A recap of the Golden State Warriors from 2012 to 2017 that is much more ball than beta. Warrior fans would probably enjoy it very much, but there wasn't enough science for the rest of us.

As a fan of basketball, it was hard not to be captivated by the Warriors (and their ongoing relationship with the Cavaliers). This is a thoroughly researched story and--perhaps most importantly--not overly biased one way or the other. My one issue with the book is the timing. This story may be far from over, and I might be more likely to read the story as a retrospective, say, in 10 years. We have not seen the end of the Golden State dynasty, and this book could easily be updated to include more in years to come. Whether you are fan of the Warriors or not, this is a story worth knowing for any fan of the game.

Wasn't very impressed. Made it to about 35% and there is very little science...more like a history of the team. Will give this one up and continue to a better looking book on this team. I am sorry that I didn't like this book.But thank you for providing a copy.

To be candid, I follow the Warriors closely- not necessarily as a fan but as someone who works in sports, I enjoy learning more about their management style and culture. A lot of what is in the book, was not new information to me but to someone who doesn't follow their organization closely, the book would be interesting to read. It reads like Erik had some access to people inside the organization but he uses a lot of references from other publications rather than first hand accounts/interviews. Overall I would recommend the book for friends and have actually ordered 6 copies for our staff who do not follow their organization as closely as I do.

The Golden State Warriors have brought an amazing amount of interest to the NBA over the past few years, especially because their franchise was such a disaster before in the span of 5 years, they've gone from happy underdogs to fan favorites to possibly the greatest team of all time to villains. This book captures all of that era and helps the reader to understand just what it was like with the Warriors before.

The author makes no secret of his lifelong fanhood of the team, which made me concerned for the writing, but it turned out to be much better written than I would have expected, especially because I seem to have some unexplained prejudice against Bleacher Report. I thought that the books was extremely readable and engrossing, though the game reviews would sometimes cause me to glaze over.

My main problem with the book was that it was marketed around the "betaball" concept, and I never felt like I got a clear definition of this, or what the Warriors were doing differently. The were several instances of different techniques or technologies being mentioned as being in use, but I never felt like I actually learned how the Warriors had adapted themselves or their franchise. On that hand, the book was a bit of a disappointment, because it was clearly going for a "Moneyball" in basketball type of vibe.

I did really enjoy the book, especially as a way to see how the Warriors changed over the years, but it was lacking in the analysis section (which I felt is what it was presented as), and ended up being a good reporting on the results book.

Excellent quick read for basketball fans. Highly recommended.

etaball: How Silicon Valley and Science Built One of the Greatest Basketball Teams in History is a decent chronicle of the Golden State Warriors' recent run of success, though I was disappointed by its light treatment of the "how" in its subtitle. The reader doesn't gain much insight into how the team utilized cutting-edge analytics and technological platforms to forge its success, with the book instead focusing largely on season-by-season recaps with little additional analysis. At its worst it reads like a digest of game recaps with details the average Warriors fan is likely already familiar with. There are a few compelling passages when author Erik Malinowski covers some of the innovations and strategies leveraged by the Warriors' players and front office, but I can't recommend the book too strongly to the casual NBA fan. Warrior fans should get some enjoyment out of Betaball, though they should be forewarned that there may not be a ton of new material for them.

The book does start out strongly, outlining the storied history of the Warriors and how former owner Chris Cohan helped drive the team deep into the Western Conference doldrums, at one point going 19 seasons without reaching the playoffs. There are also detailed profiles of major actors in the team's turnaround, such as new owner Joe Lacob, a former Silicon Valley venture capitalist who attempted to apply his business philosophies to running the Warriors. The Warriors have their fair share of quirky and engaging characters, and when Malinowski describes how Lacob built his front office or covers coach Steve Kerr's cosmopolitan childhood Betaball at times feels like Michael Lewis' book chronicling another Bay Area professional sports franchise looking to gain competitive advantages through unorthodox means. Malinowski is the lead writer for the Warriors on Bleacher Report and has been published in Wired and Rolling Stone. He clearly has a lot of passion for his subject and to his credit the book is well-researched and comprehensive. There are brief mentions of how Lacob tried to change the company's culture and emphasize analytics and apply the business principles that served him so well in the VC world to basketball.

From time to time Malinowski will mention advanced new technologies utilized by the Warriors, though he is frustratingly light on details or analysis. The Warriors were early adopters of player-tracking software such as SportVU, developed proprietary performance metrics, and even tracked player psychographics to help manage cultural fits and personalities. They even gave Kevin Durant virtual reality goggles to simulate the experience of walking out onto the Oracle Arena as a Warrior when they were recruiting him, and while the technology fritzed out during their meeting it seems that it didn't turn off KD from the team. As someone who is fascinated by such technologies, I wish Malinowski spent more time outlining how the Warriors employed such tools. I understand that team officials might be tight-lipped about such matters, but Malinowski could try to reach out to the founders of such platforms and tools to speak in broad terms about how their stuff works (readers interested in learning more about such things should check out Brandon Sneed's Head in the Game, which features many company founders more than happy to tout their products). Many of the "season recap" books can quickly descend into monotony and read like box scores tied together with a tiny bit of prose, and Betaball succumbs to this at times. The Warriors' unorthodox approach to running a team offered Malinowski a compelling angle to enliven the rather staid recap genre and I feel like he could have done more with it.

The bulk of Betaball is season-by-season reviews of the Warriors' campaigns, beginning with Steph Curry's rookie season in 2009-2010. Malinowski highlights notable games and off-court happenings and draws heavily from primary sources. To my knowledge Malinowski didn't conduct any additional interviews for the book, so what you get is basically a series of game recaps without much additional insight. As someone who likes basketball but is not a Warriors fan, this format grew tiresome as I became bored by Malinowski reciting Curry's shooting performances, describing a few key plays, and noting controversial/incendiary/insightful comments uttered in press conferences. The book covers the 2009-2010 season through the 2015-2016 season (with a brief epilogue covering the Warriors' Finals win in 2017) and there is no real suspense or tension for any reader who paid one iota of attention to general basketball happenings over the last few years. Will the Warriors break the record for best regular season record? Will the Warriors blow their 3-1 Finals lead to the Cavs? Will Kevin Durant come to Oakland? Spoiler Alert: Yes, Yes, Yes. I realize that society's collective memory and attention span seems to get shorter and shorter, but the average reader is probably well aware what went down in the 2016 NBA Finals, and rehashing events without much additional analysis isn't going to be all that engaging.

While parts of this review can be rightly interpreted as harsh, Beta Ball is a fine entry in the "season recap" genre. My disappointment is a result of Malinowski devoting too many pages to the "what" (the Warriors winning a lot) and not enough to the "how" that helped them turn around the franchise. If you're a fan of the team you will probably enjoy rekindling these largely positive memories, but average fans may be left wanting more.

5.5 / 10

I am not a Golden State Warriors fan. In fact, I root for a rival team in the Western Conference which will likely not advance further than Golden State in the foreseeable future. However, watching the rise of Golden State has been remarkable, and I had very little knowledge of the majority of the aspects which preceded the Warriors' rise to power. And after reading this book, I must say that this ascent is fascinating, and should be a model for other organizations to adhere to as well. From embracing new metrics and techniques, to believing in certain players, the Golden State Warriors were able to create a juggernaut that is not showing any signs of subsiding anytime soon. Of course, and insane amount of luck and good fortune also have assisted this dynasty in the making, and this fact is not completely ignored by the author. This is a refreshing approach to basketball and hopefully more teams will follow suit moving forward.