num_pages: 232
description: A top college basketball player for Oregon State and Purdue and a native of Indiana who believed he could one day play in the NBA Carson Cunningham came close. Well  sort of close. He ended up in the minor leagues of professional basketball instead in the storied and now defunct CBA a league that has turned out a record-setting number of NBA players and coaches such as Phil Jackson and George Karl. It wasnt glamorous in fact the playing conditions in the CBA were pretty grim; near-empty arenas interminable bus rides to nowheresville oddball coaches little loyalty from management meager pay these were a few realities of CBA life. And yet even as it chipped away at your dignity and made little economic sense to remain the CBA drew you in with the allure of action and the prospect of an NBA call-up. And it could inspire like when you and your teammates caught a rhythm that made you remember why basketball is such a beautiful game or when you saw guys continue to strive to persevere even if their dreams weren't fully realized.Carson writes honestly hilariously and often touchingly of his running and gunning days as a CBA also-ran with flash backs to his college days where the future seemed brighter than a new pair of Nikes. A top recruit with superior ballhanding and shooting skills along with a sixth basketball sense in 1997 Carson was a Sporting News All-American freshman who broke Gary Payton's freshman scoring record and a few years later helped his team at Purdue get within a game of the Final Four.
language: English
title: Underbelly Hoops: Adventures in the CBA - A.K.A. The Crazy Basketball Association
publisher: Diversion Books