Expensive Basketball, Shea Serrano
Expensive Basketball, Shea Serrano
1 Rating(s)
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Expensive Basketball

Bestseller

Author: Shea Serrano

Narrator: Cary Hite

Unabridged: 9 hr 57 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/28/2025


Synopsis

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Rap Year Book and Basketball (and Other Things), a clever and inventive examination of some of basketball's most iconic players, moments, games, and more.

Everything in basketball is measured. Everything in basketball is counted, and quantified, and computed. And yet, no matter how expansive the list of various pinpoint-specific statistical categories gets, some basketball things remain uncountable, and unquantifiable.

Some moments are more poetry than calculation; more art than numerical value; more feeling than data processing. And thus: Expensive Basketball.

From the final 196 seconds of Kobe Bryant’s playing career to the Sue Bird backpedal, from the erosive terror of Tim Duncan to the Larry Bird memory carousel, Expensive Basketball is an affirmation of feelings.

It’s an affirmation of basketball as virtuosity. 

It’s an affirmation of how sometimes you watch a person perform on the basketball court and it feels the same way it does when you lie in the grass at night and stare up at the moon for long enough that you start to think about how incredible it is that you really, truly, honestly, actually exist.

About Shea Serrano

Shea Serrano is the New York Times bestselling author of The Rap Year Book. Currently, he is a staff writer at The Ringer. He is the author of several books, including Basketball (and Other Things), Movies (and Other Things), and A Wedding Thing (The One).


Reviews

Goodreads review by Johnny on October 11, 2025

Shea Serrano has become an instant buy for me in recent years - between his (And Other Things) trilogy, his short stories and website, and two of his podcasts, No Skips and Six Trophies, he is putting out incredible work that cannot be missed. In his newest book, Expensive Basketball, readers can ex......more

Goodreads review by Jeff on September 16, 2025

Shea Serrano talks about basketball like an action movie (perhaps he talks about everything like an action movie). This is a great combination of some of basketball's coolest moments (Shea calls them "expensive") and so many pop culture references. Similar to "Basketball (And Other Things)" but with......more

Goodreads review by Perry on September 07, 2025

The best way to read this book is maybe one per day. I did that for the majority of the book and was able to enjoy each mini essay. Otherwise, each chapter is too rich (or expensive, if you prefer, possibly also overwritten). There are plenty of fine basketball memories included with an emphasis on......more

Goodreads review by Tanner on November 04, 2025

This was such a fun and enjoyable read!! Expensive Basketball is a collection of short essays talking about basketball memories in refreshing way using humor, intriguing information, and pop culture references. The nostalgia that some of these stories conjured up was fun to relive and think back to......more

Goodreads review by John on October 31, 2025

A book probably best enjoyed in smaller doses. That way, you don't begin to notice the author indulges in the same writing tricks... particularly constant pop culture references and repetitive phrasing... over and over again. There is some good stuff here... personal preferences were the stories abo......more


Quotes

"Serrano is one of the few writers whose on-the-page enthusiasm is infectious, who can describe a particular spin move executed during a regular season game from 2006 and successfully transfer his excitement about it to the reader—even if you didn’t watch that game, never cared about that team, are only hearing about that player for the first time."—LitHub, Most Anticipated List