It's a Numbers Game! Basketball

Ages 8 to 12, Grades 3 to 7

Why do NBA players only have 24 seconds to score a basket? What’s the geometry behind making the perfect shot? Become a basketball pro and learn all about the numbers and math behind this popular sport.

Numbers are everywhere in basketball—from the dimensions of the court to the points you can score to the digits on each player’s jersey. In this awesome new book, you’ll learn how these numbers make basketball the game we know and love today, and also get a few tips along the way on how to improve your game. As Kobe Bryant wrote in his Foreword for the book, “Sucess is in the detail—and the detail is in the math.” Read about amazing statistics and learn how to track the stats of your favorite basketball stars. Discover how to improve your bounce pass and chest pass with geometry and physics. Colorful graphics explain the math behind the sport, and cool photos make you feel like you’re right on the court. Filled with sports trivia and fun activities at the end of every chapter, this book is sure to be a slam dunk with kids who can’t get enough of the game and want to learn more.

Series Overview: It’s a Numbers Game books look at all the ways numbers and math are present in sports. From players’ jersey numbers to the dimensions of a field to the angle a ball must take to score some points, kids will do a deep dive into their favorite sport, number by number. Jam-packed with fun facts, sports history, colorful diagrams, and dynamic photos, kids will forget that they’re learning about math. These are the perfect books for the sport expert or novice, as well as the budding athlete or future ESPN analyst.

About the Author

JAMES BUCKLEY is the author of more than 100 books for young readers on basketball, baseball, football, soccer, and more. A former editor at Sports Illustrated and NFL Publishing, he is also the author of the top-selling annual Scholastic Year in Sports. In the nonsports world, he has written a dozen titles in the New York Times best-selling Who Was…? biography series. He lives in Santa Barbara, where he runs the Shoreline Publishing Group, a leading producer of nonfiction for kids.

Author Residence: Santa Barbara, California