Hang Time: My Life in Basketball

Elgin Baylor’s memoir of an epic all-star career in the NBA—during which he transformed basketball from a horizontal game to a vertical one—and his fights against racism during his career as a player and as general manager of the LA Clippers under the infamous Donald Sterling

People think of Elgin Baylor as one of the greatest basketball players in the history of the game—and one of the NBA’s first black superstars—but the full extent of his legacy stretches beyond his spectacular, game-changing shots and dunks. With startling symmetry, Baylor recounts his story: flying back and forth between the U.S. Army and the Lakers, his time as a central figure in the great Celtics-Lakers rivalry and how he helped break down color barriers in the sport, his 1964 All-Star game boycott, his early years as an executive for the New Orleans Jazz, and twenty-two years as general manager for the notorious L.A. Clippers and Donald Sterling, spent fighting to draft and sign young, black phenoms—only to be hamstrung by his boss at every turn.

No one has seen the league change, and has worked to bring change, more than Baylor. Year after year, he continued to fight and persevere against racism. At the beginning of his career, he was forced to stay in separate hotel rooms. From those days to today’s superstardom, he has had a front-row view of the game’s elevation to one of America’s favorite sports. For the first time, Elgin Baylor tells his full story and sets the record straight.