''Basketball (and Other Things): A Collection of Questions Asked, Answered, Illustrated'' is a 2017 book written by

Shea Serrano Shea Serrano is an American author, journalist, and former teacher. He is best known for his work with the sports and pop culture websites, ''The Ringer (website), The Ringer'' and ''Grantland'', as well as his books, including ''The Rap Year Bo ...

and illustrated by Arturo Torres, with a

foreword A foreword is a (usually short) piece of writing, sometimes placed at the beginning of a book or other piece of literature. Typically written by someone other than the primary author of the work, it often tells of some interaction between the ...

from former

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

star

Reggie Miller Reginald Wayne Miller (born August 24, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who played his entire 18-year National Basketball Association (NBA) career with the Indiana Pacers. Miller was known for his precision three-p ...

Development and publication history

''Basketball (and Other Things)'' was published by

Abrams Image Abrams, formerly Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (HNA), is an American publisher of art and illustrated books, children's books, and stationery. The enterprise is a subsidiary of the French publisher La Martinière Groupe. Run by President and CEO Michael ...

on October 10, 2017. It is the second collaboration between Serrano and Torres, following their 2015 ''New York Times'' best-seller ''

The Rap Year Book ''The Rap Year Book: The Most Important Rap Song From Every Year Since 1979, Discussed, Debated, and Deconstructed'' is a 2015 ''New York Times'' best-selling book written by Shea Serrano and illustrated by Arturo Torres (artist), Arturo Torres. ...

''. ''Basketball (and Other Things)'' shares a title with a previous email newsletter from Serrano and Torres; begun in March 2016, the

newsletter A newsletter is a printed or electronic report containing news concerning the activities of a business or an organization that is sent to its members, customers, employees or other subscribers. Newsletters generally contain one main topic of int ...

had over 30,000 subscribers as of May 2016. When pre-sales opened on

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

for ''Basketball (and Other Things)'' in February 2017, the book hit number 13 on the site's bestseller list. When

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller. It is a Fortune 1000 company and the bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. As of July 7, 2020, the company operates 614 retail stores across all 50 U. ...

announced in June that they were producing a special edition to include basketball cards with the book sold only in their stores, ''Basketball (and Other Things)'' made it to number one on Barnes & Noble's Top 100 Bestselling Books list. In November 2017, the book reached number one on ''The New York Times'' Best Sellers list for sports and fitness books. On December 31, 2017, former United States President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

listed Serrano's book as one of his favorite books of the year, a "bonus for hoops fans."

Chapters

The start of each of the book's 33 chapters has a full-page illustration of an iconic jersey of a player who wore the chapter's number, except for chapter 18 which features an illustration of the fictional action-movie character John Harder, played by

James Harden James Edward Harden Jr. (born August 26, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Harden is regarded as one of the greatest scorers and shooting guards in NBA ...

References

{{authority control 2017 non-fiction books Basketball books Comedy books