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From Hang Time to Prime Time: Business, Entertainment, and the Birth of the Modern-Day NBA
Perfect for fans of Moneyball and The Book of Basketball , this vivid, thoroughly entertaining, and well-researched book explores the NBA’s surge in popularity in the 1970s and 1980s and its transformation into a global cultural institution.
Far beyond simply being a sports league, the NBA has become an entertainment and pop culture juggernaut. From all kinds of team logo merchandise to officially branded video games and players crossing over into reality television, film, fashion lines, and more, there is an inseparable line between sports and entertainment. But only four decades ago, this would have been unthinkable.
Featuring writing that leaps off the page with energy and wit, journalist and basketball fan Pete Croatto takes us behind the scenes to the meetings that lead to the monumental American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, revolutionizing the NBA’s image. He pays homage to legendary talents including Julius “Dr. J” Erving, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan and reveals how two polar-opposite rookies, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, led game attendance to skyrocket and racial lines to dissolve. Croatto also dives into CBS’s personality-driven coverage of key players, as well as other cable television efforts, which launched NBA players into unprecedented celebrity status.
Essential reading whether you’re a casual or longtime fan, From Hang Time to Prime Time is an enthralling and entertaining celebration of basketball history.
Far beyond simply being a sports league, the NBA has become an entertainment and pop culture juggernaut. From all kinds of team logo merchandise to officially branded video games and players crossing over into reality television, film, fashion lines, and more, there is an inseparable line between sports and entertainment. But only four decades ago, this would have been unthinkable.
Featuring writing that leaps off the page with energy and wit, journalist and basketball fan Pete Croatto takes us behind the scenes to the meetings that lead to the monumental American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, revolutionizing the NBA’s image. He pays homage to legendary talents including Julius “Dr. J” Erving, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan and reveals how two polar-opposite rookies, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, led game attendance to skyrocket and racial lines to dissolve. Croatto also dives into CBS’s personality-driven coverage of key players, as well as other cable television efforts, which launched NBA players into unprecedented celebrity status.
Essential reading whether you’re a casual or longtime fan, From Hang Time to Prime Time is an enthralling and entertaining celebration of basketball history.
384 pages, Hardcover
Published December 1, 2020
23 people are currently reading
226 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
March 15, 2021
I am a huge fan of the NBA during the '80s and '90s. And while I enjoyed the content of this book, I unfortunately found it to be poorly constructed and written.
Pete Croatto certainly did his research for this book. He interviewed over 300 people and cites countless other books, magazines, and videos as source material. So much credit is given throughout the paragraphs that it bogged down the book for me. And because he had years'-worth of research, many topics seemed to go on-and-on because of the necessity to include all of the source material versus writing a concise chapter.
Here's my advice: simply read the book. Don't try to follow all of the names. You will become frustrated when a last name is used to give credit to a quote or opinion, and you will have no recollection of ever reading who that person was. There's simply way too many names. 85% of the names mentioned only get used once and ultimately are not that important to the topic being discussed.
Pete Croatto certainly did his research for this book. He interviewed over 300 people and cites countless other books, magazines, and videos as source material. So much credit is given throughout the paragraphs that it bogged down the book for me. And because he had years'-worth of research, many topics seemed to go on-and-on because of the necessity to include all of the source material versus writing a concise chapter.
Here's my advice: simply read the book. Don't try to follow all of the names. You will become frustrated when a last name is used to give credit to a quote or opinion, and you will have no recollection of ever reading who that person was. There's simply way too many names. 85% of the names mentioned only get used once and ultimately are not that important to the topic being discussed.
December 26, 2020
Current fans of NBA basketball are treated to not only the sport itself, with the displays of athleticism and flash provided every game, but also to a complete entertainment package whether watching at the arena or at home. The league has been the leader in many innovations when it comes to making a game an entertainment spectacle, but it hasn’t always been that way. This book by Pete Croatto is an excellent account of how the league went from irrelevance to the global phenomenon it has become.
Many people, including non-basketball fans, know about Julius Erving, or “Dr. J”, for his entertaining dunks in the 1970’s when his career was at his peak. Basketball fans, even casual ones, know that he performed at this level not in the NBA, but the rival ABA league. While that league eventually merged with the NBA because of its financial situation, the NBA wasn’t in much better shape. The league had just gone through a lengthy court battle with the player’s association over free agency with the end result being that their reserve clause was struck down. Led by commissioner Larry O’Brien (who gets a lot of credit for the state of today’s NBA by the author), the NBA not only took in four ABA franchises and now had Dr. J playing for one of their signature teams, but also started looking at how to better market themselves through television and other forms.
This was helped greatly by two of the biggest names in college basketball, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, joining the league in the same year and also joining two of the league’s most storied franchises, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers respectively, and also by the tireless work by O’Brien’s legal counsel, David Stern. Stern did a lot of legwork to get a new television contract, start the division of NBA Enterprises and oh, yes, negotiate the first salary cap in professional sports history. The stories of people who were working at NBA Enterprises in the 80’s when Bird and Johnson were joined by Michael Jordan as the faces of the league. Their stories of their long hours, the poor working conditions and the endless questions by Stern would usually make a reader cringe, but both the people interviewed and Croatto make them seem like they had the best job in the world.
If the NBA was doing better in both finances and exposure with Bird and Johnson, both of those areas saw explosive growth once Jordan came on the scene. His on-court dunks, his on-camera persona, his savvy business acumen such as his deals with Nike, and oh, yes, winning championships in Chicago, all helped make the NBA an international league. The changes in attitudes toward the skills of international players and the 1992 Olympic team were the catalysts for this change as they are covered in this book as well.
The last aspect of the growth of the league, especially for entertainment, was that it was in tune with the pop culture of the era. When the VCR gained popularity, the league started promoting recordings of highlights and family-friendly entertainment geared around NBA stars tor sale. When rap music gained mainstream popularity, the NBA was right there alongside to incorporate it into its marketing. The league was also willing to now take chances that some more conservative executives and fans may not have considered. One great example of this was allowing Marvin Gaye to sing his version of the national anthem before the 1983 All-Star game. If you have never heard it, make sure you do as it can be found on YouTube. Watching the players move to the beat is just as good as the singing.
Croatto’s in-depth research, hundreds of interviews and writing style that is so engrossing make this a book that every person interested in basketball, the NBA or the pop culture of the 1980’s should read. It will capture your attention at the start and will be one that is very difficult to put down.
I wish to thank Atria Books for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
Many people, including non-basketball fans, know about Julius Erving, or “Dr. J”, for his entertaining dunks in the 1970’s when his career was at his peak. Basketball fans, even casual ones, know that he performed at this level not in the NBA, but the rival ABA league. While that league eventually merged with the NBA because of its financial situation, the NBA wasn’t in much better shape. The league had just gone through a lengthy court battle with the player’s association over free agency with the end result being that their reserve clause was struck down. Led by commissioner Larry O’Brien (who gets a lot of credit for the state of today’s NBA by the author), the NBA not only took in four ABA franchises and now had Dr. J playing for one of their signature teams, but also started looking at how to better market themselves through television and other forms.
This was helped greatly by two of the biggest names in college basketball, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, joining the league in the same year and also joining two of the league’s most storied franchises, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers respectively, and also by the tireless work by O’Brien’s legal counsel, David Stern. Stern did a lot of legwork to get a new television contract, start the division of NBA Enterprises and oh, yes, negotiate the first salary cap in professional sports history. The stories of people who were working at NBA Enterprises in the 80’s when Bird and Johnson were joined by Michael Jordan as the faces of the league. Their stories of their long hours, the poor working conditions and the endless questions by Stern would usually make a reader cringe, but both the people interviewed and Croatto make them seem like they had the best job in the world.
If the NBA was doing better in both finances and exposure with Bird and Johnson, both of those areas saw explosive growth once Jordan came on the scene. His on-court dunks, his on-camera persona, his savvy business acumen such as his deals with Nike, and oh, yes, winning championships in Chicago, all helped make the NBA an international league. The changes in attitudes toward the skills of international players and the 1992 Olympic team were the catalysts for this change as they are covered in this book as well.
The last aspect of the growth of the league, especially for entertainment, was that it was in tune with the pop culture of the era. When the VCR gained popularity, the league started promoting recordings of highlights and family-friendly entertainment geared around NBA stars tor sale. When rap music gained mainstream popularity, the NBA was right there alongside to incorporate it into its marketing. The league was also willing to now take chances that some more conservative executives and fans may not have considered. One great example of this was allowing Marvin Gaye to sing his version of the national anthem before the 1983 All-Star game. If you have never heard it, make sure you do as it can be found on YouTube. Watching the players move to the beat is just as good as the singing.
Croatto’s in-depth research, hundreds of interviews and writing style that is so engrossing make this a book that every person interested in basketball, the NBA or the pop culture of the 1980’s should read. It will capture your attention at the start and will be one that is very difficult to put down.
I wish to thank Atria Books for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
April 24, 2021
I am not an NBA fan, but came across this book because Croatto is a local author (full disclosure: his wife is a colleague of mine) and loved it. Ostensibly a history of the NBA’s adolescence (roughly bookended by its 1976 merger with the ABA and its move from CBS to NBC in 1990), such a description does it no justice.
Like the contract with NBC which provides an almost literary climax here, Croatto’s book has minor weaknesses* but ultimately overdelivers, and massively. It reads as an exuberant, bombastic, no-holds-barred insider account, stuffed chock full of first person quotes, winking asides, and canny details which jump off the page** and bring everything to life.
Croatto writes stylishly and includes some of the most fun sentences I’ve read this year: “With Erving serving as its kindly, reassuring doctor, the ABA injected the dunk right into the NBA’s veins” (p. 26). Another comes while talking about the evolution of half-time entertainment: “Time killers such as H-O-R-S-E shuffled off to the glue factory.” (p. 59) His scholarly references also reward. This deadpan quote from Joe Queenan on page 255 sent me to the library to find the essayist’s other work: “[The Boomer generation] got all tired from Vietnam and Nixon and the Kennedys and all those race riots and decided that they needed a break. The break never ended.”
Tip: Read with a tablet close at hand to watch video clips being referenced. Perfect in scope, interesting on every page. Highly recommended and hoping for more from this engaging author.
*One is probably unavoidable in a monograph covering a multitude of personalities: this reader was constantly flipping back to ID yet another barely-familiar name—a glossary of characters might have been a good idea.
**see what I did there
Like the contract with NBC which provides an almost literary climax here, Croatto’s book has minor weaknesses* but ultimately overdelivers, and massively. It reads as an exuberant, bombastic, no-holds-barred insider account, stuffed chock full of first person quotes, winking asides, and canny details which jump off the page** and bring everything to life.
Croatto writes stylishly and includes some of the most fun sentences I’ve read this year: “With Erving serving as its kindly, reassuring doctor, the ABA injected the dunk right into the NBA’s veins” (p. 26). Another comes while talking about the evolution of half-time entertainment: “Time killers such as H-O-R-S-E shuffled off to the glue factory.” (p. 59) His scholarly references also reward. This deadpan quote from Joe Queenan on page 255 sent me to the library to find the essayist’s other work: “[The Boomer generation] got all tired from Vietnam and Nixon and the Kennedys and all those race riots and decided that they needed a break. The break never ended.”
Tip: Read with a tablet close at hand to watch video clips being referenced. Perfect in scope, interesting on every page. Highly recommended and hoping for more from this engaging author.
*One is probably unavoidable in a monograph covering a multitude of personalities: this reader was constantly flipping back to ID yet another barely-familiar name—a glossary of characters might have been a good idea.
**see what I did there
June 22, 2021
This book is kind of all over the place, and didn’t tell me too much that I hadn’t heard elsewhere about the rise of the NBA. For example, I didn’t really need to be told that Michael Jordan and Nike changed the way basketball was consumed forever. That said, it was a fun history of the evolution of the NBA, and especially as it hit the more modern era (mid-80’s on) the book really hit its stride. Plus, I got to be reminded of being an 11-12 year old and watching the old NBA VHS tapes featuring Jordan and bloopers. So that made me smile. Big time NBA fans should read this book as nostalgia candy.
July 18, 2023
The research is very good, at times so is the writing. My problem is that it seems like it needed another round of editing and a better approach to layout (full disclosure: I have worked in publishing as a graphic designer and pre-press layout designer, so maybe it's just me).
Anyway, some of the side stories seem oddly jammed in and caused me some confusion while I was reading. There were also some clunky sentences that I think the author could have modified had they been brought to his attention (again, I think editing is the real problem, at least in the first edition that I read).
Looking at the publishing date (December 2020) and the author's approximate completion date of February 2020, I'd like to think the chaos of that year is the real culprit and a lot the issues I mentioned were overlooked as a result.
Last note: Not to judge a book by it's cover, but I think it could have been better. It seems like a first attempt to me. (Like I said, I'm a graphic designer with a background in publishing; designing book covers is literally something I have done.)
Anyway, some of the side stories seem oddly jammed in and caused me some confusion while I was reading. There were also some clunky sentences that I think the author could have modified had they been brought to his attention (again, I think editing is the real problem, at least in the first edition that I read).
Looking at the publishing date (December 2020) and the author's approximate completion date of February 2020, I'd like to think the chaos of that year is the real culprit and a lot the issues I mentioned were overlooked as a result.
Last note: Not to judge a book by it's cover, but I think it could have been better. It seems like a first attempt to me. (Like I said, I'm a graphic designer with a background in publishing; designing book covers is literally something I have done.)
April 18, 2021
Pete Croatto put in a lot of work chronicling the growth of the modern day NBA. I went into thinking this was going to be about the on-court product at the time, but most of the book focuses on what happened off of it. However, I think it may have been a little too much to bite off. I think there are 10 good books in here within this one. Sometimes the book dragged a bit and I got lost in the names. Going from talking about Marvin Gaye to t-shirt licensing caused some whiplash. Overall, if you love NBA culture, you’ll enjoy the read.
March 10, 2021
3.5 stars - great nonfic book!
I am a child of the 80's and 90's who loved Clyde the Glide, so Croatto's impeccably researched and very well written - with doses of humor - look behind the scenes at the NBA, CBS, and NBC was fascinating. Croatto does a great job of showing Stern in a humanizing way, good and bad, and also many of the rank and file employees who worked tirelessly to take the NBA into the big leagues in North American and globally.
I am a child of the 80's and 90's who loved Clyde the Glide, so Croatto's impeccably researched and very well written - with doses of humor - look behind the scenes at the NBA, CBS, and NBC was fascinating. Croatto does a great job of showing Stern in a humanizing way, good and bad, and also many of the rank and file employees who worked tirelessly to take the NBA into the big leagues in North American and globally.
December 24, 2020
https://www.themaineedge.com/sports/f...
The NBA is big business these days.
Players are global icons, recognizable to billions of people. They are literally world famous, making eight figure salaries and signing even bigger endorsement deals. On the ownership side, TV contracts and ever-escalating franchise values mean big profit for anyone with a piece of an NBA team.
It’s easy to forget that it wasn’t always this way.
Pete Croatto’s new book “From Hang Time to Prime Time: Business, Entertainment, and the Birth of the Modern-Day NBA” takes us back to a time, not so long, when the NBA was a pro sports afterthought, a league that struggled to gain any sort of foothold in the cultural consciousness. The public perception was mixed and the product on the floor was uneven; outside of a few cities, the league was barely holding on. You couldn’t even watch games live; even the Finals were infamously aired on tape delay.
But thanks to some savvy league officials, some smart business moves, a handful of transcendent players and a few lucky bounces, the NBA transformed itself. The period from the early ‘70s through the ‘80s was transformative, a time when the league went from also-ran to clubhouse leader. It was a long journey, and not without obstacles, but ultimately, the NBA got where it wanted to go.
The NBA of 40 years ago bore little resemblance to the megalithic cultural machine that it is now. Even the most successful teams were struggling financially; the league was viewed as a lesser entity by the average consumer. The brief rise of the ABA started things down a different path; while it was a financial disaster and largely behind the elder league in terms of overall talent, it also proved far more willing to experiment than its staid predecessor. We got the red, white and blue ball and the dunk contest and – perhaps most importantly – we got Dr. J.
The NBA/ABA merger happened almost exclusively to get Julius Erving to the NBA. That switch was the catalyst, the first domino in the long tumbling string that would lead to today’s league. Things started moving when Larry O’Brien took over as commissioner in 1975; under his purview, the league started pushing its way to the front of the American consciousness (though it seems clear that much of the legwork was done by rising star and eventual head honcho David Stern).
It didn’t hurt that the end of the 1970s saw the emergence of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, two rivals cut from the same cloth making the leap from NCAA legends to NBA superstars. That they reinvigorated two of the league’s premier franchises certainly helped as well. Their presence helped push the league into better television deals, and with a go-getter and full-on acolyte like Stern steering the ship, the focus shifted from teams to stars. That change in promotional ideology was the leap forward that the league needed.
And then Michael Jordan showed up.
Jordan kicked wide open the door that Bird, Magic and Dr. J had helped unlock. From the hype videos to the relationship with Nike to the on-court excellence, Jordan was the figure that Stern and the rest of the league needed to break through into the popular consciousness. And from there, the sky was the limit. Or rather … the air.
“From Hang Time to Prime Time” is a fascinating snapshot of sports history. The NBA took a weird and meandering path to relevance. It took a lot of work by a lot of very smart people to push the league forward; David Stern is the foremost figure, of course, but there were so many behind-the-scenes folks whose contributions were key to the evolution of the NBA brand. NBA Entertainment, Nike, various network partners – all of it happened due to hard work by a lot of people you may never have heard of.
And then there were the players. The arrival of Dr. J, followed a few years later by the simultaneous appearance of Bird and Magic and the ascension and anointing of Jordan just a few years after that … all of that was absolutely necessary for the league to grow like it did. Absent any one of them, the road grows exponentially more rocky – it’s an interesting “what if” to consider the league’s evolution without them.
Croatto captures the predominant feelings of the rapidly-shifting era, bringing a wealth of engaging interviews and some real deep-dive reportage to bear in the service of reconstructing the freewheeling weirdness and financial desperation of the times. One gets a sense of the danger the NBA was in, even as the people whose loyalty and passion worked tirelessly to push it to where they believed it should be.
“From Hang Time to Prime Time” is granular sports history, the kind of wonky stuff that will likely fascinate fans of the NBA’s present as much as those who revere its past. It’s a combination of in-depth research and deft prose, informative and engaging and extremely readable. Am I going to call this book a slam dunk? Yes. Yes I am, cliches be damned.
The NBA is big business these days.
Players are global icons, recognizable to billions of people. They are literally world famous, making eight figure salaries and signing even bigger endorsement deals. On the ownership side, TV contracts and ever-escalating franchise values mean big profit for anyone with a piece of an NBA team.
It’s easy to forget that it wasn’t always this way.
Pete Croatto’s new book “From Hang Time to Prime Time: Business, Entertainment, and the Birth of the Modern-Day NBA” takes us back to a time, not so long, when the NBA was a pro sports afterthought, a league that struggled to gain any sort of foothold in the cultural consciousness. The public perception was mixed and the product on the floor was uneven; outside of a few cities, the league was barely holding on. You couldn’t even watch games live; even the Finals were infamously aired on tape delay.
But thanks to some savvy league officials, some smart business moves, a handful of transcendent players and a few lucky bounces, the NBA transformed itself. The period from the early ‘70s through the ‘80s was transformative, a time when the league went from also-ran to clubhouse leader. It was a long journey, and not without obstacles, but ultimately, the NBA got where it wanted to go.
The NBA of 40 years ago bore little resemblance to the megalithic cultural machine that it is now. Even the most successful teams were struggling financially; the league was viewed as a lesser entity by the average consumer. The brief rise of the ABA started things down a different path; while it was a financial disaster and largely behind the elder league in terms of overall talent, it also proved far more willing to experiment than its staid predecessor. We got the red, white and blue ball and the dunk contest and – perhaps most importantly – we got Dr. J.
The NBA/ABA merger happened almost exclusively to get Julius Erving to the NBA. That switch was the catalyst, the first domino in the long tumbling string that would lead to today’s league. Things started moving when Larry O’Brien took over as commissioner in 1975; under his purview, the league started pushing its way to the front of the American consciousness (though it seems clear that much of the legwork was done by rising star and eventual head honcho David Stern).
It didn’t hurt that the end of the 1970s saw the emergence of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, two rivals cut from the same cloth making the leap from NCAA legends to NBA superstars. That they reinvigorated two of the league’s premier franchises certainly helped as well. Their presence helped push the league into better television deals, and with a go-getter and full-on acolyte like Stern steering the ship, the focus shifted from teams to stars. That change in promotional ideology was the leap forward that the league needed.
And then Michael Jordan showed up.
Jordan kicked wide open the door that Bird, Magic and Dr. J had helped unlock. From the hype videos to the relationship with Nike to the on-court excellence, Jordan was the figure that Stern and the rest of the league needed to break through into the popular consciousness. And from there, the sky was the limit. Or rather … the air.
“From Hang Time to Prime Time” is a fascinating snapshot of sports history. The NBA took a weird and meandering path to relevance. It took a lot of work by a lot of very smart people to push the league forward; David Stern is the foremost figure, of course, but there were so many behind-the-scenes folks whose contributions were key to the evolution of the NBA brand. NBA Entertainment, Nike, various network partners – all of it happened due to hard work by a lot of people you may never have heard of.
And then there were the players. The arrival of Dr. J, followed a few years later by the simultaneous appearance of Bird and Magic and the ascension and anointing of Jordan just a few years after that … all of that was absolutely necessary for the league to grow like it did. Absent any one of them, the road grows exponentially more rocky – it’s an interesting “what if” to consider the league’s evolution without them.
Croatto captures the predominant feelings of the rapidly-shifting era, bringing a wealth of engaging interviews and some real deep-dive reportage to bear in the service of reconstructing the freewheeling weirdness and financial desperation of the times. One gets a sense of the danger the NBA was in, even as the people whose loyalty and passion worked tirelessly to push it to where they believed it should be.
“From Hang Time to Prime Time” is granular sports history, the kind of wonky stuff that will likely fascinate fans of the NBA’s present as much as those who revere its past. It’s a combination of in-depth research and deft prose, informative and engaging and extremely readable. Am I going to call this book a slam dunk? Yes. Yes I am, cliches be damned.
January 30, 2021
Subtitled: Business, Entertainment, and the Birth of the Modern-Day NBA
I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
From Hang Time to Prime Time follows the evolution of the NBA from its low-profile status in the early 1970s to the worldwide sensation it became by the end of the 1980s. It identifies several key factors behind that evolution and studies them in-depth.
Croatto begins with the hiring of Larry O'Brien as league commissioner. Shortly after taking the post, O'Brien made a point of settling some long-standing legal issues he felt were holding back the league's development. One of those issues was the completion of a merger with their competition, the American Basketball Association. A handful of ABA teams were absorbed into the NBA, and players who were not on those teams came into the league as free agents. Hall of Fame players such as Julius Erving, George Gervin, Artis Gilmore, Moses Malone and Dan Issel increased the talent level in the NBA immediately upon their arrival.
When David Stern succeeded O'Brien in the commissioner post, he provided the NBA with more marketing prowess and overall vision than they'd ever had before. The league focused on promoting stars such as Erving, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird at first, then really took off upon the arrival and rise to stardom of Michael Jordan.
Television contracts, merchandising, shoe contracts, and the rise of hip-hop culture all played big roles in bringing the NBA to the status it enjoys today.
I gave From Hang Time to Prime Time five stars. I first began following NBA basketball in the early 1970s, so I was familiar with at some of the things the book addressed, but there was a lot more happening behind the scenes that I wasn't aware of until I read this book.
I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
From Hang Time to Prime Time follows the evolution of the NBA from its low-profile status in the early 1970s to the worldwide sensation it became by the end of the 1980s. It identifies several key factors behind that evolution and studies them in-depth.
Croatto begins with the hiring of Larry O'Brien as league commissioner. Shortly after taking the post, O'Brien made a point of settling some long-standing legal issues he felt were holding back the league's development. One of those issues was the completion of a merger with their competition, the American Basketball Association. A handful of ABA teams were absorbed into the NBA, and players who were not on those teams came into the league as free agents. Hall of Fame players such as Julius Erving, George Gervin, Artis Gilmore, Moses Malone and Dan Issel increased the talent level in the NBA immediately upon their arrival.
When David Stern succeeded O'Brien in the commissioner post, he provided the NBA with more marketing prowess and overall vision than they'd ever had before. The league focused on promoting stars such as Erving, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird at first, then really took off upon the arrival and rise to stardom of Michael Jordan.
Television contracts, merchandising, shoe contracts, and the rise of hip-hop culture all played big roles in bringing the NBA to the status it enjoys today.
I gave From Hang Time to Prime Time five stars. I first began following NBA basketball in the early 1970s, so I was familiar with at some of the things the book addressed, but there was a lot more happening behind the scenes that I wasn't aware of until I read this book.
July 16, 2022
It is difficult for me to read any of these books that talk about the changes in a game regardless of the sport. This book about the NBA was difficult for a few reasons. One I still don’t think the average cares where the NBA came from, they just care about where it is today. It will be like this review, it history for when I started watching Basketball was 1969 on a small black and white T.V., and most of the games were taped delayed. Most people don’t even know what any of that means. Even the finals were on taped delayed and that was when you had the Lakers and Knicks playing. When the ABA started their game was different from the red, white, and blue ball in the style they played. Dr.j was doing dunks that Jordan would do years later but because of national television people remember his not bad or good different. The ABA made the NBA fight for prime television time and for the finals to be played live, showed live. Of course, it helped when Magic and Bird came into the league and Jordan. But first, the big change was the NBA merging with the ABA even some of the styles of basketball started to change like it was in the ABA fast-paced instead of slow down. That is what this book I felt was missing most people know that Jordan changed the game
For me Dr.J the Ice Man Geroge Gervin for you that don’t know that name, George McGinnis, just to name a few. The ABA had the 3-point shot not yet in the NBA for me during the 70s the ABA was fast fun and exciting when they merged it took a while for the NBA to catch my attention. I felt this book could have been so much more or maybe I was expecting something different. For most, I am sure this will be a good book.
For me Dr.J the Ice Man Geroge Gervin for you that don’t know that name, George McGinnis, just to name a few. The ABA had the 3-point shot not yet in the NBA for me during the 70s the ABA was fast fun and exciting when they merged it took a while for the NBA to catch my attention. I felt this book could have been so much more or maybe I was expecting something different. For most, I am sure this will be a good book.
October 14, 2020
I've read a lot of the best books about the NBA and its history. This book is a worthy addition to the club.
Croatto was able to convey the enthusiasm and sense of wonder that the NBA's early employees had. When he talks about the men and women who spent long days and nights, the reader feels that sense of accomplishment come through off the page. In the chapter about Marvin Gaye singing the National Anthem, I felt the nervousness and tension that everyone must have felt. There was so much in the line. Advertisers could have left. David Stern, commissioner and colossal figure, could have hated it and launched into one of his withering critiques. The sense of relief when Stern says he loved it was palpable to me as a reader.
The structure of the book was very engaging. His wasn't a straight ahead account of the NBA's handling of the various problems that plagued the league right after the ABA merger. Croatto takes detours into the pop culture and current events of the time to give context to those problems. This technique is not only enjoyable, but it gives the story a dimension I haven't seen in other books about this topic.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book.
Croatto was able to convey the enthusiasm and sense of wonder that the NBA's early employees had. When he talks about the men and women who spent long days and nights, the reader feels that sense of accomplishment come through off the page. In the chapter about Marvin Gaye singing the National Anthem, I felt the nervousness and tension that everyone must have felt. There was so much in the line. Advertisers could have left. David Stern, commissioner and colossal figure, could have hated it and launched into one of his withering critiques. The sense of relief when Stern says he loved it was palpable to me as a reader.
The structure of the book was very engaging. His wasn't a straight ahead account of the NBA's handling of the various problems that plagued the league right after the ABA merger. Croatto takes detours into the pop culture and current events of the time to give context to those problems. This technique is not only enjoyable, but it gives the story a dimension I haven't seen in other books about this topic.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book.
December 20, 2020
Just a fantastic trip down memory lane. As a lifelong hoops fan, I knew many of the events that Croatto describes in his epic text. I didn't know many of the details, though. And I sure didn't know the colorful stories that he unearths in this exceptionally well written and impeccably researched text. Brass tacks: The dude can flat-out write. I only hope that his next one arrives sooner rather than later.
July 1, 2025
Atria is a Finnish food industry company so that may explain why this book was so poorly edited, if edited at all? Yes, it’s well researched and I can appreciate the effort, but sadly not well written. Someone should have told the author to delete a third of the text. So disappointed – I really expected to learn a lot from this but found it so jumbled that I was unable to finish.
May 17, 2021
One of the rare books where reading the acknowledgment chapter was as rewarding as the book itself. It really shows the journey and the human contacts neccessary to produce the book. I wish more books had such in-depth acknowledgements.
May 23, 2023
Well researched book that i believe would be of interest to basketball and marketing fans. Interesting to see how the NBA grew from another sport to a big time moneymaker, especially since it happened at a time when basketball was my favorite sport.
December 21, 2020
Loved this book. Great insight from hundreds of basketball insiders!
March 28, 2021
Fascinating history about the evolution of the NBA. How the NBA became a very successful business.
August 5, 2021
Was “fine”. Nothing too exciting and no amazing insights about the NBA I didn’t already know.
March 22, 2022
A love letter to the...business growth...of the NBA. Good resource for budding NBA historians.
August 9, 2025
This one took me awhile to finish. Very informative and I learned a good amount of information. But it was a lot of names, places and the time line of how it was written was all over the place.
August 13, 2025
Didnt blow me away - I think there are better/more interesting NBA books out there, but did learn some new things. Kind of felt all over the place at times.
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