The paperback release of Basketball Junkie was released May 8, 2012. For a listing of retailers, please visit http://www.basketballjunkie.net/where-to-buy/retailers/

FILM SUMMARY:

Award-winning filmmaker Jonathan Hock has mastered the art of telling stories about the struggles and triumphs of American hometown heroes. Chris Herren of Fall River, Mass., was a high school basketball standout who battled the pressures of making it big from an early age. After dropping out of Boston College, Chris landed on Jerry Tarkanian’s notorious Fresno State team, where players were likely to be found on both police blotters and All-American lists. Chris failed drug tests at BC and Fresno State, but he was so talented that he was drafted into the NBA anyway, ending up with the Boston Celtics. But at the moment he was realizing his childhood dream of becoming a star for the home team, Chris was falling in a 10-year-long spiral of addiction. He bounced from team to team, country to country. Ultimately, Chris, the youngest and most talented of three generations of local heroes, has found redemption and personal fulfillment through the game, but only after it led him literally around the world, down a path of alcohol and drug addiction that nearly killed him.

•

For more information on the documentary, the director Jonathan Hock or ESPN Films visit: The Hoop Dreams with Chris Herren ESPN “Unguarded” Page or

http://espn.go.com/espn/espnfilms/story/_/id/6961212/unguarded

BOOK TIP: BASKETBALL JUNKIE

While I was interested in the story of Chris Herren, who went from basketball God in Fall River, Mass., to Boston Celtic, I was reluctant to pick it up because it’s also the story of addiction, which makes it not exactly a breezy summer read. But I gave it a shot, and couldn’t put it down.

The book is great on two levels. First, there’s the basketball, as Herren travels from high school, to college, to the NBA, to leagues all over the world. Herren offers us an inside look at the world of college athletics, and it’s not always pretty.

And then there’s Herren’s journey from addiction to sobriety, which is much uglier. Booze. Cocaine. OxyContin. Heroin. Bottom came when he crashed his car into a telephone pole with heroin as his passenger. But Herren keeps this from being a sad tale of what could have been by exhibiting no self-pity. In the end you’ll find yourself rooting harder for him than if he were still wearing the green and gold.

Game On! 5 Winning Summer Sports Books

While the traditional “beach read” set heads off for the summer with pails and shovels in hand, those who prefer a box score and a beer in the bleachers might be just as happy to settle in with a few good reads of their own. Writing about sports can mean anything from a juicy novel about love among athletes to an academic study of the game — whatever game is your favorite — to the obsessive superstar biography that raises up or knocks down a hero.

A good sports book might drag you out onto the field or into the locker room; it might go spelunking in the brain of a master or visit the world of the fan. In these five offerings, baseball is a hero’s playground and a parent’s testing ground, basketball bumps up uncomfortably against heroin addiction, sports journalism undergoes one of its most important transitions, and the sports geek’s endless need to understand flowers in full.

Basketball Junkie by Chris Herren and Bill Reynolds

·

To Read the Article Visit:

http://www.npr.org/2011/07/20/138478010/game-on-5-winning-summer-sports-books

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. “Basketball Junkie” by Chris Herren and Bill Reynolds (St. Martin Press)

2. “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand (Random House)

3. “In the Garden of Beasts” by Erik Larson (Crown)

4. “The Greater Journey” by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster)

5. “Politics and Pasta” by Vincent Cianci (Thomas Dunne Books)

6. “Seal Team Six” by Howard E. Wasdin (St. Martin Press)

7. “Bossypants” by Tina Fey (Hachette Publishing)

8. “On China” by Henry Kissinger (Penguin)

9. “Area 51” by Annie Jacobsen (Little Brown and Company)

10. “Bottom of the 33rd” by Dan Barry (Harper Collins)

Book Review: ‘Basketball Junkie’ In More Ways Than 1

This story of Portsmouth resident Chris Herren evokes anger and sympathy, sorrow and joy, inspiration and discouragement. He set high school basketball scoring records in his native Fall River, earning McDonald’s All-American honors and developing addictions to alcohol and drugs.

The memoir recounts a boy becoming a man while largely wasting NBA-level ability, sucked into a vortex of pressure, money, fame and drugs.

•

To Read More of The Review Visit:

http://www.projo.com/sports/billreynolds/BOOK_BBALL_JUNKIE_0626_06-26-11_0GOOLQ0_v5.540f1.html

Chris Herren Tells His Story

Former Celtic Chris Herren, a Fall River native who played at Boston College, talks to Comcast SportsNet Central’s Carolyn Manno about being a drug addict during his basketball career . . . the subject of his book, “Basketball Junkie,” written with Bill Reynolds.

The Emily Rooney Show

Former Boston Celtics player Chris Herren was born in Fall River but he was raised on the basketball court. Unfortunately, Herren’s struggle with drug addiction crippled his impressive athletic career. Herren joins us to discuss his life on the court, his battle with drugs, and his new memoir, “Basketball Junkie.” Chris Herren also shares his thoughts on the controversial Nike Store window display on Newbury Street in Boston.

To Listen to the Interview Visit:

http://www.wgbh.org/includes/playerPop.cfm?section=1&featureid=29708

Bill Reynolds & Chris Herren Talk with John DePetro about the Book Basketball Junkie

To listen to the interview visit: http://www.630wpro.com/Article.asp?id=2216182&spid=18074

Rebound: Former Basketball Star Pens His True Story

“Basketball Junkie” is the kind of book screenwriters love.

They barely have to touch it to make it into a Hollywood blockbuster.

“Basketball Junkie,” by Bill Reynolds and Chris Herren, is “The Fighter” set in Fall River instead of Lowell, set on the court instead of in the ring.

I could not put this book down. I read it in a day. I’m telling you now: This will be a movie someday.

Providence sports writer Reynolds, author of “Fall River Dreams,” has collaborated with Chris Herren — former Durfee High School basketball star, Denver Nugget and Boston Celtic — to tell Herren’s unbelievable tale.

To Read More of the Article Visit: http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110616/PUB03/106160355