5-Minute Basketball Stories

HarperCollins’ 5-Minute Basketball Stories is part of a continuing series of collective biographies, with the earlier titles being 5-Minute Hockey Stories and 5-Minute Stories for Fearless Girls. Subjects in the current book range from present-day Golden State Warriors sensation Steph Curry to the United States’ ‘Dream Team’ of the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

Play-by-play action is the order of the day as employed in a boy’s story of watching his hero LeBron James eat up the court, or this description of Canadian star Steve Nash forging his career.

So when the new Phoenix Suns hit the court, people were
dazzled. They were so speedy, so powerful, so exciting.
The other teams didn’t know what hit them. Their usual
tactics of blocking the basket with their biggest guys didn’t
seem to work with Steve. He would sneak right through them,
unafraid of getting boxed in. He knew he’d get that ball where
it needed to go.

A few of the selections are personal stories of achievement, including that of Kevin Durant who was encouraged both by parents and coaches to start playing and never give up; of the man who is credited with inventing basketball, James Naismith; and of someone dubbed “the greatest female basketball player of all time”, Candace Parker. There is also a story told from the point of view of a young Sikh boy in a turban inspired by the breakthrough career of the first Chinese basketball player in the NBA, Yao Ming.

One of my favourite entries is the one called “Basketball Shoe Hall of Fame”:

“Welcome, shoes and boots, to the long-overdue opening
of the Basketball Shoe Hall of Fame. We all know that without
us the players wouldn’t be able to run as fast or jump as high -
or look as good doing it. So without further ado I present our
first inductees.”

What follows are pictures and descriptions of some of the most famous sports shoes worn over time by basketball players, beginning with the iconic Chuck Taylor All-Star sneaker created in 1917.

Crane, who has illustrated other titles in the series, has used his graphic-novel style of art to good effect here. The pictures are full of movement and facial expression, and scenes are captured from a number of interesting visual perspectives.

An up-to-date take on a popular sport, the informal style of writing along with a larger font and open format also make 5-Minute Basketball Stories a good choice for older reluctant readers.