At the time of this writing, if you type into Amazon, “High school basketball book,” the first book to appear organically- meaning non-sponsored- is John McNamara’s book, The Capital of Basketball: A History of DC Area High School Hoops. The primary reason for this is that John’s book is, evidently, in demand. A secondary reason for this is that John’s book is centered on high school basketball; in the Washington DC area specifically.
You come across books from time to time, that you can tell are just… different. That is part of the beauty-the magic- of the written word. As readers, we start out with a new book with great anticipation and excitement for the world we are about to enter into. And when that book meets or exceeds our expectations, it becomes more than a book. It becomes a treasure. John McNamara has done something special with The Capital of Basketball. The kind of special that isn’t fully realized in the present moment.
Five Major Take-Aways from The Capital of Basketball
1. High School Basketball Genre Makes a Come Back
You probably think of Hoosiers when you think of high school basketball being portrayed in popular media. The film was about a small town high school team in Indiana that went all the way to win the state championship. Hoosiers is often times on the all time favorite list of many basketball fans.
As far as popular books on high school basketball go, you might think of The Miracle of Saint Anthony by Adrian Wojnarowski. This highly acclaimed book was published in 2006, and was focused on Coach Bob Hurley and his high school team in Jersey City.
If you know of a memorable book that focuses on a narrative high school basketball story, please give me a shout on twitter: @TrueBallerBooks or leave a message down below. I am well aware of the countless instructional books on high school basketball that deal with coaching and player development. But the story is what’s missing from the genre. The Story.
This is what John McNamara has brought back to us. And he’s brought it back on a grand scale. Works like Hoosiers and The Miracle at Saint Anthony are rightly celebrated on their own merits. And if you are fans of those works you will most definitely want to take a look at The Capital of Basketball. This book’s focus is on the high school basketball world in the Washington DC area spanning the decades since the very development of the game. Unlike Hoosiers or The Miracle at Saint Anthony, which focus on primarily one respective team, John McNamara takes on the monumental task of chronicling high school basketball in the whole Washington DC metropolitan area. And there are a multitude of plots and sub plots through out. As I was reading this book I often found myself thinking that one story or another that John wrote about could be made into a movie. But, on better thought, if people want to learn about Maurice Joyce, Earl Lloyd, Elgin Baylor, Archbishop Carroll, John Thompson, Dave Bing, or Morgan Wootten and Dematha, they would be much better off reading The Capital of Basketball.
2. A Legitimate Contribution To The Record of History
Sports history is history. This is another element that is far too often overlooked. If you are going to learn from the human experience of the past, you can not ignore this. And this is another fabulous aspect of The Capital of Basketball. Many basketball fans have probably heard of many of the subjects of this book, but not in the context that John provides. I am not sure that there is another work that does this for the topic of DC area high school hoops. And my guess is you would be hard pressed to find an author (or historian) that has written a comparable work for any other metropolitan or regional area around the country. This also alludes to my previous point that John has blazed a trail for other writers around the country to follow his lead.
3. The Level of Detail is Beyond Impressive
This is a major reason why I find The Capital of Basketball so refreshing and different. Usually this level of detail is saved for chronicling the college or professional world of basketball. John’s thoroughness is not exclusive to the game itself, but also weaves in the social and cultural threads that are intertwined in the narrative of DC area high school hoops.
4. Amazing Talent from DC
It is truly staggering to take in all of the talented players and coaches that came out of the Washington DC metropolitan area. Maybe if other areas were spotlighted in similar fashion it would not seem all that uncommon- but I have a hard time believing anything other than the idea that there’s just something special about DC.
This leads to the question of, why? Why does so much talent come from a specific place? What is it about that place that gives rise to so many great players? I have a hypothesis after reading The Capital of Basketball. I noticed a theme that seemed to come up pretty frequently through out the book: playgrounds. It seemed to me that most of-if not all- of the great players that came out of DC had significant experience playing on the blacktop of the city’s playgrounds. There was a playground culture in DC that was common through the decades. Now, the next line of thinking would be, How does that make DC different from any other city playground culture? That-right there- is a good question. And, in my mind, it leads me to think that this is another potential area of study that has gone overlooked: the history of America’s playgrounds.
5. Love For the Game
I have already stated how the level of detail in The Capital of Basketball is beyond impressive. I don’t know if I can rightly articulate how impressive it actually is. If you are a person who reads a lot of non fiction histories you may be able to pick up on when an author or publisher has “filled up” a project for publication. This usually involves a fair amount of “interpretation” or “description” in the writing. That’s another way of saying, “fluff.” In my view, “fluff” is a good tell that the author is not fully confident in themselves for one reason or another. Well, I can tell you, you are not going to experience much “fluff” with The Capital of Basketball. It is evident from the start that this is a book that was written by someone who knew what he was talking about. John McNamara was an expert of Washington DC high school basketball to the highest degree.
I have a feeling that John could have written much of this book without doing that much research at all. And that’s because he lived so much of it. As I read the book, I kept on marveling at the quotes he had from various players and coaches. I remember thinking to myself, He must’ve done a ton of interviews for this. Well, upon flipping back over to the front jacket of the hardcover, I got my answer: over 150 interviews.
John loved high school basketball.
Tragedy
John McNamara and four of his co workers were victims of a mass shooting at their work place on June 28, 2018. In the midst of her grief, John’s wife, Andrea Chamblee, made it her purpose to ensure the completion and publication of The Capital of Basketball.
John and Andrea, together, presented basketball fans everywhere with a marvelous work in The Capital of Basketball.
Over Time
The Capital of Basketball web page: https://capitalofbasketball.com/
Andrea Chamblee is on twitter at: @AndreaChamblee
Facebook author page for John McNamara: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJohnMcNamara/
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