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"SprawlBall" by Kirk Goldsberry, an NBA analyst on ESPN, changed the way I watch basketball.

He chronicles the decline of the mid-range shot and the dominance of three-point shooting.

For any NBA fan, this book is a guide to how the game is played and the stars who changed it.






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If you watch a basketball game with someone over the age of 40, you'll probably hear the following complaints: "Why is everyone just standing around at the three-point line? Is this even basketball?" Of course, this is the only version of the game I've ever known; it was Steph Curry's incredible shooting that first drew me into the NBA. 
But as the years went on, I started to understand what older generations were complaining about. The game could feel one-dimensional as guys traded three-point shots or drew fouls.

I still love watching basketball, and "SprawlBall" by Kirk Goldsberry, an NBA analyst for ESPN and a professor at UT-Austin, helped me see the game's evolution as an ongoing process and appreciate the sport even more. 
The book is broken into chapters that dive into each position, with Goldsberry analyzing how current athletes play and influence their position, often through the history of NBA stars like Steph Curry and James Harden.
"SprawlBall" also documents the disappearance of the mid-range shot and the rise of the three-pointer. Goldsberry doesn't make value judgments; he explains the shift we've seen, the future we're looking at, and what we could do to change it. 
3 fascinating takeaways about the NBA I learned from "Sprawlball":

Source: Business Insider

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