Black Ball: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Spencer Haywood and the Generation that Saved the Soul of the NBA
Bold Type Books, 2024

About the book
Against a backdrop of resistance to desegregation and the rise of Black Power, the National Basketball Association in the 1970s embodied the nation’s imagined descent into disorder. A new generation of Black players introduced an improvisational style derived from neighborhood courts, garnering high salaries and increased agency. Critics — citing drug use, violence, and greed — blamed them for the sport’s supposed decline. Combining knowledge of the game with incisive social analysis, Runstedtler argues this much-maligned period was pivotal to the rise of today’s NBA.

This event is presented in partnership with Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice (SDARJ).

About the author
Theresa Runstedtler is an award-winning scholar of African American history whose research focuses on the intersection of race, masculinity, labor, and sport. A professor at American University, she has shared her expertise on the History Channel, Al Jazeera America, Vox.com, NPR, and the BBC.

Purchase the book
Please help support local independent bookstores by purchasing this book at Browseabout Books, official bookseller of the History Book Festival. Online sources and digital versions are tempting; however, supporting local brick and mortar shops helps to preserve our vibrant main streets. Drop by Browseabout, order books online, or call the store at 302-226-2665. You also may purchase a copy at biblion in Lewes.

About the Festival
The History Book Festival is the first and only book festival in the United States devoted exclusively to history. With the help of our presenting funding partners — Delaware Humanities, National Endowment for the Humanities, and The Lee Ann Wilkinson Group, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices | PenFed Realty — as well as our program and community partners, volunteers, and donors, the 2024 History Book Festival will be full of great discussions with authors of newly published narrative nonfiction and historical fiction. Our Keynote event is presented by Sally Mott Freeman and John K. Freeman, and our Closing event is presented by Griswold Home Care for Sussex and Kent Counties. Saturday’s Spirited Discussion, our gathering for attendees and presenters to celebrate and discuss their day, is presented by Dogfish Head Beer & Benevolence.

Special thanks to our program partners for their continuing support: the Lewes Public Library for event promotion and venue; Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach, official bookseller of the History Book Festival; Lewes Chamber of Commerce for event promotion, and the Cape Gazette and Delmarva Public Media, our media partners.

Additional thanks to our community partners: CAMP Rehoboth, Historic Lewes Farmers Market, Lewes Historical Society, Rehoboth Art League, Rehoboth Beach Film Society, Seaside Jewish Community, and Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice (SDARJ).