Read more
"The hoops answer to Ball Four. By turns funny and poignant -- and always self aware -- this book allows fans into the locker room and huddle, yes, but also into the cortex of a professional basketball player. If Carson Cunningham could have jumped, run and created his shot off the dribble as masterfully as he writes and observes, he'd be starring in the NBA."
-L. Jon Wertheim, senior writer for SPORTS ILLUSTRATED "During my nine years coaching in the CBA, I thought I'd witnessed every possible scenario in that zany league, yet Carson Cunningham's Underbelly Hoops was a delightful revelation. Most impressive were his observations of the on- and off-court experiences of such a wide range of fascinating characters--from Chris Daleo, the over-the-top manic coach of the Rockford Lightning, to teammate Keith Closs, a free-spirited 7'3" shot-blocker with a big heart but a big vice. At turns hilarious and infuriating, Cunningham's memoir is also enriched by his lively writing style, his profound understanding of America's basketball culture, and his unadorned honesty. The result is a bountiful triple-double for Cunningham and a must read for hoop-o-philes of every...
About the author
Hailing from basketball's epicenter, the great state of Indiana, Carson Cunningham memorized Georgetown's starting five in Kindergarten. Over the next twelve years or so, he played all the time with his buddies, stopping occasionally-oftentimes only because his parents forced him to – to read the books and magazines and newspapers laying around his house. Before he knew it, he'd become an all-state player in Indiana, a runner-up for PAC-10 Freshman of the Year honors, and then, after transferring to Purdue, a two-time Academic All-American. From there, came a journey into basketball's professional underbelly, which consisted of all or parts of three seasons in the CBA and stints playing in Australia and Estonia.
Cunningham is the author of
American Hoops: U.S. Men's Olympic Basketball from Berlin to Beijing, which offers a dynamic portrait of the global age through basketball, and of Before the Curse: The Chicago Cubs' Glory Years, 1870-1945. In 2006, he earned a Ph.D. in history from Purdue University, and is on track to complete an MBA in DePaul University's Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. He teaches history at DePaul and lives and coaches where basketball thrives: Indiana. His wife Christy and his three children are his seashells and balloons.
Summary
UNDERBELLY HOOPS covers Carson Cunningham's final season in the storied and now defunct Continental Basketball Association (CBA). In the process, it takes a sober look at minor league professional basketball, as Cunningham tries to navigate a poor relationship with his coach and yet finish his career on his own terms by playing a final season and winning a championship.
As UNDERBELLY HOOPS shows, the CBA was a realm where hopeful players desperately hung on and crusty motels might very well have no clocks. It was a place where a trainer could be ordered to fill the visiting team's cooler with warm shower water and a coach might tell a player (namely, Cunningham) that he was focusing too much on his marriage and child rather than basketball. It was also a place where entire hotel wings could become saturated with the pungent smell of marijuana.
And yet, even as it chipped away at your dignity and made little economic sense to remain, the CBA drew you in with the allure of action and the prospect of an NBA call-up. And it could inspire, like when you and your teammates caught a rhythm that made you remember why basketball is such a beautiful game, or when you saw guys continue to strive, to persevere, even if their dreams weren't fully realized.
"The hoops answer to Ball Four. By turns funny and poignant—and always self aware—this book allows fans into the locker room and huddle, yes, but also into the cortex of a professional basketball player. If Carson Cunningham could have jumped, run and created his shot off the dribble as masterfully as he writes and observes, he'd be starring in the NBA."
—L. Jon Wertheim, Senior Writer for SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
