The Book of Basketball (IRB TOW 7, TOW 28)

LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, and other active NBA players constantly flirt with one season-long statistic: 30 points per game. These players, representing the most talented and valuable players in the world's most competitive and professional basketball league, are known to be the best in today's field of hoops. Despite how incredible these achievements are, though, would you believe that Wilt Chamberlain averaged over 50 points in the 1961-62 season? How about the fact that his 76ers team could not win the championship that year despite this outburst? Bill Simmons, an eternal Celtics fan, puts statistics from the 60s and 70s into perspective and compares Wilt Chamberlain to Celtics great Bill Russell. Simmons uses understatement in this chapter in order to achieve two goals: establish a relationship between him and his readers, as well as show how Wilt Chamberlain's minor mistakes ended up costing him on a major stage. For example, Simmons praises Chamberlain for his treatment of fans, professionalism with journalists, intelligence with basketball matters, and other factors. However, his one criticism was directed at his on court performance, which led to selfishness and blaming of teammates for losses. Simmons understates the multitude of issues Wilt encountered, but contrasts this by explaining the extent of these faults and why they created such a problem for his career. Simmons's highly basketball-interested audience takes two rivals in the 60s and 70s and compares and contrasts them in a unique manner to describe just how dominant Russell's career was over Chamberlain.