Book Review-The Last Shot

For long-time denizens of the Hole, you may be familiar with my love affair with Darcy Frey’s The Last Shot. I love to read, and I particularly enjoy sports books, and this one ranks among the best sports books I have ever read. I recently re-read The Last Shot (for the third time) and it was as much of a page-turner as the first time I read it.

During the summer of ’91 and through the basketball season of ’92, Frey followed around the Lincoln High basketball team from Coney Island, and specifically followed four players-seniors Corey Johnson, Tchaka Shipp, Russell Thomas and freshman prodigy Stephon Marbury. Coney Island and Lincoln High had both deteriorated over the years, but the saving grace for the school and the community was its boy’s basketball team, which captured the city championship in 1991. With the addition of Marbury to the senior dominated team, anticipation for Lincoln’s 1992 season was high.

In addition to basking in the attention from their ’91 season, the seniors also cast their eyes towards the process of selecting and gaining entrance into a college. Shipp, as the raw 6’9″ power forward, garnered the most attention among the seniors, gaining an invite to the Nike summer camp and attention from all the Big East programs. Thomas, the lead scorer for Lincoln with a high strung personality, struggles to gain major college attention between his dime a dozen height of 6’1″ and his attempt to meet the necessary scores on the SAT. Johnson, a breathtaking athlete befuddles his family and coaches in not pursuing his academics and taking this chance more seriously. Marbury? Suffice to say, the roots of his arrogance were plainly visible and encouraged by his family and followers by the time he reached ninth grade.

While following the paths of these four players, one becomes quite cynical at the whole process of youth basketball and how these players seem cast as commodities for most everyone involved. Names such as Boeheim, Massimino, Carleismo, and Rick Barnes appear and none of them come off in a positive light (Fran Franschilla, a Barnes assistant at the time, particularly comes across as a tool). Frey does an excellent job of portraying the decrepit environment the residents of Coney Island survive in, and how much basketball is deemed as a savior for those in the ghetto. The unfortunate reality is that even for those students who ascend to elite status as a Lincoln basketball player, their education has been so sub-standard through the years that gaining eligibility is often a more difficult hurdle than playing at a high level on the basketball court.

Each of the four players are compelling, with Marbury’s case intriguing-he’s easily the most unlikeable of the four kids, but because of the experiences of two older brothers who were legends on the Coney Island courts but never materialized on the professional level, he and his family are more ruthless in their pursuit of Stephon’s success. The other three characters are more vulnerable and naive and unfortunately their aspirations fall short of the goal.

One last note about this book. . .if you read The Last Shot a few years ago or haven’t read the book yet, make sure you get a hold of the 2004 version. It has an updated “twelve years later” epilogue which is a must. I don’t want to spoil the epilogue, but I will say it was one of the more devastating and affecting things I have ever read. Perusing amazon and ebay, it looks like you can find the 2004 version for around $7-10, in the bookstores, list price will be about $13.

The Last Shot=Bobby Jackson ranking

Bobby Jackson-An incredible book. One of my all-time favorites.
Willie Burton-Just shy of legendary status. Top notch.
Townsend Orr-Enjoyable book, but erratic.
Dave Holmgren-Not very memorable.
Mitch Lee-An unmitigated disaster. Run away from this book!