Values of the Game

New York: Artisan, 1998. INSCRIBED / SIGNED by Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Bradley directly on the title page. A gorgeous copy. Fine condition in a Fine dust jacket (price is partially clipped). NO chips. NO tears. NO creases. Bright, shiny, clean and tight. Sharp corners. NOT a remainder. NO bookplate. Pages are fresh, crisp and unmarked. NO underlining. NO highlighting. NO margin notes. First printing with complete number row (10 987654321) on the copyright page. Bound in the original black cloth, stamped in shiny copper on the spine. From the Dust Jacket: "Bill Bradley, U.S. Senator from New Jersey from 1979 to 1997 and a member of two championship New York Knicks teams, returns to the scene of his first career, and his first great passion, basketball. Things have changed since his championship days -- the shorts are longer and the salaries higher -- but what separates winners and losers remains very much the same: No collection of players, no matter how good, can win unless they form a team. And no team can succeed unless it shares common values, among them courage, discipline, resilience, respect, and an unmitigated passion for the game. In ten essays, filled with intensely personal observations and reflections, Bradley revisits the basketball court with the fire of the competitor and the eye of the writer, and explores these qualities in action: the dynamics of teammates on the court and off; the pure love of the game that leads to the unselfish pass or the screen away from the ball; the individual courage to risk the last-second shot, to face a hostile crowd, to say 'I blew it'; the responsibility to teammates, coaches, and fans to stay in shape, play hard, and honor the game. VALUES OF THE GAME is illustrated with more than one hundred twenty dramatic photographs of players, coaches, and classic games, culled from the NBA archives and the author's personal collection: from legends such as Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson, and Bob Cousy, through the brilliant Magic Johnson/Larry Bird years to young stars such as Grant Hill and Glen Rice, and of course the greatest ever, Michael Jordan… [In VALUES OF THE GAME] Bradley… pulls back the curtain… letting us in on basketball's secrets -- many of which, it turns out, extend to life beyond the hardwood court.". INSCRIBED / SIGNED by Bill Bradley. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine condition/Fine dust jacket. 160pp.