If Magic in the Air by Mike Sielski were a dunk, I'd give it a 10.

In 9th grade, I dunked for the first time. Even though the rim barely moved, as I was just 6'1" 145, it was one of the greatest feelings in the world. I never did it in an actual game, but the spring and summer of hard work I put into even getting there made it worth it. Don't get the wrong impression about my "basketball talent." I was the worst player on the team.

Anyhow, enough about my joke of a career. What isn't a joke is Sielski's about the history of the slam dunk.

Who was the first person to dunk a basketball in an organized game? Sielski delves deep and speaks with the descendants of two basketball Olympians—one from 1936 and the other from 1948.
Sielski also examines the sociological and cultural aspects of the dunk. Of course, there are racial undertones. He explores the "Alcindor Rule," which banned dunking in NCAA basketball for nearly a decade. Was it racial? The NCAA reference archivists wouldn't even give him and Walter Byers' son access to the files. Hmm.

The ABA, which oozed coolness compared to the staid NBA, is covered in fascinating detail. Sielski also includes the history of women dunking. Rucker League pickup ball and streetball dunkers who never made the NBA are included. There's a great, albeit sad, chapter about streetball legend Earl "The Goat" Manigault.

So many of these dunkers regrettably are not on YouTube, so Sielski has to rely on interviews with them, teammates, writers, fans, and broadcasters. With Sielski's descriptions, I could almost picture some of these dunks in my hand.

For any fan of the dunk, especially during this drab cookie-cutter era of three-point shots in the name of efficiency and disincentive to play defense, since breathing on a player is a foul, making uncontested dunks meaningless, especially in the NBA, this book is excellent to walk down memory lane.

I especially recommend this for Baby Boomers who are basketball fans. They'll remember many players who played before I started watching in 1991.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.
5 shooting stars.

I'm off to YouTube to watch some 70's and 80's dunk highlights.

The dunk is one of the most exciting plays in basketball. Players who may not have great skills or statistics in other facets of the game but can dunk with flair can become legendary anywhere from playgrounds to NBA arenas. Of course, superstar players can also add to their legendary status with dunking prowess. This book by Mike Sielski takes the reader on a journey through the history of this shot and how it not only affected the sport, but how it also became a way to introduce Black culture to a mostly white fan base.

The story of the dunk really begins with Jack Inglis, who was considered to be the best professional basketball player of the early 20th century, long before the birth of the NBA. The stories that Sielski found about Inglis and some of the shots and jumps he made are at times hard to believe and make up one of the best parts of the book.

There’s also a good write up about Inglis’ life, which is something Sielski does for most players featured in this book. They do include the legendary stars whose dunks are famous (Michael Jordan and Julius Erving) but also some other players whose names may well have been forgotten save for one famous dunk or a win in a slam dunk contest. Lorenzo Charles and Mac McClung are two examples of these types of players in the book and their stories, especially that of Charles, were also very good.

The linkage between the dunk and Black culture, and as an extension of that’ its influence in the sport, is also well documented and researched in the book. Here the reading can be a little more tedious and slow paced, but that doesn’t take away the quality and depth of the research. The best example and illustration of this is Sielski’s chapter on the famous 1966 NCAA championship game between Texas Western and Kentucky. Basketball fans will recall its place in history as Texas Western won with five Black starters against Kentucky’s team of all white players. What isn’t as well know is that David Lattin decided to send a message to Kentucky by dunking during Texas Western’s warm ups. Stories like this one make this book a very good source of information for anyone who wants to learn more about the dunk.

I wish to thank St. Martin’s Press for providing a copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.

Solid book. There's some cool anecdotes powered by strong research. I think this project might have been a bit too much for the writer's skill level, but I admire him for going for it. Worth checking out if you want some deep-cut references related to the history of dunking.

What an amazing book. Easily the best basketball book I have read since Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons. The writing was lyrical and the stories were great. Each chapter could be its own book but the author was able to really connect each chapter and show the evolution of basketball through the story of the dunk. Even the stories and people I had a passing recognition of were given such great context. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves basketball, and if you’re not interested in it by the end of the this book there might be something up. Today basketball books tend to focus on analytics but the author really did an amazing job of showing the amazing stories that make up the history of both college and professional basketball. Highly recommend!