What can the film Hoosiers teach us about the meaning of life? How can ancient Eastern wisdom traditions, such as Taoism and Zen Buddhism, improve our jump-shots? What can the "Zen Master" (Phil Jackson) and the "Big Aristotle" (Shaquille O'Neal) teach us about sustained excellence and success? Is women's basketball "better" basketball? How, ethically, should one deal with a strategic cheater in pickup basketball? With NBA and NCAA team rosters constantly changing, what does it mean to play for the "same team"? What can coaching legends Dean Smith, Rick Pitino, Pat Summitt, and Mike Krzyzewski teach us about character, achievement, and competition? What makes basketball such a beautiful game to watch and play? Basketball is now the most popular team sport in the United States; each year, more than 50 million Americans attend college and pro basketball games. When Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, first nailed two peach baskets at the opposite ends of a Springfield, Massachusetts, gym in 1891, he had little idea of how thoroughly the game would shape American -- and international -- culture. Hoops superstars such as Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Yao Ming are now instantly recognized celebrities all across the planet. So what can a group of philosophers add to the understanding of basketball? It is a relatively simple game, but as Kant and Dennis Rodman liked to say, appearances can be deceiving. Coach Phil Jackson actively uses philosophy to improve player performance and to motivate and inspire his team and his fellow coaches, both on and off the court. Jackson has integrated philosophy into his coaching and his personal life so thoroughly that it is often difficult to distinguish his role as a basketball coach from his role as a philosophical guide and mentor to his players. In Basketball and Philosophy, a Dream Team of twenty-six basketball fans, most of whom also happen to be philosophers, proves that basketball is the thinking person's sport. They look at what happens when the Tao meets the hardwood as they explore the teamwork, patience, selflessness, and balanced and harmonious action that make up the art of playing basketball.
Jerry L. Walls is professor of philosophy of religion at Asbury Theological Seminary. Among his previous books are Heaven: The Logic of Eternal Joy and Hell: The Logic of Damnation. Gregory Bassham, professor of philosophy at King's College (Pennsylvania), is the author of Original Intent and the Constitution and coeditor of The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy: One Book to Rule Them All and The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy: The Lion, the Witch, and the Worldview.
Table of Contents
Power Foreword Dick Vitale xi Acknowledgments xiii Tip-off: Hoops, Pop Culture, and Philosophy 1 Baseline Values, Enduring Lessons Building Communities One Gym at a Time: Communitarianism and the Decline of Small-Town Basketball Stephen H. Webb 7 To Hack or Not to Hack? (The Big) Aristotle, Excellence, and Moral Decision-Making Thomas D. Kennedy 19 Basketball Purists: Blind Sentimentalists or Insightful Critics? R. Scott Kretchmar 31 Hardwood Dojos: What Basketball Can Teach Us about Character and Success Gregory Bassham Mark Hamilton 44 What Would Machiavelli Do? Confronting the Strategic Cheater in Pickup Basketball Regan Lance Reitsma 57 Basketball, Violence, Forgiveness, and Healing Luke Witte 71 The Breaks of the Game: Luck and Fairness in Basketball Scott A. Davison 83 The Beauty of the Game Peg Brand Myles Brand 94 Prime-Time Players, Coaches, and Sages The Zen Master and the Big Aristotle: Cultivating a Philosopher in the Low Post Fritz Allhoff Anand J. Vaidya 107 Wilt versus Russell: Excellence on the Hardwood David K. O'Connor 116 TheWizard versus the General: Why Bob Knight Is a Greater Coach than John Wooden Jerry L. Walls 129 Shooting from the Perimeter The Dao of Hoops Dirk Dunbar 147 Hoop Dreams, Blacktop Realities: Basketball's Role in the Social Construction of Black Manhood Bernard Jackson Jr. 158 She Got Game: Basketball and the Perfectly Developed Woman Deborah A. Wallace James M. Wallace 168 Metaphysical Madness Shooting with Confidence Kevin Kinghorn 185 The Hot Hand in Basketball: Illusion or Reality? Steven D. Hales 196 Philosophers Can't Jump: Reflections on Living Time and Space in Basketball Tim Elcombe 207 Playing for the Same Team Again Matthew H. Slater Achille C. Varzi 220 Plato and Aristotle on the Role of Soul in Taking the Rock to the Hole Daniel B. Gallagher 235 The Basket That Never Was Thomas P. Flint 244 Hoosiers and the Meaning of Life Michael L. Peterson 256 The Lineup 274 Index 279