Taking Shots - by Keith Glass (Paperback)

About the Book

Glass shatters the myth of NBA marketing in this insightful, funny, and often mind-numbingly collection of bizarre tales of life as an agent in the NBA.

From the Back Cover

Bring a family of four to an NBA game today, and it costs around $500 to watch a bunch of seven-footers take bad shots. Perhaps the quote often attributed to P.T. Barnum is true--there really is a sucker born every minute.

The NBA is in trouble. And as NBA agent Keith Glass describes it--he's part of the problem! If team owners are willing to throw millions of dollars his way for marginal players, why should he be the only one with the self-restraint to say "no"?

In his insightful, funny, and often mind-numbingly bizarre tales of life in the NBA over the last twenty- five years, Keith Glass lets it fly from half-court. He'll tell you how we got to the present state--where an agent who makes millions off the game can't sit through one; why our NBA stars couldn't capture Olympic gold; and why the game he loves is in dire need of help.

Glass has seen it all as the representative of players like Mark Eaton, the seven-foot-five center found working as a mechanic because he hated basketball; Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, who converted to Islam and brought the wrath of the league upon him when he refused to stand for the National Anthem; and first-round draft pick Quincy Douby, who was forced to enter the draft before graduating from Rutgers because of the harsh NCAA rules regarding college eligibility.

With informative chapters such as "How to Feed Your Family on Only $14 Million a Year," "Eighty-one Feet of White Centers," and "From 6'11" to the 7- Eleven," Glass shatters the myth of NBA marketing: that everything about the game is great, and that as long as the fans in the luxury boxes are happy and weighed down with expensive merchandise, all is well. But have no fear! Keith Glass doesn't preach about the evils of highlight film slam-dunks--he'll just have you falling down laughing as he flagrantly fouls the league that was once the envy of the pro sports world.

Review Quotes

"The agent, Keith Glass, is not trying to kill the goose that laid the golden egg. But he is poking it with a sharp stick in his book, Taking Shots. Part memoir, part purist manifesto, the book is a winding tour of everything right and wrong with the NBA. The wrongs are what resonate most." - New York Times
"Part memoir, part purist manifesto...a winding tour of everything right and wrong with the NBA." - New York Times
"...Entertaining and enlightening." - Chicago Tribune
"...a wild ride from start to finish." - Asbury Park Press
"Agents deal with players, coaches and management on a regular basis, making them some of the most plugged-in people in sports. In his first book--which is insightful and at times very funny--agent Keith Glass offers his thoughts on topics including why teams are willing to throw millions at marginal talent and why U.S. pros have trouble bringing home gold." - Sports Illustrated
"...insightful and at times very funny." - Sports Illustrated
"As a basketball person, Keith Glass's Taking Shots tied that mysterious area of players and agents together for me--I learned and laughed at the same time. I'm a big sports book reader, and I thought Keith's book was terrific. Taking Shots will now be required reading at St. Anthony's." - Bob Hurley, St. Anthony High School
"I thought Keith Glass's book was terrific. Taking Shots will now be required reading at St. Anthony's." - Bob Hurley, St. Anthony High School
"Interesting, insightful, humorous and factual--Taking Shots has it all! A must read for any and all basketball or sports fan." - Jud Heathcote, former coach, Michagan State
"Arguably the best basketball book that came out in 2007. ...For those looking to get into the industry...this book is basically a must-read. It's all told in a pointy, cynical tone... ...Extremely informative and entertaining." - draftexpress.com
"Glass is deliciously passionate about things. ...Strong opinions make for good reading." - Orlando Sentinel
"...It's a good read, a rollicking ride, and bodes well for Glass's retirement job as a stand-up comedian..." - Montreal Gazette
"Through humor, he expresses a fairly weighty opinion... Keith may have outsmarted us all with his covertly brilliant writing style." - Paul Shirley, Phoenix Suns, author of Can I Keep My Jersey?
"Glass has had some intriguing experiences as an agent for NBA players...he has some stories to tell..." - Bill Littlefield, WBUR
"For an irreverent look at NBA life from an insider, consider the new book Taking Shots by Keith Glass." - Good Times
"...it deals with opinions many have thought but few have articulated. It's a wild ride from start to finish. Then again, what else would you expect from someone whose first recruiting trip for UCLA included a jailhouse visit with most of the team from Ben Franklin High School in East Harlem, N.Y., including Walter Berry and Richie Adams, and whose first client, Mark Eaton, was discovered under a car working as a mechanic in Southern California. It has all the elements...conflict and resolution...loyalty and betrayal...international intrigue and romance. ...worth reading." - Asbury Park Press
"At some point, Keith Glass's old New Jersey bubbe must have drilled into him that the best way to get your digs in is by using humor. Glass's just-released expose about the inner workings of the NBA is full of laugh-out loud moments created by the player agent's ability to poke fun both at himself, and at some of the ridiculous situations he has run across during 30 years of navigating the game's inner circles. ...He names names and he tells stories. He goes into some detail about several of his contract negotiations, which offer a revealing glimpse into the behind-the-scenes machinations. ..It's a good read, a rollicking ride, and bodes well for Glass's retirement job as a stand-up comedian-or at least a larger-than-life TV analyst." - Montreal Gazette
"Keith's book is full of funny stories. But that's not really the point of Taking Shots. The stories are merely the pieces of a collage that lead the reader to the eventual conclusion that the world of professional basketball is pretty screwed up. ...Through humor, he managed in his book to express a fairly weighty opinion on a subject close to his heart. ...Keith may have outsmarted us all with his covertly brilliant writing style...." - Paul Shirley, Phoenix Suns, author of Can I Keep My Jersey?
"Glass has had some intriguing experiences as an agent for N.B.A. players, many of them marginal. As a result, he has some stories to tell, many of which cast him in the role of the principled businessman in the land of snakes and sharks." - Bill Littlefield, WBUR
"For an irreverent look at NBA life from an insider, consider the new book Taking Shots by Keith Glass, a former UCLA assistant coach and a close friend of Larry Brown. His father, Joe Glass, is still Brown's agent, so there are plenty of good Knicks stories here. Like his dad, Keith is himself an agent and shows his sense of humor when he discusses his favorite players, white stiff centers Mark Eaton and Chuck Nevitt. Sadly, the role of the white stiff center these days has been outsourced to European players. Henry Finkel, where are you when we need you?" - Good Times
"Taking Shots should be required reading for anyone who cares about the game." - Fran Fraschilla, ESPN college basketball analyst
"Glass displays a razor-sharp wit and an amazing capacity to tell a story. ...fans will love this book..." - The Tennessean
"While reading Taking Shots, Keith Glass took me on a fascinating trip through some front roads and back roads of the NBA that I have covered for more than two decades. And he also took me on an insightful tour of the life of an agent. I found myself only reading 20-25 pages at a time, because I didn't want it to end too soon." - Phil Jasner, Philadelphia Daily News
"I found myself only reading 20-25 pages at a time, because I didn't want it to end too soon." - Phil Jasner, Philadelphia Daily News
"Agent Keith Glass is coming out with a book about his life in the game, and if the galleys are any indication, it is going to be a worthwhile read, filled with entertaining anecdotes." - Peter May, Boston Globe
"I am so jealous that Keith Glass was the one to write this book because so much of what he said about out basketball 'system' being broken is something many of us in the game have been screaming about for a few years now. I laughed out loud reading the part about the USA coaches not knowing the Greek players' names because I thought and said the same thing last summer while covering the World Championships. I was glad to see that I wasn't the only one who recognized the obvious insult. Taking Shots should be required reading for anyone who cares about the game." - Fran Fraschilla, ESPN college basketball analyst
"Very few sports books manage not only to inform readers but also to make them laugh out loud. NBA agent and first-time author Keith Glass pulls off the feat adroitly in his new book Taking Shots. Glass, a former assistant coach with the UCLA Bruins, has represented an impressive array of former (and current) NBA players... Glass displays a razor-sharp wit and an amazing capacity to tell a story. ...He makes many valid points of criticism and even offers numerous rule changes to better the game. All in all, most basketball fans will love this gem of a book and only wish there were more tall tales and bizarre battles." - The Tennessean
"Keith Glass is a former high school and college coach who became an agent for NBA players. He has a few bones to pick with the league in his Taking Shots. Glass is deliciously passionate about things. ...Strong opinions make for good reading." - Orlando Sentinel