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What: “Official NBA Encyclopedia� (third edition)

Author: Edited by Jan Hubbard (introduction by David Stern, foreword by Michael Jordan)

Publisher: NBA and Doubleday

Price: $50

This 912-page encyclopedia has 550 pages of statistical information covering everyone who has played in the NBA or ABA. The rest consists of stories and more than 400 color and black-and-white photos. The book became available at bookstores last month and can also be ordered through https://www.NBA.com.

Here are only a few of the nuggets:

* Michael Jordan writes in the introduction: “One day I came home and my kids had lowered the basket to nine feet so they could dunk. I raised it back to 10 and told them to learn how to shoot.�

* Larry Bird and Magic Johnson met 37 times, with Magic holding a 22-15 edge. Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain met 142 times, with Russell the leader, 85-57.

* The first game, played at the YMCA at Springfield, Mass., had 18 players, nine to a side, and lasted 30 minutes.

* The Bill Sharman-coached Lakers hold the NBA record with 33 consecutive victories in 1972-73, but the Buffalo Germans, a touring team that played from 1895-1929, won 111 in a row.

* The NBA record for consecutive free throws is 97 by the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Micheal Williams in 1993, but the professional record is 138 by a member of the Indianapolis Kautskys, a barnstorming team in the 1930s. That player’s name: John Wooden.

Inside the back cover are quotes, including one from Jerry West on why he loves the game: “Basketball is the ultimate fantasy for any kid. I became a basketball player because it’s a game you can play by yourself.�