Before you read my review I want to say that something that really bothered me in your Lakers chapter at the start how Kareem is the all time leading scorer in the NBA but LeBron is coming on strong. Well this is a preview book not set to come out until September. Here it is March/April that I am reading this and LeBron has passed Kareem. Fix it in the book. Why make yourself look bad with this inaccuracy. Now I don't know a lot about the publishing world but in this day and age of digital I would think this is a simple change unless of course you have already gone to press. For whatever reason I found this to be a sticking point with me. It really has and is bothering me. I am not a LeBron fan by any stretch and when you read my review you will see I don't even follow the NBA anymore. This little thing is just bugging the hell out of me. If you are going to put your name to something do it right. End rant here.



This is my first experience with this author.
This is also my first book through the Netgalley program.

I used to be a huge Larry Bird/Boston Celtic fan. I am old enough to have lived through this book. I experienced the events through TV, newspapers and Sports Illustrated. I loved watching the Bird/Magic rivalry. My mother was a huge Magic fan so it was always a heated three hours in my house when they went head to head.

I was never a Detroit fan. I also thought of them as "the bad boys" of basketball. They were dirty and I do believe they truly did try to hurt the stars of other teams.

Then there was Michael. I was not a fan of Michael Jordan. How could I be? I was a worshipper of Larry Bird. It was hard to watch the decline of the Celtics and Bird and for Michael to be the "next one", how could I possibly be a fan. Don't get me wrong, I acknowledge his greatness but that doesn't mean I have to be a fan.

This book reveals some wonderful behind the scenes information that I did not know of the events of the time. It brought back a lot of memories for me reliving that season and earlier ones as well. It sparked the memory of the fun rivalry my mother and I had watching the games.

I am no longer an avid basketball fan. Once Bird and Magic retired I was done. Not being a Jordan fan there really wasn't much to hold my interest. Basketball today is a totally different animal. It is in a worse place as far as I am concerned. But I don't want to go off on a rant and detract from this book.

This is a very good read. If you are a fan of the game give it a go. Learn how the game was played in the 80's. Feel the passion the players had for the game and their teams. Team first, personal achievements last. It was a different game then, a much better game and this book does a great job of bringing that back to life.

Rich Cohen brings people back to the 80s when basketball was all about winning and nothing short of it. Players had no problem throwing punches or elbows to win the game. It is a far contrast from todays game. I really enjoyed reliving my childhood through this book

Cohen writes a truly engaging book about the NBA in the ‘80s. He also makes a convincing case that '87-'88 may have been the greastest season in NBA history-- a slew of Hall of Famers playing at once, several different dynasties (Lakers, Celtics, Pistons, Bulls) in various states of rising and falling. He talked to a bunch of players and produces some fascinating nuggets.

He also offers a reconsideration of Isaiah Thomas’ greatness that opened my eyes. I’m one of those people who became convinced to see Thomas as a villain because of the rough play of the Pistons and the various scandals he’s brought on in retirement. That, however, should not cloud what an amazing player he was. To rank him behind John Stockton in the list of NBA All-Timers is insane.

If you like football, Cohen also wrote a wonderful book about the '85 Bears called Monsters.

I received a free egalley of this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the advance reader copy.

When the Game Was War is a fun trip down memory lane from Rich Cohen, with plenty of on the record interviews conducted for the book. Telling the story of the 1987-1988 NBA season within the context of the Lakers, Pistons, Celtics and Bulls and specifically the four superstars: Magic, Isiah, Larry and Michael. Cohen is unabashed about stating his claim that Isiah belongs in that top tier of legends.

Entertaining read for any basketball fan who grew up in the era, and will very likely have you going to YouTube to pull up clips and games referenced throughout.

Review in progress and to come.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

“Was the 1987–88 season really the best in NBA history?”

“There are two units of NBA time. There is the season, and there is the moment. The season is important, but it’s made up of moments. When you are in the moment, there is no important or unimportant. There is no season. There is only the moment.”

“The NBA was so special back then. It had the best teams, best players, best rivalries; and the game, too, was at its best.”

I love any book that talks about what I consider the golden age of basketball. I loved the 1980’s/1990’s era of basketball where Magic, Bird, and Jordan changed the game for the better. While today’s game and players and rules and focus on 3’s over a big man down low, their era was great in terms of physicality and rivalries. And Rich Cohen’s “When The Game Was War” does a great job of capturing this time period.

When it comes to books about basketball, I look for a few things. Is it well researched? It is entertaining? Am I going to learn new things about the players? And is it written with a lens of the time? The answer is a resounding yes to all of these questions. And one player I did not know much about was Isiah Thomas, who the author describes as being cast as a villain of the era. That was always my feeling and though the author did not change that opinion, I did enjoy that he humanized Thomas and gave a lot of good stories about him. He was definitely an important aspect of the era. The author is definitely biased in his devotion to Thomas.

All in all, a really good book that is worth reading if you like this era of basketball. Not as good as a Jack McCallum or Jackie MacMullan book, but pretty darn close.

I received this book free from Netgalley and Random House in exchange for an honest review.

Ridiculously fun book that reads super quick. The time period covered just predated my conscious basketball fandom, so there really wasn't any nostalgia kicking in. But the characters and events Cohen chroniclesovers loomed large over my basketball universe so it was quite fun to read the stories and get many details I never knew. Matter of fact: Rodman rassled in WCW, not WWE. Hopefully that egreegious error is cleared up by publication. :-D
Seriously though, if you are a basketball fan to any degree, this book will be a joy to read.

ARC provided.

I’m a big fan of Rich Cohen’s books and this one is another excellent addition to his body of work. His analysis of the 1987-88 season as the greatest in NBA history as told through the prism of Jordan, Johnson, Bird, and Thomas is fascinating. Cohen takes us through the season and its culmination in the brutal seven game championship series between the Pistons and Lakers(spoiler alert-Lakers won). Equally interesting is Cohen’s portraits of “lesser” players on the Pistons, Lakers, Bulls and Celtics like McHale, Pippen, Rodman, Worthy, and Lambeer. What makes this book a standout more than anything is Cohen’s writing. Clean , crisp, conversational at times—just a pleasure to read. Highly recommended.