Jack McCallum (born 1949) is an American novelist and

sportswriter Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism has its roots in coverage of horse racing and boxing in the early 1800s, mainly targeted towards elites, and into t ...

Early life and education

He graduated from

Muhlenberg College Muhlenberg College is a private liberal arts college in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg College is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is named for Henry Muhlenberg, the German pat ...

, in

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. The county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, it is the List o ...

, in 1971.

Career

McCallum joined the staff of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' magazine in 1981, and became known for his articles on the

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

(NBA).Database (undated).
Jack McCallum Archive
''

''. Retrieved August 6, 2012. He won the

Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

's Curt Gowdy Media Award Print in 2005. During the 2005–06 NBA pre-season, McCallum began working as an unofficial assistant coach with the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

NBA basketball team, based in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

, as part of an assignment for ''Sports Illustrated''. The piece soon evolved into a larger project, as the Suns granted McCallum full access to their practices and strategy sessions throughout the entire season. The resulting work was his book '' :07 Seconds or Less My Season on the Bench with the Runnin' and Gunnin' Phoenix Suns'' (2006). In November 2008, McCallum announced that he had accepted a contract buyout from ''Sports Illustrated'', but he has continued to write pieces for the magazine as a special contributor. Additionally, McCallum wrote ''Unfinished Business: On and Off the Court With the 1990-91 Boston Celtics'', as well as ''Dream Team: How Michael, Magic, Larry, Charles, and The Greatest Team Of All Time Conquered the World and Changed the Game of Basketball Forever'', a nonfiction book chronicling the players on the Dream Team and the events before, during and after the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. His most recent work, entitled ''Golden Days'' (2017), is on

Jerry West Jerry Alan West (May 28, 1938 – June 12, 2024) was an American basketball player and executive. He played professionally for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and is widely regarded as one of the greatest ...

's L.A. Lakers and

Stephen Curry Wardell Stephen Curry II ( ; born March 14, 1988) is an American professional basketball player and point guard for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Chef Curry", he is widely regarded as the ...

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

Novelist

With

L. Jon Wertheim L. Jonathan Wertheim (born 1970 in Bloomington, Indiana) is an American sports journalist and author. He is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated magazine and has been part of the full-time SI writing staff since 1997 He has covered tennis, mixed ...

, McCallum also co-wrote a basketball novel, ''Foul Lines A Pro Basketball Novel'' (2006).Littlefield, Bill (March 5, 2006).
"On the Hardwood, Upsets, Excess, and the Mouth That Roared"
''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

''. Retrieved August 6, 2012.

Bibliography

* McCallum, Jack (2017). ''Golden Days: West's Lakers, Steph's Warriors, and the California Dreamers Who Reinvented Basketball''. New York City:

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major American book publisher that is a subsidiary of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. Ballantine was founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. Ballantine was acquired by Random House in ...

. . * McCallum, Jack (2012). ''Dream Team How Michael, Magic, Larry, Charles, and the Greatest Team of All Time Conquered the World and Changed the Game of Basketball Forever''. New York City: Ballantine Books. . (biography) * McCallum, Jack;

(2006). ''Foul Lines A Pro Basketball Novel''. New York City:

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

. . (novel) * McCallum, Jack (2006). '' :07 Seconds or Less My Season on the Bench with the Runnin' and Gunnin' Phoenix Suns''. New York City:

. .

References

External links

* * McCallum, Jack (September 9, 2005).
"Hall of a Career A Mountain of Memories on the NBA Beat"
''

''. Retrieved August 6, 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:McCallum, Jack Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) 1949 births 20th-century American biographers 21st-century American novelists American magazine journalists American male novelists American sportswriters Living people Sports Illustrated people Muhlenberg College alumni 21st-century American biographers 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers American male biographers Sportswriters from Pennsylvania