The 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.