Chris Ballard is an award-winning writer and a lecturer at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. His writing has appeared in Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times, among other publications. He has written four books, including The Art of a Beautiful Game and One Shot at Forever.

Sports Illustrated, the most respected voice in sports journalism, has covered the NBA for the much of its existence, documenting its expansion from fledgeling league to global force. Curated by editor and bestselling author Chris Ballard, this anthology features the best hoops writing from the SI archives along with new postscripts from nationally renowned basketball journalists including Jackie McMullan, Jack McCallum, Jeff Pearlman, S.L. Price, Lee Jenkins, Frank Deford, and more.