First Tip-Off: The Incredible Story of the Birth of the NBA

"Charley Rosen has undertaken the challenge of documenting the latest and greatest history of the game professionally--and has done so to great success. . . . . When I finished the book it seemed as if I had gone through another season, injuries and all. . . . Rosen skillfully leads readers through the NBA''s first steps along its journey toward what it has become today.”
--Phil Jackson, from the Foreword

"Rosen, a wonderful sportswriter . . . had forgotten more basketball history than the best fans will ever know."
Booklist, on No Blood, No Foul

Go back to a time when basketball players wore knee pads and itchy cotton jerseys. When even the team''s leaders were grateful for dry towels, hot showers, and $60 paychecks. When winning was all that mattered.

In this vividly rendered and meticulously researched book, endorsed with a Foreword by Los Angeles Lakers head coach Phil Jackson, sportswriter Charley Rosen takes you on a rollicking tour of the NBA''s first season. Filled with rare archival photographs and exclusive interviews, The First Tip-Off brings to life a cast of unforgettable characters--including Chuck Connors, clown prince of the BAA, and Jumping Joe Fulks, ex-Marine turned basketball''s first superstar--as Rosen deftly unfolds the dramatic events of that formative season.

It''s enough to make you believe once again in the spirit of the sport.