom Meschery, Al Attles and more. The stories come directly from the players with numerous quotes from different individuals who were actually there. This book is written in the same style as Loose Balls another great book by this author about the ABA. Anyone who thinks the NBA came into being with Michael Jordan should read this book and get a reality check. These are the real founders of the NBA. Current fans think a triple double by a player is a wondrous feat, Oscar Robertson averaged a triple double for a whole season!! If you like basketball and are interested in its history, this is the book for you.
basketball lovers dream July 16, 2003
M. A. Doyon (Jewett City, Connecticut United States)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
very good book. brillant oral history of the NBA from the beginning until the 1968-1969 season, the end of the Boston Celtic dynasty. A brillant companion piece to Loose Balls the flip side from the ABA version of events.
The NBA's Formative Years, As told by the players and directed by Terry Pluto October 6, 2006
K. Fenrich (Seattle, WA)
"Tall Tales" by Terry Pluto is a fascinating, insightful and wild ride through the NBA's formative years. I'm 25 and have been following the game since the late 80s. I've always had an awareness and appreciation of NBA history with Chamberlain, Russell, Auerbach, Pettit, the Celtics, West, etc, but "Tall Tales" dives deep into the memories of the men who shaped the game, from the inventor of the 24-second shot clock to improvisational refs who made up calls on the spot to running hook shots, daily fist fights and coaches smoking on the bench-it's all here. "Tall Tales" is a masterfully conducted journey with Pluto at the wheel showing you all the great scenery of the NBA's past, but never getting in the way of the insider's stories. From players and coaches to refs and GMs and owners, all the great names from this era contribute (except for Russell, which doesn't surprise after reading some of player's and coach's comments about him). For anyone with even a casual interest in the NBA's glorious, if much ad-libbed, past, this book is a must read.
The players were different, the game was different, the fans and social climate were at polar extremes compared to what we see today. I've always tried to compare players of this generation to the all-time greats, but after reading this book, you can see how it's hard to even compare two greats who played in the same era like Chamberlain and Russell, let alone players from different decades and really, different games. To compare Shaq to Wilt or Magic to Oscar just isn't fair to any of the players because the game changed so much over the years. To compare players from different ages is similar to comparing the NBA to FIBA (international hoops)- it's the same game, but played with such different rules that comparisons do little except expose the differences. Speaking of the Wilt-Russell comparison, several of the book's contributors comment on the age-old Wilt vs. Russell debate which never gets old. A lot of these retired players come across as bitter about the way the game is played today and the kind of money the players are making. Often it comes across as sour grapes which is disappointing because these guys were so unbelievably talented and did so much for the game's development.
If you like the NBA and have any curiosity about the game's forebearers, then you need to check this out. The cast of characters is colorful, insightful and the anecdotes are amusing and entertaining.
 Another Good Terry Pluto Book June 27, 2007
Jeffrey C. Bullock
I have to agree with Michael Erisman's review of this book - well written and informative but it just doesn't have the "ooomph" of Pluto's other basketball book, "Loose Balls." About halfway through the book, it feels like it starts to follow more of a season to season format, instead of continuing to concentrate on the personalities and the players in the league, and the league itself - most everyone knows the Celtics dominated the league during this period and it gets just a lil tedious to be reading about them all the time - a more comprehensive review of the league would have been nice.
A Worthy Successor To 'Loose Balls' November 12, 2008
Craig Connell (Lockport, NY USA)
This is an account of the both the growing years and the "glory years" of the National Basketball Association. It was written in 1992. A few years before that, author Terry Pluto had written a similar book about the now-defunct American Basketball League. That book, called "Loose Balls," rated by Sports Illustrated at one time as the 13th best sports book EVER, was so entertaining that I couldn't pass up this book, either. It's written in the same style and is almost as entertaining. The ABA is the better of the two, but both are worthy reads.
I actually laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes reading about "The Strangler" and some of the other nutcase fans at small towns in the early ABA. Syracuse was the worst place to play and had the most crazy stories about its rabid fans. How about the night in Syracuse a referee (Sid Borgia) duked it out at half court with a fan one night?
The book goes on with anecdotes about everything from the Celtics amazing achievements to the incredible Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Jerry West, Oscar Robertson and just about anyone who made a name for himself in the NBA during the '50s and '60. The stories - provided by the people who were there - give the good and bad of each person.
Best of all, Pluto gives us the quirky stories of some participants, and those are the most fun to read. Pluto has a great sense of humor, so this book, like "Loose Balls," is a fun read.
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