The New York Times Book Review - John Swansburg
…a gripping, deeply reported book…The prep-to-pro generation invites easy moralizing and, too often, an uneasy streak of paternalism from those who believe they understand the best interests of these young players better than they do themselves…It's true that some highly touted high school players failed to live up to their potential…and Abrams doesn't flinch from these stories. But nor does he fall into the trap of judging prep-to-pro players on whether they became superstars.
Publishers Weekly
01/25/2016
Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant’s direct ascension from high school seniors to NBA rookies was considered unusual when the Minnesota Timberwolves and Charlotte Hornets drafted the phenoms in 1995 and 1996, respectively. By 2004, with Garnett and Bryant now superstars, the NBA draft’s first 19 selections featured eight right out of high school. The new rage irked then NBA commissioner David Stern, who worked to have draftees be a year removed from high school before going pro. In this excellent effort, Abrams, the gifted hoops writer late of Grantland, examines this controversial phenomenon from every angle. He talks to various basketball insiders, most notably the image-conscious Stern (who deemed pro scouts in high school gyms “unseemly”). He recounts success stories like Jermaine O’Neal (an eloquent opponent of the current restrictions) and busts like Lenny Cooke. Abrams also uncovers some great anecdotes, such as how Bryant eventually landed at the venerable Los Angeles Lakers by simply not working out for some interested teams. (The New Jersey Nets’ trademark incompetence also helped.) With lean, detailed prose and lots of reporting, Abrams shows that teenagers who approached this adult opportunity as a job, not as a right, thrived. (Mar.)
From the Publisher
"“Mr. Abrams is such an excellent reporter and has been such a keen observer of the NBA over more than two decades that he makes an unerring tour guide. It’s a blast just to let him lead us through the tumultuous era between Mr. Jordan and Mr. James.” - The Wall Street Journal
“Riveting….an exhaustive work of research and reporting that reads with the propulsive energy of a magazine feature that makes you late for something important.” - Slate
"Masterful." - The Atlantic
“A must-read about the game, an incisive and exhaustively reported exploration of the price that young men pay for a chance to make it in the extraordinarily competitive world of pro hoops. Jonathan Abrams asks smart questions and has a gift for portraiture…an important contribution to the discussion about the way we consume sports in America.” - The Daily Beast
"Expertly weaves stories and anecdotes from these players to create a fascinating retrospective on the culture, success and the continuing impact of those players in the league..Abrams’ book does an excellent job telling stories of these players, unearthing details that add depth to even the most-known stars including aspects of Kobe’s legendary pre-draft workouts and the “luckiest” shot that accelerated LeBron’s star rising in high school. It is worth reading for every basketball fan as a piece of entertainment as well as for deeper insight into an era now past and the players who still shape our present and future." - The Sporting News
"Abrams weaves a compelling tale about a transformational era in the NBA that also speaks to the sometimes-desperate pursuit of sporting stardom." - Kirkus (Starred Review)
"This essential, well-researched book will appeal to readers interested in basketball’s business side as well as the factors that have helped shape the modern NBA." -
“In this excellent effort, Abrams, the gifted hoops writer late of Grantland, examines this controversial phenomenon from every angle. –Publishers Weekly
"A riveting read that cements Jonathan Abrams' reputation as one of the world's best basketball writers." – Bill Simmons, #1 New York Times Bestselling author of The Book of Basketball
“A fascinating and unsettling account of what happened to professional basketball when teenagers made their way into a man's game."—Malcolm Gladwell, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Outliers and David and Goliath
“Will stand as the definitive dissection of an oddly brief, perpetually influential period in the history of NBA labor relations."—Chuck Klosterman, New York Times bestselling author of I Wear the Black Hat and Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs
“There was much I learned from this book, which covers not only the superstar “kids" like Bryant and Garnett, but also the compelling cautionary tales.” —Jack McCallum, New York Times bestselling author of Dream Team and Seven Seconds or Less
"Boys Among Men is as inside as an account can be of the paths of those players, both the famous and the forgotten. It's not merely a compelling book for any hoops fan, it's an important one."—David Epstein, New York Times bestselling author of The Sports Gene
“An indispensable book for anyone who cares about basketball.” —George Dohrmann, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Play Their Hearts Out
“Jonathan Abrams has transcended one of the NBA's great business and moral debates to deftly tell the inside story of the prep-to-pros phenomenon…A marvelous book that will stand the test of time." –Adrian Wojnarowski, New York Times best-author of the selling The Miracle of St. Anthony
“Jonathan Abrams expertly captures this crucial era in basketball history. Yet what makes Boys Among Men so compelling isn’t the high school players who turned out to be future hall of famers, but the stories of all the tragic would-be heroes that basketball has long forgotten.’ —Dave McMenamin, NBA writer for ESPN
Library Journal
★ 03/01/2016
Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Kevin Garnett are among the best players in the history of the NBA (National Basketball Association); all three made the leap to professional directly from high school. Journalist Abrams (Grantland sports blog) examines this generation of prep-to-pro players, and their impact on all aspects of the sport as they face the psychological and physical challenges of competing with grown men. In addition to the superstar success stories, Abrams's work also explores cautionary tales of players who fail to make the transition, most notably Leon Smith. From detailing the astronomical rise of NBA salaries to reports of shoe manufacturers paying high school and college coaches, this account illuminates the inner workings of the industry, including the process by which young athletes are scouted and drafted. Especially intriguing are the behind-the-scenes maneuvers that ultimately led to Kobe playing for the Los Angeles Lakers. Abrams further scrutinizes the decision to increase the NBA's minimum age to 19 and questions whether there is compelling evidence for its continuation. VERDICT Especially timely considering Kobe's recent retirement announcement, this essential, well-researched book will appeal to readers interested in basketball's business side as well as the factors that have helped shape the modern NBA.
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2016-01-10
How teenage basketball stars transformed the NBA. Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Dwight Howard, and LeBron James defined basketball in the post-Michael Jordan era. They entered the NBA straight from high school, and while some of them struggled early on, all went on to become All-Stars, to become unimaginably wealthy, and to help the game recover from doldrums that set in after Jordan's retirement. Korleone Young, Lenny Cooke, and Tony Key saw the stardom and millions that Garnett, the first of a wave of high school stars to go straight to the NBA in the 1990s (a door that had closed after a handful of players did so in the 1970s), and others made and thought they would also follow the trajectory of fame and fortune. For them, it did not work out. Still others left high school early and never became superstars but had successful careers. In 2005, after tense negotiations with the NBA Players Association, the NBA changed its rules to raise the age limit for players to 19, which ended the deluge but created the phenomenon of "one-and-dones," players who spend one year playing college basketball and then leave for the NBA. In this compelling, crisply written book, Abrams, a veteran NBA scribe, provides thumbnail sketches of these players and their wide-ranging experiences. He sheds light on the sometimes-seamy world of amateur basketball that preys on potential stars, and he shows how the NBA had to adjust to these young men who oftentimes had elite talent but entered the league as boys trying to find their ways amid men fighting for their careers. The author concludes that on the whole, the era of talented high school players declaring for the draft proved to be good for the league and good for the players, notwithstanding the sometimes-tragic stories of those who fell short. Abrams weaves a compelling tale about a transformational era in the NBA that also speaks to the sometimes-desperate pursuit of sporting stardom.
