To be a professional basketball player seems like a dream life for most. For a player lucky/good enough to make it into the NBA, it probably is a dream. However, the majority of pro ballers aren’t on NBA rosters; instead they are toiling away in minor leagues in the States or overseas. Still makes you a professional basketball player, but minus the five star treatment.
Carson Cunningham was one such pro basketball player. After a stellar collegiate career at Oregon State and Purdue, Cunningham became a journeyman pro player, playing overseas and in the CBA (rest in peace). He chronicles his last crazy year playing in the CBA and his quest for a league championship in his latest book, Underbelly Hoops.
The book promises a look into the “wacky world of semi-pro basketball” and it certainly delivers. Cunningham seems to be rather mentally stable and well-adjusted, but the same can’t be said about many of his teammates, coaches and opponents. So, not surprisingly the story is full of wild and woolly tales with a motley crew of characters, including Keith Closs, Teddy Dupay, and Ronnie Fields. But you also get an inside look into the life of a minor-league athlete – the anxieties, worries, road trips from hell, and mental and physical scars the life of a pro athlete on the margins delivers. A very entertaining read.
Grab a copy here:
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