Who doesn't wanna read an entire book about the slam dunk? I love basketball. - Ann Patchett

The definitive dunking dissertation. - Jack McCallum, Wall Street Journal

From the author of the bestselling Kobe Bryant biography The Rise comes the legend of the most powerful shot in basketball: the slam dunk.

The evolution of basketball, and much of the social and cultural change in America, can be traced through one powerful act on the court: the slam dunk. The dunk's history is the story of a sport and a country changed by the most dominant act in basketball, and it makes Magic in the Air a rollicking and insightful piece of narrative history and a surefire classic of sports literature.

When basketball was the province of white men, the dunk acted as a revolutionary agent, a tool for players like Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell to transform the sport into a Black man's game. The dunk has since been an expression of Black culture amid the righteous upheaval of the civil-rights movement, of the threat that Black people were considered to be to the establishment. It was banned from college basketball for nearly a decade--an attempt to squash the individual expression and athleticism that characterized the sport in America's cities and on its playgrounds. The dunk nevertheless bubbled up to basketball's highest levels. From Julius Erving to Michael Jordan to the high flyers of the 21st century, the dunk has been a key mechanism for growing the NBA into a global goliath.

Drawing on deep reporting and dozens of interviews with players, coaches, and other hoops experts, Magic in the Air brings to life the tale of the dunk while balancing sharp socio-racial history and commentary with a romp through American sports and culture. There's never been a basketball book quite like it.

A compelling origin story of a time that really wasn't so long ago but through the lens of tragedy feels like forever. Kobe-ologists will devour this book, reveling in the anecdotes about his intensity and the engaging game recaps. --Associated Press

Every superhero needs an origin story. -Jeff Pearlman

The inside look at one of the most captivating and consequential figures in our culture--with never-before-heard interviews.

Kobe Bryant's death in January 2020 did more than rattle the worlds of sports and celebrity. The tragedy of that helicopter crash, which also took the life of his daughter Gianna, unveiled the full breadth and depth of his influence on our culture, and by tracing and telling the oft-forgotten and lesser-known story of his early life, The Rise promises to provide an insight into Kobe that no other analysis has.

In The Rise, readers will travel from the neighborhood streets of Southwest Philadelphia--where Kobe's father, Joe, became a local basketball standout--to the Bryant family's isolation in Italy, where Kobe spent his formative years, to the leafy suburbs of Lower Merion, where Kobe's legend was born. The story will trace his career and life at Lower Merion--he led the Aces to the 1995-96 Pennsylvania state championship, a dramatic underdog run for a team with just one star player--and the run-up to the 1996 NBA draft, where Kobe's dream of playing pro basketball culminated in his acquisition by the Los Angeles Lakers.

In researching and writing The Rise, Mike Sielski had a terrific advantage over other writers who have attempted to chronicle Kobe's life: access to a series of never-before-released interviews with him during his senior season and early days in the NBA. For a quarter century, these tapes and transcripts preserved Kobe's thoughts, dreams, and goals from his teenage years, and they contained insights into and told stories about him that have never been revealed before.

This is more than a basketball book. This is an exploration of the identity and making of an icon and the effect of his development on those around him--the essence of the man before he truly became a man.

In a state that prides itself on hard-hitting gridiron epics, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, was home to the greatest high school football rivalry: the Central Bucks West, captained by senior fullback/linebacker Bryan Buckley, versus the Central Bucks East, led by senior lineman Colby Umbrell.

Bryan and Colby would meet each other as opponents on the game field, but their dreams and devotion to their country led each of them to the conflict in the Middle East-Colby as an Army Ranger, and Bryan as a Marine.

Only one would make it back to Doylestown. And nothing about them, their families, or their hometown's connection to football would ever be the same

A compelling origin story of a time that really wasn't so long ago but through the lens of tragedy feels like forever. Kobe-ologists will devour this book, reveling in the anecdotes about his intensity & the engaging game recaps. --Associated Press

Every superhero needs an origin story. -Jeff Pearlman

The inside look at one of the most captivating and consequential figures in our culture--with never-before-heard interviews.

Kobe Bryant's death in January 2020 did more than rattle the worlds of sports and celebrity. The tragedy of that helicopter crash, which also took the life of his daughter Gianna, unveiled the full breadth and depth of his influence on our culture, and by tracing and telling the oft-forgotten and lesser-known story of his early life, The Rise promises to provide an insight into Kobe that no other analysis has.

In The Rise, readers will travel from the neighborhood streets of Southwest Philadelphia--where Kobe's father, Joe, became a local basketball standout--to the Bryant family's isolation in Italy, where Kobe spent his formative years, to the leafy suburbs of Lower Merion, where Kobe's legend was born. The story will trace his career and life at Lower Merion--he led the Aces to the 1995-96 Pennsylvania state championship, a dramatic underdog run for a team with just one star player--and the run-up to the 1996 NBA draft, where Kobe's dream of playing pro basketball culminated in his acquisition by the Los Angeles Lakers.

In researching and writing The Rise, Mike Sielski had a terrific advantage over other writers who have attempted to chronicle Kobe's life: access to a series of never-before-released interviews with him during his senior season and early days in the NBA. For a quarter century, these tapes and transcripts preserved Kobe's thoughts, dreams, and goals from his teenage years, and they contained insights into and told stories about him that have never been revealed before.

This is more than a basketball book. This is an exploration of the identity and making of an icon and the effect of his development on those around him--the essence of the man before he truly became a man.

La muerte de Kobe Bryant en enero de 2020 estremeció el mundo de los deportes y las celebridades. La tragedia de ese accidente de helicóptero puso de manifiesto lo lejos que llega su influencia en nuestra cultura. El ascenso es un riguroso trabajo de investigación periodística en el que se cuenta la historia a menudo olvidada y menos conocida de los primeros años de la vida de Kobe Bryant.

En este libro los lectores viajarán desde las calles del suroeste de Filadelfia, donde el padre de Kobe, Joe, se convirtió en un destacado jugador de baloncesto, al aislamiento de la familia Bryant en Italia, donde Kobe pasó sus años de formación, a los suburbios de Lower Merion, donde nació la leyenda de Kobe. La historia seguirá su carrera y su vida en Lower Merion, donde llevó a los Aces a conseguir el campeonato estatal de Pensilvania en la temporada 1995-96, y el periodo previo al draft de la NBA de 1996, donde el sueño de Kobe de jugar en el baloncesto profesional culminó tras ser elegido por Los Angeles Lakers.

Para la documentación de este libro, Mike Sielski tuvo una gran ventaja sobre otros escritores que han intentado hacer una crónica de la vida de Kobe: tuvo acceso de manera exclusiva a una serie de entrevistas con él nunca antes publicadas durante su temporada senior y los primeros días en la NBA. Durante veinticinco años, estas cintas y transcripciones preservaron los pensamientos, sueños y metas de Kobe, de su adolescencia, y contenían conocimientos e historias sobre él que nunca antes se habían contado.

Mucho más que un libro sobre baloncesto, El ascenso es una exploración de la identidad y la creación de un icono: la esencia del hombre antes de que realmente se convirtiera en hombre.

Una mirada íntima a la vida de Kobe Bryant, una de las figuras más cautivadoras y trascendentales de nuestra cultura.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

A compelling origin story of a time that really wasn't so long ago but through the lens of tragedy feels like forever. Kobe-ologists will devour this book, reveling in the anecdotes about his intensity & the engaging game recaps. ―Associated Press

Every superhero needs an origin story. -Jeff Pearlman

The inside look at one of the most captivating and consequential figures in our culture―with never-before-heard interviews.

Kobe Bryant's death in January 2020 did more than rattle the worlds of sports and celebrity. The tragedy of that helicopter crash, which also took the life of his daughter Gianna, unveiled the full breadth and depth of his influence on our culture, and by tracing and telling the oft-forgotten and lesser-known story of his early life, The Rise promises to provide an insight into Kobe that no other analysis has.

In The Rise, readers will travel from the neighborhood streets of Southwest Philadelphia―where Kobe's father, Joe, became a local basketball standout―to the Bryant family's isolation in Italy, where Kobe spent his formative years, to the leafy suburbs of Lower Merion, where Kobe's legend was born. The story will trace his career and life at Lower Merion―he led the Aces to the 1995-96 Pennsylvania state championship, a dramatic underdog run for a team with just one star player―and the run-up to the 1996 NBA draft, where Kobe's dream of playing pro basketball culminated in his acquisition by the Los Angeles Lakers.

In researching and writing The Rise, Mike Sielski had a terrific advantage over other writers who have attempted to chronicle Kobe's life: access to a series of never-before-released interviews with him during his senior season and early days in the NBA. For a quarter century, these tapes and transcripts preserved Kobe's thoughts, dreams, and goals from his teenage years, and they contained insights into and told stories about him that have never been revealed before.

This is more than a basketball book. This is an exploration of the identity and making of an icon and the effect of his development on those around him―the essence of the man before he truly became a man.