Book critic and New York Times Magazine critic at large Sam Anderson has inked a book deal with Random House’s Crown Publishing Group to expand upon his cover story for the magazine, “A Basketball Fairy Tale in Middle America.”
The book will focus on Oklahoma City’s recovery and its NBA basketball team. William Morris Endeavor agent Jay Mandel negotiated the deal with Crown senior editor Zachary Wagman. The book expanding upon his cover story. You can follow Anderson on Twitter, where he shares his favorite sentence every day. Here’s more from the release:
Anderson will report on the amazing revitalization that has occurred over the course of the last 20 years, starting with Oklahoma City’s adoption of the MAPS program; he’ll show how the city’s colorful leaders—its mayor, police chief, and various business leaders—have built up an unassuming city into a thriving urban center, full of artists, musicians, and, of course, sports fans. Anderson will track the dramatic story of how a consortium of business leaders bought the NBA’s Seattle SuperSonics, brought it to Oklahoma City, and renamed the team the Thunder. The team—led by Sam Presti, its young GM as well as All-Stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook—has transformed itself from a group of scrappy underdogs into arguably the best team in basketball in less than five years.