The Breaks of the Game
First edition cover
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| Author | David Halberstam |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Sports |
| Publisher | Knopf |
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Publication date
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1981 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 362 |
The Breaks of the Game is a 1981 sports book written by Pulitzer Prize winning reporter David Halberstam about the Portland Trail Blazers' 1979–1980 season. The Trail Blazers are a professional basketball team which plays in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Aside from a recap of the Blazers' season, the book attempts to give a detailed history of the NBA, the 1976–77 Portland Trail Blazers championship team, the injuries faced by departed star Bill Walton, and the life of Kermit Washington after his two-month suspension for punching Rudy Tomjanovich. The book also puts basketball into a social context and contains extensive discussion on race in the NBA.
At the time of its release, the New York Times gave it high praise. The book was also given a positive review by Sports Illustrated upon its release, and later listed number 17 in Sports Illustrated's list of best sports books ever written. Popular sportswriter and television producer Bill Simmons has repeatedly talked of his admiration for the book.
The 1977 NBA championship Blazers team was a young team built around Bill Walton, Maurice Lucas, and Lionel Hollins, and coached by Jack Ramsay. After winning the championship they started the 1977–78 season with a league best 50–10 record before Walton broke his foot, and when he came back to play in the playoffs, he re-injured the foot. Walton was nonetheless named Most Valuable Player of the league for that season. Before the next season Walton was disgruntled because he felt that the Portland medical staff should not have cleared him to play in the playoffs. He sat out the following season in protest. He was traded to the San Diego Clippers shortly before the 1979–80 season.
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