Sportswriter Shawn Fury's Rise and Fire: The Origins, Science, and Evolution of the Jump Shot presents an exploration of the play that revolutionized basketball and provided the greatest moments in the sport's history―from Michael Jordan's legacy-defining jumpers to Ray Allen’s mastery and more. It’s hard to believe that there was a time when the jump shot didn’t exist in basketball. When the sport was invented in 1891, players would take set shots with both feet firmly planted on the ground. Defenders controlled the sport, the pace was slower, and games would frequently end with scores fit for a football field. It took almost forty years before players began shooting jump shots of any kind and sixty-five years before it became a common sight. When the first jump shooting pioneers left the ground, they rose not only above their defenders, but also above the sport’s conventions. The jump shot created a soaring offense, infectious excitement, loyal fans, and legends. Basketball would never be the same. Rise and Fire celebrates this crucial shot while tracing the history of how it revolutionized the game, shedding light on all corners of the basketball world, from NBA arenas to the playgrounds of New York City and the barns of Indiana. Award-winning journalist Shawn Fury obsesses over the jump shot, explores its fundamentals, puzzles over its complexities, marvels at its simplicity, and honors those who created some of basketball’s greatest moments. Part history, part travelogue, and part memoir, Rise and Fire bounces from the dirt courts of the 1930s to today’s NBA courts and state-of-the-art shooting labs, examining everything from how nets and rims affect a shooter to rivalries between shooting coaches to how the three-pointer came to rule the game. Impeccably researched and engaging, the book features interviews and profiles of legendary figures like Jerry West, Bob McAdoo, Ray Allen, and Denise Long--the first woman ever drafted by the NBA, plus dozens more, revealing the evolution of the shot over time. Analyzing the techniques and reliving some of the most unforgettable plays from the greats, Fury creates a technical, personal, historical, and even spiritual examination of the shot. This is not a dry how-to textbook of basketball mechanics; it is a lively tour of basketball history and a love letter to the sport and the shot that changed it forever. “ Rise and Fire profiles great shooters of the past and present, from Rick Mount to Ray Allen and countless more, but also shows the importance and beauty of the jump shot itself, a play that continues to evolve and change the game. Shawn Fury's superb book is about one shot, but every basketball fan will enjoy it.” ― Mike Krzyzewski, Head Coach of the Duke and USA Men’s National basketball teams “[An] enthusiastic and entertaining…romp through basketball history…. Just like you want a great jump shooter on your team, you want this book on your shelf.” - The Washington Post “We live in the age of the jump shot… In Rise and Fire , Shawn Fury recounts his own love affair with the jump shot while chasing down famed shooters of yesteryear to learn the secrets of their scoring genius… Ranging from the jump shot’s folk roots to the shooting labs and statistical preoccupations that color today’s game… [Fury’s] reading about the jump shot is omnivorous.” ― Wall Street Journal “Some of the best to ever do it are discussed, namely Michael Jordan, which is part of what makes Rise and Fire a great teacher for any student of the game.” ― SLAM “This is a book about a shot, but it's of course so much more than that. One basic shot -- a fundamental human movement -- is interpreted and evolved around the country and the world, with everyone adding their own regional take. Fury's book is thorough and smart, but more than anything, it's a lively, extremely fun travelogue through a journey that parallels that of the sport it transformed.” ― Will Leitch, founder of Deadspin and author of Are We Winning? and God Save the Fan "A fascinating discourse on the evolution of the sport." ― Library Journal, starred review "[Fury] comprehensively traces the transformative effect of the jump shot... there is much here to rekindle the memories of basketball fans, who will quickly discern that there is one thing all these jump shooters have in common: Swish!" ― Booklist “Fury’s enthusiasm for the topic and his love of uncovering the obscure give the book a fun jolt.” ― Publishers Weekly "In a pleasing touch, Fury mixes a little memoir―high school, college, and playground games―into the stories...and then returns, smoothly if not silkily, to the chronological march, noting how the evolution of the shot changes everything each time it punctures the game's equilibrium.... The jump shot created offense, and Fury elevates it to yet higher ground." ― Kirkus Reviews "An anecdote- and research-filled love story for anyone who worships at New York's West 4th Street pla