Young, Black, Rich, and Famous: The Rise of the NBA, the Hip Hop Invasion, and the Transformation of American Culture Paperback – 1 March 2008

I highly recommend this book for any fan of basketball. Todd does a wonderful job mixing thoughtful intelligent observations with real talk.

The best way to describe this book would be a thoroughly well-articulated extended dissertation on the role of race in the sport of professional basketball. With the exception of a few typos and some timing reference errors, Boyd consistently hits the mark with his parallels of hip hop culture and the NBA. It certainly may not appeal to those unwilling to hear harsh truths about how many white people love Black culture but not the people, or how player perceptions are significantly shaped by implicit biases and internalized racism.

A very good story and a great read for the young girls and boys that only wish to pursue a career in the pro's. It is a great career but all that glits is not gold. Have a back up plan.

Slapdash, seemingly un-researched, rambling, unfocused, repetitive. Contains basic factual errors - the year NC State won the NCAA championship for instance. He tells a completely unremarkable anecdote about Michael Jordan that serves no purpose other than to demonstrate that he met Michael Jordan - and, to boot, it undercuts his supposed disdain for sycophancy. It has no coherent structure to speak of. It’s about hip-hop only insofar as Dr. Boyd quotes rap lyrics at the end of paragraphs. Lingers far too much on college basketball - a great subject, but not the one advertised. A tremendous waste of a great concept.