The very nature of sports journalism—whether it be the tired
medium of out-of-touch middle-aged white guys perched in the press box,
or the snarky takedowns of anonymous bloggers—will never be the
same after the release of The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball
Almanac: Styles, Stats, and Stars in Today’s Game. Or, at the very
least, in a perfect world, it should never be the same.
Less a book and more like the shot heard ’round the sports-writing
world, Macrophenomenal thrashes against the prevailing tide of
sports coverage, in attitude, access, prose, and research. Generated by
the baffling assembly of the FreeDarko collective (freedarko.com)—who are to sports what
ego trip was to hiphop journalism—Macrophenomenal is penned by the ridiculous aliases of Bethlehem Shoals, Dr. Lawyer
IndianChief, Brown Recluse Esq., statistician Silverbird 5000, and
illustrator Big Baby Belafonte.
Presented with no more access to the elite of the NBA than your
standard sofa-bound fan, the FreeDarko authors break down the players
with a perspective that is both thoroughly in depth and “outsider” in
its nature. Or, basically, how the hell did they just explain the
fragile depth and devoted intricacies of Rasheed Wallace in a manner
that is far superior to a decade-plus of wasted sports section column
inches?
Their masterful examinations—Kobe Bryant as a miserable
perfectionist, complete with a stylish illustration of the Black Mamba
sporting a mustard yellow sweater while assembling a ship in a
bottle—are all backed by precise statistical analysis. Never dry,
the statistical presentations eschew the normal categorical assignments
(points, assists, etc.) in favor of far-out numerological-based
rationales, like Tracy McGrady’s career broken down into four Hinduism
Ashrama periods. Not to mention the visual splendor of illustrator
Belafonte, whose unique, texturally rich illustrations depict the
on-court skills of players via their technical moves and spirit
animals. Yes, spirit animals.
For all of those who absolutely love the sport of basketball, but
have grown tired of the tired clichés that weigh the game down,
then Macrophenomenal is your new bible−proof that if there
is any justice in this cruel world, sports writing as we know it is
about to change for the better.